As we edge into January, concert goers and festival lovers will be starting to look at their calendars for 2026, anxiously planning for what their work leave or Christmas money can accommodate. No doubt some will be aiming to camp in their usual patch at Donington, or be taking deep breaths in preparation for the trauma of the Glastonbury ticket sale (it’s okay, you’ve got another year to brace for that one!). But some might be looking for a new experience or their first festival trip. This is what you can expect from the biggest festivals next year.

Glastonbury – oh have a year off will you?

Owing to the fact that the site at Worthy Farm works a day job as a dairy farm, it requires a fallow year every so often to give the fields time to recover from all the trampling. Glastonbury 2027 has been announced to fall between the 23 and 27 of June, with the first wave of acts being revealed some time in March 2027.

Download – this one’s for the Millenials

This year’s Download Festival is sure to delight fans of 00’s “nu metal”, with sets from both Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. This will be the latter’s first UK festival appearance since singer Emily Armstrong picked up the microphone from Chester Bennington, who passed away in 2017. The top billing is rounded off by Guns N’ Roses, who are very familiar to the Midlands festival. Other highlights include German party mob Electric Callboy and an unprecedented appearance from rap legends Cypress Hill. It runs from the 10 to 14 of June.

Reading and Leeds – another year of testing boundaries- and our patience?

For the uninitiated, Reading and Leeds run the same lineup on alternating days across both sites. Historically they have booked a diverse assortment of music, from the biggest names in the charts, to rock royalty, to underground hiphop and grime. In recent years however, the diversity has been sacrificed in pursuit of a younger audience, rabid for only the latest trends. One of the things they always do well is championing British music, and 2026 is a landmark year for that. In lieu of any legacy act, all but one of their 6 headliners is from the UK, with that one being Ireland’s Fontaines D.C. Expect huge performances from Raye, Charli XCX, and drum ‘n’ bass icons Chase And Status on their dual main stages, from the 27 to 30 of August.

Isle of Wight – a great all-rounder for anyone

Held by the water near Newport on the Isle of Wight, this one can often be overlooked in favour of its more extravagant competition. But the next lineup is very robust, sporting big headliners from Scotland in the ever-endearing Lewis Capaldi, electronic chart-topper Calvin Harris, and England’s darlings, The Cure. A fantastic mix of old and new for families and all ages, including Rick Astley, and current favourites The Last Dinner Party. Runs 18 to the 21 of June.

TRNSMT – who needs vowels when you’ve got big acts?

Scotland’s biggest summer festival has been making statements in recent years, and in 2026 they’re looking to draw fans to Glasgow with the promise of Richard Ashcroft, formerly of The Verve, and Kasabian. Our friend Lewis Capaldi will also be headlining in his home city. While it may not be the sunniest place in the British Isles, people won’t miss a chance to dance to the likes of Nile Rogers & Chic or CMAT. Runs 19 to 21 June.

Wireless – radio silence?

Taking place in London’s Finsbury park, Wireless Festival is typically a big deal. However there have been no confirmed dates or acts for July 2026. Watch this space if you enjoy contemporary rap and electronic music.

The Irish Rap trio took to social media yesterday (May 28) to share the news, saying: “Due to concerns expressed by the Police about safety at the event, Kneecap can no longer perform at TRNSMT.

“To the thousands of people who bought tickets, flights and hotels to see us play, we are sorry… it is out of our hands.”

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A post shared by KNEECAP (@kneecap32)

A spokesperson for the festival has confirmed that safety concerns were raised by the Police, leading to their removal from the line-up, telling NME: “Due to concerns expressed by the Police about safety at the event, Kneecap will no longer perform at TRNSMT on Friday July 11. We thank fans for their understanding.”

After being asked for a response, Police Scotland have now issued a statement, detailing the reasoning behind Kneecap’s removal by claiming that the main issue is the potential size of the audience.

They told NME: “Any decision on the line-up at TRNSMT is for the organisers and there was no prior consultation with Police Scotland before acts were booked.

“Officers have highlighted the potential reaction of such a large audience to this band would require a significant policing operation in order to support the delivery of a safe event.

“We have also passed on information from the public around safety concerns to allow organisers to make an informed decision on the running of the festival.”

This isn’t the first appearance that the politically-charged rap trio have been pulled from – with Cornwall’s Eden Sessions and Germany’s Hurricane Festival among those to distance themselves from Kneecap.

The recent controversy has been thoroughly covered on mxdwn, from the band calling for a ‘Free Palestine’ at Coachella, to the subsequent pile-on from politicians and media alike. 

@yasg106_ BREAKING: Coachella audience erupts in #FREEPALESTINE chant during KNEECAP performance! @kneecap32 shows what it means to be Artists Against Apartheid – using your art, your platform, and voice at stages like #Coachella to be in firm solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation, to fight against the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide, and to stand with the students abducted and detained by ICE, like Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Oztürk, Badar Khan Suri, and Mohsen Mahdawi who are being persecuted for standing on the right side of history. #cochella #performance #audience #stand #artists #artistsagainstapartheid #chant #concerts ♬ Inspirational – neozilla

It all really picked up steam recently when member Mo Chara was charged by the Metropolitan Police with a terror offence. He allegedly displayed a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, at a gig last year. The band have since denied any support of Hezbollah or Hamas.

Chara is due to appear at Westminster Crown Court on June 18, for which he has encouraged fans to gather at Westminster with “a big bag of ket”.

TRNSMT is the first major British festival to remove Kneecap from their line-up, with the band still due to perform at Glastonbury this summer.

The rap trio recently headlined London’s Wide Awake festival to rave reviews. They told fans whilst on stage: “They tried to stop this gig. Honestly, lads, you have no idea how close we were to being pulled off this gig.”

They will be hoping to join Fontaines DC at a massive gig in Belfast this August, which sold out in 35 minutes. However, concerns over the venue has put the event in doubt, check out mxdwn coverage regarding that here.

Falling on the same night of the 2024 BRIT awards, Wunderhorse took to the stage last Saturday to rapturous applause. The legendary 700-year-old pub announced the secret set just hours before the group were scheduled to perform, causing fans to scramble to purchase last-minute tickets. Fronted by singer-songwriter Jacob Slater, his distinctive rough and ready vocals and razor-sharp lyricism are hard to shake off. Slater’s gritty on-stage persona is reminiscent of blistering American garage bands, causing him to launch into a series of rage-fuelled outbursts, only to lose him again in a 90s psychedelic fog.

The Hertfordshire-born musician had made the decision to exit his old band Dead Pretties in 2017, a path that would eventually lead him to form his next project Wunderhorse, releasing their debut, critically-acclaimed album ‘Cub‘ in October 2022, a beautiful yet bloodied catalogue of teenage misadventure. The past two years have seen Slater build up a fair amount of mileage, having scored not only glowing album reviews and international recognition, but rather ironically his first ever acting role as Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook in Danny Boyle’s tv miniseries Pistol.

A multifaceted writer and instrumentalist, Slater has also curated his own separate solo project, releasing his first ever record ‘Pinky, I Love You‘ in August 2023, another deeply personal and tender account of youth driven by a rousing, prog-rock sound. On February 5, the band announced they will be performing at Isle of Wight, TRNSMT, Boardmasters and Reading and Leeds festival this summer.

As of last weekend, they also shared they will be headlining Dot To Dot Festival in May alongside Irish electronic duo Jockstrap, and Brighton’s The Great Escape festival accompanied by other major acts such as Faye Webster and SOFTPLAY. Great Escape Fest is known for showcasing the biggest and brightest up and coming artists from around the country, with over 150 acts set to take part in different venues across the city.

Wunderhorse took to Instagram last month to lift the lid on new music, revealing they are currently in the process of recording their sophomore album, simply commenting: “Back on the road in March, new music in tow”. The four-piece will be supporting English singer-songwriter Declan McKenna on his 2024 UK tour this month, kicking things off at Cardiff University’s Student Union on March 23. You can purchase tickets here.

‘Just Another Rainbow’ features dreamy guitar riffs from Squire, accompanied by Gallagher’s signature whining vocals. The track is certainly a sonic call back to the days of Oasis, with Squire replacing Noel Gallagher’s instrumental support. Liam’s collaboration with John Squire marks a cornerstone in Gallagher’s music career, as the 51 year-old singer claimed that, without he and his brother attending a 1988 Stone Roses gig, Oasis may never have happened. Speaking to I Love Manchester in 2017, Liam said: “if I hadn’t gone that night, I’d probably be sitting in some pub in Levenshulme“.

The Track has gathered a rather modest 45,000 views on YouTube so far. Over on Twitter, opinions are mixed, with several users expressing dissatisfaction with poorly crafted lyrics and uninspired vocals. On the flipside, the track has been embraced by many fans expressing excitement for the album’s full release. Old school Gallagher heads will be delighted to hear that the single is available on Liam’s official merchandise store as a limited seven inch vinyl. 

Thank you for the BIBLICAL/CELESTIAL response for RAINBOW the reviews have been HEARTWARMING can’t wait for you all to hear the album stay cool and if you can’t do that stay safe LG x

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) January 5, 2024

For those looking to hear ‘Just Another Rainbow’ live, Gallagher has announced that he will be headlining Glasgow’s TRNSMT festival in July of this year. Joining Liam will be the likes of Calvin Harris, Rick Astley, and Chase & Status. Fans south of the Scottish border will be able to see Liam at Festival Republic’s Reading and Leeds double bill in August of this year alongside Fred Again.., Lana Del Rey and many other big names in popular music. As well as the UK festival circuit, Gallagher will be touring in June and July in Manchester, London, Sheffield, Dublin, Cardiff, Belfast, and Glasgow. However, Liam has taken to Twitter saying that he will avoid playing any of his solo material on his upcoming tour in favour of Oasis classics and a few B-sides from Definitely Maybe. Anyone wanting to catch Liam’s solo work will most likely have to do so at TRNSMT, Reading, or Leeds. 

2024 is shaping up to be a big year for Liam, with a stacked summer tour and a new studio album around the corner, Liam Gallagher listeners are in for a treat.

On the opening night, Friday 12, Liam Gallagher will grace the main stage. Whilst speaking about his return to the festival he said “Can’t wait to return to Glasgow Green next Summer to headline TRNSMT.” He continued by teasing about what he’ll play, hinting at some solo material “I’ll be playing songs from Definitely Maybe as well as some solo stuff. See you there.”

Bringing the pop vibes, noughties group The Sugababes have been announced for the Friday Line-up. Known for their iconic hits  ‘Push The Button’ and ‘About You Now’, the band are rumoured to have new releases in 2024. The English pop vocal trio of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy has changed musical line-ups three times before returning to the original members in 2012. The group released their first single in a decade in September 2023, the soulful song ‘When The Rain Comes’. 

Example has been announced as the headline act for the King Tuts Stage. The rapper and singer rose to fame in the 2010s with his catchy songs such as ‘Changed The Way That You Kiss Me’ and ‘Kickstarts’ and his funny personality, with dry humour, which fans adore. His personality has been shown in videos with his celebrity friends such as Ed Sheeran. Lastly, To complete the Friday line-up, fans will be rocking out to Pop Rock band Picture This and indie group The Last Dinner Party.

Saturday sees Gerard Crosbie, professionally known as Gerry Cinnamon headlining after a four-year break from playing the festival. The Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist is back, after saying “Get hounded on the daily to do TRNSMT again, well hound no more.”

Pop star, Rick Astley, who is known for his legendary debut track ‘Never ‘Gonna Give You Up’ will be joining the party on Saturday. The 80s singer has made a big comeback over the past few years, with Gen Z audiences ‘Rick Rolling’ each other. The new ‘internet meme’ has become a trend, with people seemingly clicking on a video, and instead being presented with Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give you Up’. Even supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is ‘Rick Rolling’ the nation in their 2023 Christmas ad.

Sunday is the day for all the ravers, with DJ Calvin Harris taking over the main stage. The popular DJ and producers, who have hits such as ‘How Deep is Your Love’ and ‘Feels So Close’ will arrive at TRNSMT for his first gig following his sell-out Ibiza residency. Dance duo, Chase & Status will also be bringing the energy on the final festival day. To see all these iconic artists and more, get tickets online here

Fans were told to stay away from the area on Glasgow Green during Becky Hill‘s headline performance on Saturday (September 11), while screens displayed a message saying that the stage was “full and closed”.

Crowds of people flocked to the popular stage, crammed together to see Becky Hill’s show. A picture from the Daily Record on the scene shows people standing above the crowd by the side of the stage, while others jostle for position.

The singer’s set was said to be delayed by 15 minutes due to crowds descending towards the stage. A TRSMT spokesperson told the Daily Record that medics arrived on the scene to attend to a person who needed help and they had to be stretched away though the injuries weren’t incredibly serious.

The spokesperson said “our first aid team was made aware of an audience member who needed assistance at the King Tut’s Tent. As a precautionary measure, they were transferred by stretcher to the onsite medical area and given time to recover.”

The Scottish festival was rescheduled from July due to concerns around the coronavirus pandemic and was headlined by Liam Gallagher, Courteeners, and The Chemical Brothers. The three-day event also featured performances from Sam Fender, AJ Tracey, Little Simz and Declan McKenna among others.

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A post shared by TRNSMT Festival (@trnsmtfest)

This year’s festival ran up to its full capacity (50,000 people) after the recent easing of COVID restrictions in Scotland. Although attendees at the festival still had to complete a Lateral Flow Test before arriving at the event despite proof of vaccination not being a condition of entry.

Pre-sales will open at 9am BST (10am CEST) on Wednesday 9th September, and general sale tickets will go on sale at the same time on Friday 11th September. Macdonald exclaimed in her post that she’s “very excited to announce that (she) will be heading back out on the road, playing actual live concerts across the UK and Europe in 2021!!”  The artist has been hinting at this for a while, with some cryptic social media posts over the past few weeks.

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LIVE NEWS! Very excited to announce that I will be heading back out on the road, playing actual live concerts across the UK and Europe in 2021!! In the UK there will be shows at London’s @Ro@roundhouseldn on May 6th and Glasgow’s @trnsmtfest on July 11th. And I will be performing my biggest shows in Germany since 2010, as well as concerts in Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.  UK Fans – Pre-order my new album The Human Demands from my official store to access an exclusive pre-sale for the London Roundhouse date  EU Fans – Sign up to my mailing list to access the pre-sale for all European tour dates! Link to do both are in my bio. I really can’t wait to see you all again, gonna be so excited that you might even catch me crowd surfing!

A post shared by (@amy__macdonald) on Sep 7, 2020 at 2:03am PDT

This tour will include some of the biggest dates of the singer’s career, at The Roundhouse in London and five shows around Germany, including Barclaycard Arena. It will finish at TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow, where she will perform on the main stage, headlined by Lewis Capaldi.

The new album, ‘The Human Demands’, will be released on 30th October 2020 via Infectious Music who Macdonald recently signed with, making this her first full-length album with a new label, but fifth in her career. According to a press release, the album “rediscovers, from a grown-up perspective, that magic youthful moment of excitement and discovery we can all relate to,” continuing, “Its themes include getting older, dealing with depression, and falling in love with someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.”

Some of these themes can be seen in lead single ‘The Hudson’ which was shared for the first time just a couple of weeks ago on 27th August. With lyrical comparisons such as “I seen the girls in their high heeled shoes/Looking for love, they’ve got nothing to lose” and “What happened to the confidence?/I’m older now,” the song explores the self-confidence many have when they’re young, which can get lost over the years.

Check out the full tour dates below.

22/04/2021 – AB – Brussels, Belgium
23/04 – Samsung Hall – Zurich, Switzerland
26/04 – Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
27/04 – Rockhal – Luxembourg
29/04 – Zenith – Munich, Germany
30/04 – Max-Schmeling-Halle – Berlin, Germany
02/05 – König Pilsener ARENA – Oberhausen, Germany
03/05 – 013 – Tilburg, The Netherlands
04/05 – Barclaycard Arena – Hamburg, Germany
06/05 – Roundhouse – London, UK
11/07 – TRSNMT Festival – Glasgow, UK

#TRNSMT2020 pic.twitter.com/mrtlqoKzHI

— TRNSMT Festival (@TRNSMTfest) March 19, 2020

“TRNSMT is still scheduled to go ahead as planned and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the event in 16 weeks. The health and safety of festival goers, staff and the surrounding community is our main priority and we are constantly monitoring the situation in accordance with advice from the World Health Organisation, Health Protection Scotland, UK and Scottish Government and local public health authorities. Love, TRNSMT x“

Currently, every corner of the world is undergoing such difficult time because of the outbreak of coronavirus. Apart from economy and politics, music industry has been equally affected by the pandemic. Numerous artists who planned to drop new music and musical events around the world have announced their postponement and cancellation in order to prevent the spread.

Glastonbury, for example, is one of the major music festivals that had to call off this year. In the long list of already cancelled events appear The Great Escape Festival, Download, Isle of Wight, Snowbombing, and even Eurovision, not to mention a plethora of concerts by many artists.

Amidst such tragedy and chaos in the music scene, TRNSMT decided to persevere in holding its third festival this year. Taking place in 16 weeks, the festival confirmed to kick off from July 10 to 12 in Glasgow Green, the huge park in the east end of the city.

The Courteeners are booked to headline the festival at the main stage on the first day, supported by Ian Brown, Sam Fender, and Blossoms. Meanwhile, the ex-Oasis Liam Gallagher will perform on the main stage as a headlining act on the second day, with Foals, Keane, and Vistas. Scottish sensation Lewis Capaldi will end the festival as the headline on the last day, joined by Rita Ora, Snow Patrol, and Dermot Kennedy. Check out the complete line-up here.

TRNSMT first happened in 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. With about 120,000 attendees, the festival was crowned “Best New Festival” in December 2017 from the UK Festival Awards in London.

In 2019, the festival faced a backlash for its gender-unbalanced line-up, with only 20% of the performers being female. However, in spite of the aspiration to achieve 50-50 gender-balanced line-up, TRNSMT’s director Geoff Ellis said “it will be a while” because “there’s far, far less female artists”. Read the full story here.

Since the festival has determined to go on, those who wish to attend can get tickets from its official site. Standard tickets for Sunday 12th are now sold out.

The mask was put onto eBay by an employee of DF Concerts, (the body responsible for running TRNSMT), in a bid to drum up money for Frightened Rabbit’s Tiny Changes Charity, serving in the memory of the late Scott Hutchison, the frontman of the band, with few realising just how much it’d go for. The auction reached its conclusion yesterday, bringing the total to a staggering £7,401, with over 70 bids made.

In the description for Capaldi’s mask on the site, it read, “I work for DF concerts and events and donated my mask to Lewis Capaldi for his performance,” 

“He signed it as well shortly after coming off Stage. So I thought the best thing to do with it would be sell it on eBay with the profits going to the charity “Tiny Changes” which was set up in memory of Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit.) Tiny Changes helps Raise awareness about children and young people’s mental health issues.”

The bold @LewisCapaldi has signed the Chewbacca mask he wore for @TRNSMTfest and it is being auctioned off with proceeds going to @tinychanges. Who agrees @NoelGallagher should chip in with a bid? Get sharing folks! https://t.co/Wn6OqaZoqz

— Frightened Rabbit (@FRabbits) July 15, 2019

During the TRNSMT festival, Lewis also performed the Oasis classic, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, but adapted the lyrics to ‘Don’t Chewbac in Anger’, as a subtle dig at the former Oasis band member, hailing him as ‘my dear, dear father’. Recently, Capaldi also posted a photo onto Twitter of his face superimposed onto a shot of Chewbacca, changing his name to ‘Chewis Capaldi’.

#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/FRIGBfn0fS

— Chewis Capaldi (@LewisCapaldi) July 11, 2019

Following a battle with depression, Scott Hutchison took his own life in 2018. The charity was subsequently established by his family in May 2019. The family announced in a statement. “We want to continue the legacy that Scott built. To channel the energy he generated in people all over the world into positive action on mental health among young people and to make tiny changes to Earth.” 

Lewis Capaldi dedicou Don't Look Back in Anger ao Noel. "Querido, pai." pic.twitter.com/FGxVwD1veU

— Gallaghers Brasil (@GallaghersBR) July 14, 2019