European Festival Guide 2026

Festival season in Europe continues to set the benchmark for live music, blending world-class line-ups with iconic cities, historic sites and unforgettable summer energy. From sprawling camping weekends to slick inner-city showcases, these festivals represent the best places to catch the biggest artists alongside future headliners. Here’s our guide to some of the essential European festivals to have on your radar in 2026. My goal is to populate full guides for each of these festivals so check back in as we approach the summer!

Slam Dunk Festival

When: May 23rd & 24th
Where: Hatfield & Leeds, UK
Type: Day Festival
Line-up Highlights: Good Charlotte, Sublime, Knocked Loose

Slam Dunk Festival has firmly established itself as the UK’s premier pop punk and alternative festival, bringing together generations of scene favourites alongside newer acts shaping the future of heavy music. Split between its North and South editions, the festival delivers a focused, high-energy experience built around punk, emo, metalcore and hardcore, with line-ups that balance nostalgia and discovery in equal measure. The 2026 edition continues that tradition, with major moments like Good Charlotte’s only European appearance and Sublime’s first-ever UK show sitting alongside cult favourites and rising newcomers.

LIDO Festival

When: June 12th, 13th & 14th
Where: London, UK
Type: City Festival
Line-up Highlights: CMAT, Maribou State, Bombay Bicycle Club

LIDO Festival sets itself apart through its focus on artist-curated line-ups, creating a more intentional and immersive experience than the typical city festival. Rather than stacking stages with clashing headliners, each day is shaped around a clear musical vision, allowing artists like CMAT and Maribou State to guide the tone and flow of the event. Hosted in a carefully chosen urban green space, LIDO has also gained recognition for its commitment to sustainability, picking up awards for its environmentally conscious approach to staging, waste reduction and audience impact. It’s a forward-thinking festival that proves scale and responsibility don’t have to be at odds.

See our LIDO Festival Guide here.

See how it went with London Grammar and Turnstile at LIDO 2025.

Isle of Wight Festival

When: June 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st
Where: Isle of Wight, UK
Type: Island Camping Festival
Line-up Highlights: The Cure, Lewis Capaldi, Calvin Harris

The Isle of Wight Festival remains one of the UK’s defining summer staples, blending decades of heritage with a lineup that balances established headliners and newer artists shaping the current scene. The festival’s island setting gives it a sense of escape that starts with the journey itself, setting it apart from mainland events and creating a shared experience that feels bigger than just the music. While its history is undeniable, Isle of Wight continues to evolve, offering something for long-time attendees and first-timers alike through varied programming, strong crowd energy and a focus on memorable live moments. It’s a festival that understands its legacy but isn’t stuck in it, proving why it still holds a key place in the summer calendar.

See our write up on Isle of Wight Festival here.

Primavera Sound

When: June 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th
Where: Barcelona, Spain
Type: City Festival
Line-up Highlights: The Cure, Doja Cat, The xx, Gorillaz

Primavera Sound has built a reputation as one of Europe’s most carefully curated festivals, known for balancing indie credibility with forward-thinking pop, electronic and alternative artists across a densely packed lineup. Set against Barcelona’s coastal Parc del Fòrum, it offers a distinctly urban festival experience where genre boundaries feel intentionally blurred, placing legacy acts alongside emerging names to reflect the changing shape of modern music culture. The 2026 edition continues that tradition, bringing together artists like The Cure, The xx and Massive Attack alongside newer voices and global pop figures, creating a programme that feels both nostalgic and future-facing. Rather than relying on spectacle alone, Primavera’s strength lies in its programming — a festival built for discovery, late-night wandering between stages and the kind of lineups that reward curiosity as much as loyalty.

BST HYDE PARK

When: June 27th, July 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th & 12th
Where: London, UK
Type: City Festival
Line-up Highlights: Lewis Capaldi, Pitbull, Garth Brooks, Mumford & Sons, Maroon 5

BST Hyde Park stands apart from traditional multi-day festivals by building each date around a single major headline show, turning every evening into its own standalone event rather than part of a crowded schedule. Set in the middle of London’s Hyde Park, the festival blends large-scale production with a setting that still feels connected to nature, most notably through the iconic Great Oak Stage, whose tree-inspired design mirrors the surrounding parkland and gives the main arena a distinctive identity. The format allows artists to fully own the day, creating huge headline moments supported by carefully selected line-ups rather than competing clashes across stages.

See our write up of Sabrina Carpenter’s BST Show in 2025.

Rock Werchter

When: July 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th
Where: Werchter, Belgium
Type: Camping Festival
Line-up Highlights: The Cure, Twenty One Pilots, The xx, Gorillaz

Rock Werchter is the epitome of Belgian efficiency meeting festival chaos, offering an experience that feels both effortlessly organised and utterly epic. With world-class outdoor stages like The Barn and a lineup stacked with some of the biggest headliners of the summer, the festival delivers huge-scale performances without losing the sense of intimacy and flow that make multi-day camping events memorable. Attendees benefit from smart logistics, clearly defined spaces, and expertly curated programming, meaning you spend less time navigating and more time immersed in the music.

Roundhay Festival

When: July 3rd and 4th
Where: Leeds, UK
Type: City Festival
Line-up Highlights: Lewis Capaldi, Pitbull, Kesha

Set in the heart of Roundhay Park, one of Europe’s largest city parks, Roundhay Festival is still shrouded in mystery, with only headliners Lewis Capaldi and Pitbull confirmed so far. For now, it looks set to act as the northern counterpart to BST Hyde Park, with early indications suggesting line-ups will mirror the London event. Despite the limited details, the festival promises the same mix of big-name spectacle and carefully curated supporting acts, all within the open green space of Roundhay Park.

Mad Cool Festival

When: July 8th, 9th, 10th & 11th
Where: Madrid, Spain
Type: City Festival
Line-up Highlights: Foo Fighters, Kings Of Leon, Florence + The Machine, Pulp

Mad Cool has firmly cemented itself as one of the best value-for-money festivals anywhere in the world, offering four packed days of huge headliners, diverse line-ups and late-night chaos for little more than the price of a single arena show. When you realise the full weekend ticket costs only slightly more than seeing a band like Foo Fighters on their own, it’s hard not to appreciate just how much the festival delivers. Add in Madrid’s relentless sunshine, a crowd that feels ready to go from the first act to the early hours, and the city’s after-hours energy spilling beyond the festival gates, and it’s easy to see why this has become one of my favourite ways to spend the summer.

Revisit our tips, festival vibes and artist highlights from 2025, spanning Benson Boone to Nine Inch Nails, here.

Sziget Festival

When: August 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th & 15th
Where: Budapest, Hungary
Type: Camping and City Festival
Line-up Highlights: Lewis Capaldi, Sombr, Twenty One Pilots, Florence + The Machine, Bring Me The Horizon

Sziget Festival has always stood apart thanks to its unique setting a five-day celebration combining the freedom of a camping festival with the energy of a city break, all set on an island in the middle of Budapest. With the announcement of its second wave of artists, the 2026 lineup has shifted from feeling like a solid European offering to one of the strongest of the summer, elevating its status among the season’s must-visit events. The scale and variety remain a key part of Sziget’s appeal, allowing attendees to explore everything from major headline sets to unexpected discoveries across the site. I’ve now been six times, and if the quality of Sziget stays this strong, I can easily see that number continuing to grow.

All Points East

When: August 22nd, 23rd, 28th, 29th & 30th
Where: London, UK
Type: City Festival, series of curated day events
Line-up Highlights: Tyler, The Creator, Deftones, Lorde, Twenty One Pilots

All Points East continues to prove itself as one of London’s strongest city festivals, with a 2026 programme packed with recent Grammy winners and nominees including Lorde, Tyler, The Creator, Twenty One Pilots, Deftones, Turnstile and DJO. It’s easily the best overall APE lineup I’ve seen, and the strength across multiple days almost makes you wish they would introduce a full multi-day ticket rather than treating each show as a standalone event. In many ways it feels like LIDO Festival’s bigger sibling — larger scale, bigger names and massive headline moments — while still delivering an accessible and well-curated day out in Victoria Park. And honestly, when comparing pure lineup value, it comfortably outshines Reading Festival this year.

Rock en Seine

When: August 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th & 30th
Where: Outer Paris, France
Type: City Festival
Line-up Highlights: Tyler the Creator, Lorde, Nick Cave, Deftones, The Cure

Just outside of Paris in the stunning grounds of Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, Rock en Seine pairs a star-studded lineup with a surprisingly affordable ticket price — much like Mad Cool, it offers serious value compared to many other major European festivals. To be completely honest, I know very little about the festival itself, but the scenery looks incredible and the lineup speaks for itself, making it hard to ignore when planning a late-summer trip.