Valley Fest 2026

Valley Fest returned following a self-imposed “fallow year” for its 11th edition, set against the backdrop of an ever-increasing number of competitors and soaring costs, with this year’s festival expected to cost around £1 million to put on. Founder Luke Hasell takes immense pride in inviting people to “get on my land”, and you would certainly struggle to find a more picturesque piece of land to host a festival on — the main stage overlooking the beautiful Chew Valley Lake surely makes it the best festival location for everyone’s next social media profile picture. 

This year the festival stepped back from what could be argued were the stronger musical offerings of previous years, with the focus being much more on, in their own words, “the land that grounds us, the food that nourishes us, music that moves us and a community that lifts us higher”.

With that in mind, we entered the festival gates expecting food galore: numerous food stall offerings and some of the best variety on the festival circuit. Sadly this wasn’t the case, with around six to eight vendors across the entire site. It felt deflating, given this had been something which impressed us on previous visits. The limited choice r wasn’t a complete failure, though, as there were sufficient options to keep the two young children happy, much to the delight of their parents! Boy did they need the fuel, because Super Pirates kept the fun flowing for all children in attendance for the entirety of the weekend. I cannot speak highly enough of them and the energy they brought to the kids’ area.

Music-wise, as mentioned, it could be argued that in terms of size the festival had stepped back. That being said, each time we saw an artist on any of the stages we had a great time. Our highlights were Dutty Moonshine Big Band, who despite some sound issues out of their control had one of the largest crowds of the weekend; Cam Cole, who plays an entire band’s worth of instruments himself; Friendly Fires, who sounded incredible 17 years on from their debut album; and last but not least Fisherman’s Friends, who are the perfect last-day band for any festival with their sea shanties and joyful harmonies.

Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to try any of the wellness activities that Valley Fest had to offer, but you could see there had been a large amount of focus placed on this, with everything from cold plunges and saunas to sound baths and yoga available to try. The weather gave us some incredibly warm days, so the cold plunges were certainly very popular, as were the hot tubs, which could be booked to include a glass of bubbly — and why not, given the spectacular views over the valley.

All in all we had a good time, and this is the perfect place to come as a “gateway” festival for a young family rather than jumping into the larger and more commercial offerings out there. However, it did feel like a step back in the overall quality of previous years which, given the rise in costs of putting events of this scale, is sadly not particularly surprising. But I can’t let that detract from the love and care the Valley Fest team put into the festival, nor should it. 

Hasell said in his closing remarks on the main stage on Sunday that this year’s festival might be the last, which I sincerely hope isn’t the case, because the festival scene needs independent festivals such as this to thrive. Let’s see what happens on that front, but for any festival-goers with a young family, coming to this event is a no-brainer. So for now, and with fingers crossed, I will say: roll on 2027.