Yaaaaay…Festival season is almost upon us, and after last year’s delicious menu enticed our fab team to venture forth and cover more than two dozen festivals for our lovely readers around the globe, it looks like the 2026 offering will be even more mouth watering…
Something out there for everyone no matter what your musical tastes are: Pop, rock, jazz, soul, r&b, metal, indie, Americana, punk, old school, country, folk, so-called World Music and much more…
Our festival season coverage begins a few weeks earlier than usual this year; at the end of March with the eclectic extravaganza Shiiine On Festival, right by the seaside at Butlins in Skegness, our first time covering this one. More details below…
All coverage of the festivals our teams attend is in our “Live Zone” – for great photos on stage, backstage and out in the crowds….and as always, a smattering of exclusives.
From March right through to late September, the UK has a fabulous number of great festivals to choose from and many still to announce their full line-ups – some with camping and some superb one-day events too, that will quench your thirst for great live music and some fun in the sunshine [we have put an early order in for a rain-free festival season!!!]
In this annual feature, Music Republic Magazine’s team of ace photographers and writers choose their favourite festivals, many of which we will be covering; and then the editor adds his ten pennorth too. There are a good few new decent-looking ones we have highlightedc too which we hope to get to.
- Look out for coverage of some of these beauties in our “Live Zone”…You may even be in some of the photos from our roaming snappers!!!
State Fayre, a brand new festival will be the UK’s largest music and barbecue festival, with a capacity around 30,000, and boasting headliners Kings Of Leon, Alanis Morissette, The Lumineers, The Black Crowes, Kip Moore, and the likes of Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, Counting Crows, Stephen Wilson Jr., Jack Savoretti, Skunk Anansie and many more across three stages.
State Fayre will bring a true taste of Americana to the UK in June 2026, at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, with a strong line-up spanning rock, country, and folk music. Inspired by American state fairs, State Fayre is a celebration of music, food and culture, blending contemporary and classic sounds with a distinctive American theme, all less than 30 minutes from London. Note: Neil Young was due to headline the Saturday, but he cancelled all his tour dates and it is now Alanis Morissette to top the main stage on day two.
Slam Dunk is the UK’s biggest independent rock festival, celebrating 20 years of pop punk, emo, metal, metalcore, ska, and much more. Held across the late May bank holiday weekend weekend, on two sites, South and North. Day one is the Hatfield event and day two is Leeds. A European exclusive for Good Charlotte, and UK debut show for Sublime.
Joining big name headliners including Jalen Ngonda, Keo and Westside Cowboy, the stage is set for Adult Leisure, The Rolling People, Basht. and 18 additional exciting, emerging acts for May’s Sound City festival in Liverpool, held across the city on 1st, 2nd and 3rd May.
The Rolling People / TIDETIED / PISS / Brooki / Tom Rowley / Adult Leisure / AKA / Zander / Jamie McIntyre / Ben Ellis / Tough Cookie / Little Grandad / Bleech 9:3 / Basht / The North / Dolder / Talia Rae / Dirty Circus / Girl In The Year Above / Palembu / Remee have just been added. 100+ more artists stil;l to l to add (at time of publication of this feature: March).
Big Feastival, now in its 15th year and held on Blurs’ Alex James’ Costwold farm, has a classy line-up for 2026 – 28th to 30th August including Basement Jaxx, The Streets, Bastille, Rudimental, Perrie, White Lies, Freya Ridings, The Coral, Ms Dynamite, and Red Rum Club, as well as Big Kitchen culinary stars Anna Haugh, Emily English and Rachel Allen.
Probably the biggest and best metal and rock festival in Europe, attracting more than a quarter of a million fans from around the world, Hellfest in Clisson, France really does offer a sparkling array of 183 major bands and artists along with rising stars who may well be future main stage headliners. [There are 85 bands making their Hellfest debut this year.]
The 19th edition of this huge multi-stage festival offers up a starry lineup, including headliners Bring Me The Horizon, Iron Maiden celebrating a 50 year carer, Limp Bizkit, The Offspring, Deep Purple, Sabaton, and Volbeat, plus the likes of Alice Cooper, The Hives, Megadeath, Tom Morello and Anthrax. Held on 18th to 21st June.
Music Republic Magazine has covered this festival for the last few years and will be there again this year, for comprehensive coverage to bring you lots of great photographs and a review of the spectacular annual event.
CarFest moves to Silverstone race circuit in Northamptonshire this year for the first time since it was launched in 2012 by Chris Evans, to raise funds for various UK children’s charities. Held across the three day August bank holiday weekend, with a sparkling lineup of live music including Sir Tom Jones, Kessie J, and Sugababes, plus many celebrity appearances and maybe a few surprises too!
20th to 23rd August: Rock N Roll Circus at Earlham Park, Norwich is in its second year here, and has added the Thursday in 2026 to make it a four day event.
With a feast of current chart acts and a smattering of legendary bands and artists too; such as James, The K’s, The Streets aka Mike Skinner, The Kooks, The Vaccines, Madness, and Ocean Colour Scene. Many more to add.
The award winning Rock N Roll Circus combines the best of musical talent and circus entertainment to deliver “an incredible spectacle.” There are daily circus workshops, a large food and drinks village, and multiple stages to choose from.
- The festival has a Sheffield edition too, at Don Valley Bowl on 27th, 28th, 29th & 30th August: with headliners The Kooks, The Streets, Wunderhorse, and Richard Ashcroft.
A festival our team really enjoyed covering last year is Latitude Festival in Henham Park, Suffolk – which we made our Festival of the year for 2025. Now in its 20th year, Latitude 2026 brings together “artists who shaped its past, stars defining its present, and trailblazers who will lead its future”.
David Byrne in a UK festival exclusive, Lewis Capaldi, and Teddy Swims headline a boundary-pushing line-up; alongside The Flaming Lips, The Last Dinner Party, Self Esteem, Billy Ocean, Alex James, and more. The Suffolk site has a capacity of 45,000 for each of the four days of the celebrated music and arts festival run by Festival Republic.
Shiiine On Weekender kicks off our festival coverage for 2026, at Butlin’s Skegness – 27th to 28th March. If indie and alt’ rock are your bag, this is the line-up for you, including headliners The Enemy, Embrace, Lightning Seeds, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Alabama 3, Terrorvision, Stereo MC’s, and a slew of superb acts such as The Magic Numbers, The Bluetones, Alabama 3, House of Love, Stereo MCs, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and the return of Lo Fidelity Allstars.
We’ll be there…. our first time at Shiiine On, to bring you lots of photos and a review of all the action – see ya in Skegvegas!
Attracting more than 20,000 people, Lakefest boasts 12 stages in the grounds of Eastnor Castle, Ledbury, Herefordshire, located between Wales and The Cotswolds.. For 2026 they offer a very decent line-up, including Bananarama headlining on Sunday, Madness on Saturday, The Charlatans on Friday and Example on Thursday.
Plus a slew of other top bands and artists such as Soul II Soul, Reef, Lightning Seeds, EMF, Scouting For Girls, Chesney Hawkes, East 17, and Newton Faulkner. Campers can arrive on Weds 5th August and stay until Monday 10th. Live music across four days: Thursday 6th to Sunday 9th.
- Fancy a mucky weekender? Well, we have news of just the thing… Mucky Weekender at Vicarage Farm, Winchester, on 10th, 11th and 1sth September is a very chilled festival, fast becoming one of the jewels in the crown of late summer UK festivals.
Mucky Weekender is an independent boutique festival, with up to 5,000 capacity, expanded to three days for the third year running. Curated by music industry veteran Barry Ashworth, frontman of the Dub Pistols (the festival is named after one of their fan-favourite tracks, “Mucky Weekend”). Barry is Patron of Tonic Music for Mental Health within the music industry, which the festival raises funds for. 2026 line-up includes Goldie and special guests, rave legends The Sabres Of Paradise.
Wilderness @ Cornbury Park, Cotswolds – 30th July – 2nd August. Returning to the nature reserve at Cornbury Park this summer for its 15th year –The eclectic genre-spanning line-up is headed by Scissor Sisters, The Last Dinner Party, Carl Cox, and Sisters curated by Annie Lennox.
The Peak District in Derbyshire is the location for Y Not? Festival, perhaps one of the most picturesque sites for a UK festival, at Pikehall. 30th July – 2nd August.
For the 19th edition of the festival, the lineup includes Reytons, Two Door Cinema Club, The Streets, The Libertines, Scissor Sisters, Happy Mondays, Pale Waves, The Ckuse, and Dea Matrona.
This Feeling By The Sea 2026 on 17th and 18th April will be headlined by The Lilacs and The Clause, alongside an A-Z of contemporary and rising indie and alternative talent. Every artist on the bill has emerged via This Feeling shows held in grassroots venues across the UK. The Bridlington Spa venue is a beautiful Art Deco designed 3,800-capacity Royal Hall ballroom, with the adjacent beach close by.
We have covered the festival for the last two years, and it has turned out to be one of the best small festivals in the UK, and delivers a lot of bang for your buck – as the lineup this time seems to suggest will be repeated…
The 20th year for Wychwood, held on Cheltenham racecourse between 29th and 31st May 2026, with Craig David, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Kaiser Chiefs, Feeder, The Levellers, Everything Everything, and Maximo Park among the varied line-up on offer.
Love Supreme really is one of the sparkling jewels in the crown of UK music festivals, which will see more than 60,000 music fans flock to the picturesque East Sussex site. We loved covering this in 2024 and 2025, held at Glynde Place in beautiful East Sussex.
The 2026 edition, its 13th year, has a stunning lineup, including Loyle Carner, De La Soul [their only UK full band show], Ezra Collective, Jalen Ngonda, Maze , and The Temptations & The Four Tops, among many other super acts. Supreme indeed…
Brick Lane Jazz Festival in the heart of London’s vibrant East End, has a very tasty menu of artists performing for its fifth anniversary, from 23rd to 26th April 2026. The first wave of 2026’s stellar line-up saw them bringing together a borderless array of artists that span jazz, alt-rap, neo-soul, R&B, neo-classical, electronic music, and more. It also included the announcement of the festival’s first headliner, jazz-funk legend and Gil Scott-Heron collaborator, Brian Jackson.
Multi-award-winning London jazz proponent Joe Armon-Jones joined Jackson as the festival’s second headliner. Armon-Jones is a founding member of the Mercury Prize-winning band Ezra Collective. The festival’s final headliner, anaiis & Grupo Cosmo, was also recently announced.
Growing from its modest debut across four venues in 2022 to a 12-stage extravaganza spanning Brick Lane and Shoreditch, this year the festival also launches a major conference programme, with a host of inimitable and eclectic speakers taking part.
If reggae is your thing, you are gonna be in heaven for Reggae Land at the Milton Keynes National Bowl for the three day event on 31st July to 2nd August. Burna Boy, Beenie Man and Morgan Heritage, Ken Boothe, Julian Marley, and the inimitable Shaggy are just a few of the stars appearing.
Boardmasters in Newquay, Cornwall, 5th to 9th August reveal Lily Allen as final 2026 headliner – to join headliners Fatboy Slim and Kasabian, plus The Kooks, Loyle Carner, Rudimental, REN and Tash Sultana. Latest additions also include Joy Crookes, BRITs Critics’ Choice winner Jacob Alon, Keo, Example, Hot 8 Brass Band, Rose Gray, Hamdi, Charlotte Plank, Lucy Spraggan and many more.
This quote from the festivals’ marketing blurb sums it up nicely: “Born from the surf. Raised by music. Boardmasters isn’t fenced into a field, it’s carved into the cliffs. A place where sea spray cuts through basslines and freedom comes naturally. Think rugged rave on a ragged coastline. Endless live music, pro surf, skate battles, cold-water dips, yoga on the cliffs and Cornish food that tastes like summer. The Atlantic backdrop doesn’t do soft, and neither does Boardmasters.”
Multiplatinum singer and songwriter Jason Derulo joins the Day Two line-up of the inaugural two-day SMK Live festival at Stadium MK’s 30,000 seater stadium in Milton Keynes 27th and 28th June. Jason joins Basement Jaxx and Black Eyed Peas (UK Festival Exclusive), alongside Cat Burns, Clean Bandit, Jalen Ngonda, Jax Jones, Moonchild Sanelly, Maverick Sabre, Big Narstie, Clean Bandit and more to come.
Red Rooster: Blues howlers, cosmic country dreamers, righteous rock ’n’ rollers and late-night soul shakers to descend on the grounds of Euston Hall in Suffolk for three days in May for its 12th year. Valerie June brings her blend of Appalachian folk, soul and psychedelic country.
Blues royalty Bobby Rush delivers swampy grooves, while gothic-Americana pioneers The Handsome Family spin their dark desert ballads. Plus veritable feast of roots music’s rising stars and veteran artists. A meaty line-up and many more to add.
Boogietown’s fifth edition offers up its most ambitious edition yet. Held at Apps Court Farm in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey as a one day, five-stage celebration of disco, soul, funk, reggae and feel-good dance music on 11th July. The 2026 edition will welcome Gloria Gaynor, Shalamar, Earth Wind & Fire by Al McKay, Soul II Soul, Gabrielle, Heather Small, Aswad, Heatwave, Boney M, plus more to announce soon.
Eastern Electrics: 9th August 2026. The respected UK electronic music festival is back after a year’s hiatus, and in a new location; Burgess Park, a circa 140 acre green space in Southwark, South East London.
Electric Paradise is a one-dayer at Milton Keynes Bowl on 8th August, topped by Grace Jones, Candi Station and UB40, plus a slew of very decent bands, artists and DJs. Looks like a cool day.
Shambala Festival in the grounds of Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire for four days in July across 30+ stages and venues, is in its 27th year and has its biggest musical line-up to date. Alongside the music, there’s a brand new Spiegeltent for live circus and cabaret, plus the return of participatory favourites including the ‘Lyrical Genius’ carnival theme and a festival-wide purple Flamboyant Friday.
Gilles Peterson presents We Out Here in Dorset, 20th – 23rd August. The award-winning festival enters its seventh year, to follow up its biggest year yet in 2025; their fifth sold out festival in a row, with 2026 currently on course to sell out in record time.
Set against the backdrop of the idyllic Dorset countryside, enveloped by towering trees, We Out Here has so far announced artists including Arthur Verocai, Mulutu Astatke, Stereolab, Joy Crookes, Gary Bartz, Digable Planets, Kofi Stone, Yazmin Lacey and more, with others tba.
Love Trails Festival 2nd to 6th July is a summer weekender on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales that blends movement, music and outdoor escape. Set at West Castle Farm in the grounds of Weobley Castle, Llanrhidian, Swansea, Gower, it pairs coastal trail runs and hikes with a feel-good programme of live music and DJs, wellbeing sessions, talks and community-led experiences.
Founded in 2016, and now in its 10th anniversary year ,Love Trails is designed for everyone from first-time trail runners to seasoned athletes, as well as people who simply want a festival with a daytime buzz and a welcoming crowd. Love Trails has so far announced Mr Scruff, Nubiyan Twist, Falle Nioke (soundsystem), Joshua Idehen and Oby Onyioha, with more tba.
Outwards Festival makes its debut Manchester as a brand new open air, city centre and multi-stage festival taking place on 2nd May. Built around a nod to the past, present and future of alternative and electronic music culture – Outwards will transform and connect five outdoor spaces in Ardwick into a 5,000-capacity day-into-night festival.
Bringing together pioneering live acts, foundational DJs and forward-thinking contemporary artists within an environment shaped as much by listening, conversation and community as by the dancefloor itself. An eclectic spread of names set to play include Orbital (Live), Josey Rebelle, Midland, Moodyman b2b Carl Craig, Octave One (Live), OK Williams, Paranoid London (Live), Pearson Sound, The Grid (Live), Tarzsa and many more to be announced.
New summer live music series Barton Live launches this July with four consecutive 5000 capacity open-air shows. From Thursday 2nd July to Sunday 5 July, the curated run brings together three major headline concerts.
The 5000 capacity open-air shows at Barton Aerodrome, Manchester will welcome the likes of David Grey, Faithless, Craig David and multi-band Electric Heart: The Fratellis, Scouting For Girls, The Feeling, The Hoosiers, Toploader and Dodgy.
Following the success of the first FOMO Fest last year, it returns to the grounds of Stowmarket’s Food Museum in 2026 for the one-dayer on 5th September. The Suffolk event has so far announced Example as its headliner, plus Devlin, The Ordinary Boys, Republica, and the Holloways – with the rest of the lineup still to be announced at the time of publication of this annual feature.
FYI: Some line-ups were not complete at the time of publication [March 2026] of this annual feature]…
Photo credits:
Aerial festival crowd photo [top of page] by Katja Ogrin
Mohican hair-cut boy in crowd x 2 / Volbeat / Chris Evans / Rock N Roll Circus flamethrower / Lightning Seeds / Rob of Stereo MC’s / Roy of Scouting For Girls / The Last Dinner Party / This Feeling By The Sea stage shot + Seaside rock on the beach – by Liam Battersby
Craig David x 2 by Steve Best
Hellfest ‘tree’ by David Bronstein
Alanis Morissette by Shelby Duncan
Basement Jaxx / Jalen NGonda / Orbital – by Manja Williams
Candi Staton / David Gray by Jason Sheldon
* Where no photographer is credited, photos are PR-supplied
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