Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Festival is returning to its Kalagala Falls site in 2025 in what will be a 10 year anniversary for the event. The festival, which takes place 20-23 November, has announced it will host a continuous 24-hour programme of music, which will bring “over 300 artists, collectives, and cultural innovators from across Africa, the diaspora, and beyond” to the East African nation, says the festival. The line-up for 2025 will include Kampire, DJ Travella, DJ Diaki, Arsenal Mikebe, Sisso & Maiko and Catu Diosis, as well as over 15 continental collectives such as Group Therapy and Ile Ijo, Fabrika,…
Author: Jack Needham
Jack Needham
Festival Insights | Head of Content
The longstanding rock festival Slam Dunk has announced its 2026 return with the unveiling of headline acts Good Charlotte and Sublime, plus dozens more artists spanning the best in pop-punk, emo, ska, metal and beyond. The festival, founded in Leeds, UK, will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Slam Dunk Festival (@slamdunkmusic) The festival will act as Good Charlotte’s only European performance through the summer, while the ska-punk band Sublime will be playing their first-ever UK show at the festival. Also joining the first wave of acts for Slam Dunk 2026 include British alt-rock act A, metalcore…
The xx, Doja Cat, The Cure, Gorillaz and dozens more have been announced for Primavera Sound 2026. The Barcelona-based event, which will take place from 3-7 June 2026, will also welcome the likes of Massive Attack, PinkPantheress, Mac DeMarco, My Bloody Valentine, Kneecap, Wet Leg, Jade and many more to the shores of the Spanish city. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Primavera Sound (@primavera_sound) The 2026 line-up also sees Viagra Boys, Ben UFO, Bad Gyal, Slowdive, Role Model and MARINA perform at the longstanding festival, which will also host a second event in Porto from 11-13…
The 18th edition of the Green Events and Innovations Conference (GEI18) is returning to the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Tuesday, 24 February 2026. With a core focus on event sustainability, the GEI brings together the “brightest minds” to “tackle the most poignant and pressing topics relating to event sustainability, climate change, and social action,” says the event. The conference hosts a number of talks, panels, discussions, and case studies from both music and sporting events. Topics for the 2026 event include discussions on extreme weather and operational impacts, energy, clean water and air, green touring; culture for social…
Africa Rising Music Conference is returning to Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, on 22–23 May 2026. The conference, billed as the equivalent to Amsterdam Dance Event on the African continent, welcomed over 1000 attendees to its 2025 event, and aims to act as a platform for underrepresented voices and innovation in the global music ecosystem. The conference will take place between 22-23 May 2025. Africa Rising Music Conference said that its 2025 edition welcomed attendees from across South Africa, the UK, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, and hosted 76 speakers from 7 countries. It also said the event created over 140 jobs during…
The iconic heavy metal band Saxon have been announced headliners for Bloodstock’s 2026 edition, and join 27 newly announced acts for the Derbyshire festival. The performance doubles as the 25th anniversary since the band first headlined Bloodstock in 2021, which was also the festival’s debut year. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bloodstock Festival (@bloodstockopenair) 27 other acts have also been newly confirmed for Bloodstock, which will take place 6-9 August. This includes the likes of Kittie, Neckbreakker, Celestial Sanctuary, Mushroomhead and more. Saxon join the previously announced main-stage headliners Lamb Of…
The full line-up for Coachella’s 2026 edition has just been unveiled, and it sees Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G headline the California-based festival. Taking place from 10-12 and 17-19 April, the three superstars join the likes of The Strokes, Central Cee, David Byrne, Young Thug and many more across the two weekends. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) The festival will also welcome a brand new show from British dance duo Disclosure, girl group Katseye, and a special presentation of Anyma’s Æden project. Last year’s edition saw Lady Gaga, Green Day…
Garden centres are known for a pretty limited amount of things. They sell plants, and are a source for respectable advice about premium mulch. They’re places where you take your mum for a soup and sandwich or where you buy fresh produce from the farm shop. Rarely, though, are they a place for a multi-stage daytime rave. That’s where Green Island Festival has changed things, perhaps to the detriment of avid horticulturists looking to pick up a hibiscus plant on a Saturday afternoon. Green Island is a meeting of minds between Stephan Agbogbe and George McGirr. In their everyday lives,…
The 700 acre Roundhay Park, found in Leeds, UK, is set to welcome a major music festival in the summer of 2026. The festival, aptly titled Roundhay Festival, is being launched by promoters AEG, the team behind the London flagship festival BST Hyde Park, and will raise the park’s profile “with national and international audiences while delivering an important boost to the local economy,” says Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council. Lewis Capaldi has also been announced as the first act for the event, and will perform at Roundhay Park on 4 July 2026. The festival is launched in…
It’s been 25 years since Shambala Festival first made itself known to the world. Like most festivals, it started with a group of mates who wanted to throw a massive rave. In Shambala’s case, this started with student house parties (probably without the landlord’s knowledge), and with a massive sound system in tow spread through the Welsh valleys. For a brief moment, the Shambala story was something quite unremarkable. Post-university, this group of newly retired students were disillusioned, skint, and needed a job but didn’t really want one. That’s when they pooled their resources and created Jibbering Records, a slightly…