UK festivals: Hidden gems you may not have heard of - Gemfest, Gottwood and more
Festival season is approaching, and while I'm sure you know all about Glastonbury, Boomtown and Reading festivals, why not try something new?
With Glastonbury taking a year’s break from music and dancing, what other festivals can compare?
Away from the immense crowds, ticket prices and mainstream headliners, here are some under-the-radar festivals offering community, forest raves, and rising artists, as recommended by Music News Blitz’s Olivia Carolan.
Music opinion: Coachella took ‘2026 is the new 2016’ seriously
Welcome to the desert. Weekend 1 of the hit music festival Coachella took place in Indio, California, from April 10-12, 2026.
The festival is such a global phenomenon that fans tuned into the live stream from home, affectionately nicknaming it “bedchella” or “couchchella.”
Weekend 2 is scheduled for April 17-19, 2026, and will again be livestreamed on Coachella’s official YouTube channel.
This year, the festival has been hailed as the return of 2016, where popular musicians of that era performed, and 2016 fashion trends reappeared, writes Music News Blitz’s Sarah Sharp.
Cancel culture in the music industry: Selective accountability?
One of the UK’s biggest festivals, Wireless, has been cancelled after the headliner for all three days, Kanye West, was denied entry into the UK, which has now sparked debate online.
Is cancel culture applied equally across the industry, or is accountability just shaped by public perception and commercial value?
Music News Blitz writer Maisie Sharp-Fehr gives her thoughts.
Up-and-coming UK festivals to watch in Summer 2026: ‘Tramlines’, ‘Forwards’ and more
Soon enough, the clocks will be light past 5 pm – we won’t need to wear 4 layers to leave the house, and the main plans for the day will be getting a tan. Indeed, summer is rapidly approaching, and with it comes the festival season!
And although there is no Glastonbury this year (not that I could get tickets anyway), there are still plenty of fabulous festivals with a stack of headliners.
Here, Megan Rogers-Jones, writer for Music News Blitz, will provide an overview of the most anticipated and up-and-coming UK festivals for Summer 2026, which you won't have to sell your organs to afford.