Reading & Leeds Festival Announces First Names, Including Six Headliners, For 2026

The branding for Reading & Leeds Festival for 2026 has pushed hard on how it’s ‘2.0’. The details of what that entails remains to be seen, though already, they’re sporting a snazzy new Pepsi MAX sponsorship, and a return to the six-headliner layout they tried a couple of years ago. Again, there are no details as of yet about whether that means the East and West main stages will be returning, but it gets some thoughts percolating nonetheless.

And that’s exactly what festival season’s final blowout should do, especially when the intent of keeping its finger on the pulse is so crucial. That’s certainly true of the headlining suite, encompassing entirely British and Irish acts for the first time in 25 years, and fully bolstering the modern R&L tenets of pop, indie, hip-hop and dance music. It’s no exaggeration to say that Charli XCX has become a club-ready icon in recent times, where the embers of 2024’s Brat Summer clearly remain alight. RAYE looks set to follow suit in status, albeit through a jazzy, opulent, no less personality-driven form of pop music. In electronic music, the renaissance of Chase & Status gives them ample cause to bring drum ‘n’ bass to the top of the bill. Dave’s place at the apex of UK hip-hop remains his own, thanks to another wave of acclaim from his recent album The Boy Who Played The Harp. Finally, indie music brings in the band of the moment, Fontaines D.C., as well as Florence + The Machine who, if we’re being totally honest, should’ve been headlining a long time ago. Still, better late than never.

Leeds-goers will also notice a Thursday headline slot from Kasabian, seemingly as a tease of a far more upscaled version of the traditional early-doors entertainment. It’s an impressive get, honestly, and even if the gesture of giving up-and-comers the spotlight for an evening was always a nice one, a stalwart of British indie for around two decades is hardly going to be sniffed at. No such addition has been announced for Reading just yet, though Dutch DJ Chris Stussy is the first of presumably more exclusives to the southern site.

Beyond that, there’s an impressively dense crop of names already announced. Skepta is the perfect addition to a lineup that also boasts Dave, as another kingpin of UK hip-hop that operates in different stylistic circles, but still carries a notable sharpness in craft. sombr, meanwhile, is the sort of act that possibly has headlining potential in his future if his momentum sustains. He’s easily been one of the most lucrative breakout names of 2025, fluidly in both pop and alternative circles in a really noteworthy way. You can almost say the same for Role Model who, despite being sonically smaller, has hit a lode within Americana-tinged indie-pop that’s seen him utterly rocket recently. As for JADE, her Little Mix-shaped launchpad can’t be denied, though it’s far from the defining trait of her own rapidly building pop career.

In fact, for the remainder of the names in this first announcement, there’s a commonality of ascent that’s either been impossible to miss, or will be in the coming months. In the former category, Kneecap’s inclusion speaks for itself, as even 2025’s kings of controversy have become too big to ignore in this most mainstream of settings. Skye Newman is far more palatable on a wider scale, already racking up considerable hits and becoming the newest breakout star of homegrown soul. There’s also Geese, the favourite of tastemakers the internet over with the irresistibly offbeat post-punk of this year’s Getting Killed, and both Josh Baker and KETTAMA, whose waves in house circles lately have been pretty significant. Finally, there’s the first look at the stars of tomorrow that the R&L bill tends to foster, those being Adéla and her globe-spanning pop akin to her once-prospective group Katseye, and Keo, whose contemporary take on ‘90s alt-rock has already earmarked them as one of 2026’s most significant breakouts.

Reading & Leeds Festival takes place at Richfield Avenue, Reading and Bramham Park, Leeds from 27th-30th August 2026. For more information, visit www.readingandleedsfestival.com.

Words by Luke Nuttall