Headliners & More Announced for ArcTanGent Festival 2026 · News

The much-loved and award winning ArcTanGent Festival returns this next Summer 2026 and can now reveal all three days main stage headliner acts, as well as a host of other amazing artists for the festival which runs 19-22nd August 2026.

Starting off the main stage headliners announcement are the legendary experimental rock band Primus, playing their first ever show at the festival and the first shows in the UK since 2017. Performing songs from their vast collection of much loved and much lauded back catalogue, this will be one of THE sets not just of next summers event, but from all ArcTanGent Festival history.

Next up we have main stage headliner, the utterly stunning and beguiling American singer songwriter Chelsea Wolfe. With last years massively acclaimed album ‘She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She’ helping her achieve her first BBC 6Music Playlist additions, this will be an unmissable show. She was actually announced as our headliner back in 2020, but with the global outbreak of COVID, it was an event and a headline set that never happened.

The final main stage headliner for 2026 is Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas, who will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of their incredible album ‘Mariner’ by playing it in full. This phenomenal album was released back in April 2016, AND this ArcTanGent show is a 2026 UK exclusive, their only UK show for the whole year.

From Johannes of Cult Of Luna - “In 2016, we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Somewhere Along the Highway. At the time, it already felt like a lifetime had passed since we recorded it. That same year, we released Mariner with Julie Christmas and somehow, ten more years have gone by in what feels like an instant. I was about to make a clever analogy about the speed of light and the passage of time to connect it all to the themes of the album, but it’s too early in the morning for that kind of thinking. It probably just comes down to the fact I’m getting older faster. What I’m really trying to say is simple: I take every chance I get to be on stage with Julie. As a band, we spent a lot of time considering what it would mean to revisit these songs again. Making this album was a risk, we didn’t know what the creative process would look like with someone who wasn’t part of our world at the time. Julie is now a dear friend, and we’re grateful to ArcTanGent Festival for giving us the opportunity to return to this material together. So with a mix of excitement and a fair bit of fear, we’re preparing to bring these songs back to life next summer.“

From Julie Christmas - “This will be an experience, not a performance. Blood, sweat, and tears… light, love, and sound so loud I might shatter. Cult of Luna changed the way I think about making music forever. The ArcTanGent Festival is run by some of the most hardworking, brave and passionate people I’ve met. I’m terrified; I feel the electricity already. So grateful to be allowed to be part of something bigger than I could ever do alone. Don’t miss this.”

If these weren’t enough for todays announcement, joining them include the festivals Wednesday headliners, UK math rock band Sikth, legendary UK grind-core band Napalm Death, Oakland California metal band High On Fire, UK heavy metal band Conjurer as well as the wonderful Cellist and composer, Jo Quail who is playing with the crossbones ensemble, as a UK exclusive.

Speaking of the new additions to the ArcTanGent Festival, organiser James Scarlett says - “The stars really have aligned for this set of ArcTanGent headliners - and it’s safe to say all three have been firmly at the top of our wish lists for a very, very long time. Primus at ArcTanGent is well overdue, Chelsea Wolfe can finally make that headliner appearance following the booking, announcement and then cancellation from back in 2020 due to Covid, and ‘Mariner’ by Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas is 100% one of the greatest albums of all time (and celebrating it’s 10th anniversary next year!). To have them all headline ATG in the same year is literally unbelievable - and we’re extremely proud to present a festival line up truly unlike anything else you’ll find on the planet.“

These incredible acts and artists add to an already stacked, already announced line up that includes the likes of Igorrr, Pertubator, Chat Pile, Alcest, Oathbreaker, Agent Fresco, TTNG, Svalbard, Heck, Alpha Male Tea Party and many more

A full list of bands announced today for ArcTanGent Festival 2026
Primus (Friday Headliner) / Chelsea Wolfe (Thursday Headliner) / Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas performing Mariner (Saturday Headliner) / Napalm Death / SikTh* (Wednesday Headliner) / High On Fire / Conjurer / Jo Quail & The Crossbones Ensemble

FULL LINE-UP SO FAR (New additions in bold)
Primus (Friday Headliner) / Chelsea Wolfe (Thursday Headliner) / Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas performing Mariner (Saturday Headliner) / Igorrr / Napalm Death / SikTh* (Wednesday Headliner) / Perturbator / Chat Pile / High On Fire / Alcest / Oathbreaker / Agent Fresco / Conjurer / TTNG / Svalbard* / BRUIT ≤ / Amplifier (Silent Disco Live Set) / Heck / Alpha Male Tea Party* / Humanfly / Jo Quail & The Crossbones Ensemble / Psychonaut / Lost In Kiev* / Overhead, The Albatross* / Michael Cera Palin / Darkher / Shearling / Town Portal / Barrens / Blessings / Bucket / Chalk Hands* / DIMSCÛA* / Erotic Secrets of Pompeii / Giant Walker* / The Grey* / HAAL / KLÄMP / Meatdripper / No Violet / Sans Froid* / Swamp Coffin* / Tanzana / Zatokrev / Sara Zozaya
*= Wednesday only

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How to get to ArcTanGent Festival - HERE
Ticket Link for ArcTanGent 2026 is - HERE
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A little bit about ArcTanGent Festival (ATG):
Taking place near Bristol between the 19th August and the 22nd August, the festival celebrated its TENTH year in 2024, and was once again shortlisted at the Festival Awards (which it won best small festival in 2018), and continues to bring together some of the most interesting, diverse, exciting and eclectic bills for any festival anywhere in the world.

The award-winning ArcTanGent Festival is a green fields music festival that delivers line-ups you won’t find anywhere else on Earth. ArcTanGent Festival has built a reputation for itself as THE emerging UK rock festival, both putting on exclusive performances from exceptional, worldwide artists and supporting new, exciting talent. ArcTanGent Festival is a fully independent festival that grows organically year on year

Previous acts include Mogwai, Heilung, Devin Townsend, Opeth, Messhugah, Coheed and Cambria, Battles, Wardruna, Shellac, Converge, Karnivool, Clown Core, Glassjaw, Explosions In The Sky, Russian Circles, Nordic Giants, Mono, Tesseract, American Football, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Baroness, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Electric Wizard, Carpenter Brut, Deafheaven, La Dispute, Spiritualised, Sikth, Empire State Bastard, HEALTH, Cave In, Igorrr, Animals As Leaders, Cult of Luna, Deerhoof, This Will Destroy You, 65daysofstatic, Zeal & Ardour, Ho99o9, Daughters, Loathe, Pigs7, Brutus, Red Fang, F**k Buttons, Fronterier, Enslaved, Black Peaks, Pupil Slicer, Ithaca, The Ocean, Rolo Tomassi, Arcane Roots, Employed To Serve and many, many more.

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Best Small Festival winner at the UK Festival Awards 2018, ArcTanGent Festival