Rock Werchter 2026
Four days in a field outside Brussels, and the thing that stays with me most isn’t actually the music, but how absurdly easy everything was. Getting there, getting back, buying a drink, finding a stage: Rock Werchter has the logistics of a festival that’s been doing this for fifty years, because it has. The cashless system means you’re never looking for a card or a phone, and nor is anyone else. The site is compact enough that when a band you’d forgotten about starts at the far end, you can be watching them barely more than five minutes later. I know this because it happened.
In terms of accommodation, the Hive Resort was incredibly bougie and, for people coming from the UK, absolutely worth it. Watching people drag tents, roll mats and sleeping bags on and off shuttle buses made us so glad we’d saved for it (because yes, it’s expensive). We also became immediately obsessed with the late-night food: a burger that cost €17.55 and was, at gone midnight, the best thing I’d ever eaten. The general camping Hive area is across the road and had a great vibe, with a stage (sometimes playing music, sometimes World Cup games), food, drinks, and a shop in case you’d forgotten something vital — like the single packet of tissues that you ended up paying €0.50 for.
Onto the music. On Thursday we’d hauled ourselves from London and still made Balu Brigada’s 1pm slot in The Barn (via dropping our belongings at our tent), which felt like a small miracle, and they were the perfect wake-up, with easy energy and singalong hooks. They were also a good mood-booster despite the torrential rain, and made sure no one’s spirits were dampened (even if everything else was).
The tent stages filled up fast — for The Vaccines and Franz Ferdinand we arrived to find The Barn already closed off, with little red crosses warning those approaching that they weren’t going to get in. Despite this, we watched both from outside, where there were multiple speakers and screens showing the stage. It’s quieter, yes, and you of course lose some of the energy, but on days this hot, standing in the fresh air with a clear view really didn’t feel like a hardship. I’d prepared myself to miss things when the tents filled up, but in practice I rarely felt I did.
Later on the first day, JADE was a real highlight. She’s a fantastic performer, and who doesn’t enjoy a Little Mix medley? Kasabian were reliable and kept the first-day energy high in the afternoon, and Mumford & Sons closed the first night with the confidence of a band who’ve done this a thousand times. They brought out singer Pommelien Thijs, giving the Belgian crowd a real increase in energy at what could have been a slightly quieter point in the set.
From there the weekend became a run of consistently strong sets. Halsey was the surprise of the festival for me, playing a full hour of rock versions of her songs (intentionally, as it’s a “rock festival”), which was one of the best-judged uses of a set I saw all weekend. A rock version of ‘Closer’ by The Chainsmokers led her to say “I bet you never thought you’d like that song” and, you know what? I agree.
CMAT was pure joy and I can only add to the chorus of people who say she’s a fantastic live performer, Franz Ferdinand were reliably fun, and The Vaccines and Wolf Alice both delivered strong performances full of hits. Radio Free Alice and Florence Road, both on the Nest stage (Rock Werchter’s discovery stage, shaped a little like the Colosseum), gave really tight performances from comparatively new bands, and despite the crowds for both being full and us watching from outside, the sound and view were still great.
Lewis Capaldi was exactly what you’d hope. His voice was immaculate, and the between-song chat was funnier than most comedians. Kneecap and LANDMVRKS were loud, fun, and outspoken, and Scene Queen can only be described as chaotic: one song’s introduction was so blunt that the woman in front of me physically recoiled. Twenty One Pilots’ Saturday headline set was a proper spectacle, the kind of show that reminds you why some acts go round and round on the festival circuit.
David Byrne played on Sunday, and The Barn was heaving well before he started; clearly everyone had the same idea, and it’s easy to see why. The performance was more of a show than a gig, Byrne and his small army of musicians and dancers moving around the stage in matching outfits, marching and weaving through the songs in a way that’s wonderfully quirky. It was unlike anything else we’d seen all weekend, and the kind of set that stays with you.
Any gripes are predictable and mostly about money. Food inside the arena was expensive and rarely brilliant — we found one salad stand we loved and kept going back (partly for the value, partly because it was one of the only places serving an actual vegetable), and I worked my way through three pasta bologneses over the weekend with zero regret (again, one of the only decently-sized meals for less than a tenner). Glamping, too, comes at a real premium. However, the ticket itself was reasonable, and a big part of the draw of the festival. For the sheer number of huge names on the bill, this was unquestionably the best-value part of the whole weekend.
The other challenge was the sun. It was gloriously, relentlessly hot, but shade was scarce and everyone gravitated to the same small clusters of trees. Credit to Werchter where it’s due: free sunscreen was everywhere, and on Saturday, the hottest day by a distance, they turned on water misters that we made a beeline for whenever we saw one. The main stage was also punishingly loud if you arrived early, before the crowd was there to soak up the sound (as we found out for Wolf Alice), but luckily they sell earplugs on site and so idiots like me weren’t forced to miss out on acts we wanted to see because we’d left ours at home.
By the end, tired and tanned (or burnt…), our overall impression was of a festival that has its act comprehensively together. It was slick, well-scheduled, and stacked to the brim with huge-name acts. We came home and immediately wanted to go back next year.