The Great Escape, the festival for new music, is back with another exciting line-up over four days in May. Just in case we were in any doubt of May’s status as the best month in the Brighton calendar.
On to the details: the festival have now revealed the full mammoth line-up of the 450+ UK and global up-and-coming artists and rising stars who are playing at this year’s event.
As ever, there’s a huge variety of music to discover, from neo-soul and pop-rock to boundary-pushing experimental and post-punk fusion, with music mags and labels (including our own Bella Union) hosting stages, too. Something for everyone, basically. And because Brighton is a brilliantly walkable city, it’s easy to wander to any of the 35 venues on foot.
Like with Brighton Fringe, half the fun is just accidentally coming across some new artists’ music to fall in love with. You know, the kind of thing that might you not normally listen to and then can’t stop playing on repeat.
The festival always puts on spotlight shows, too – standalone gigs from big name artists (that need separate tickets). This year, it’s the turn of The Kooks, Kingfishr and Peaches (with Bimini).
Early-bird tickets have sold out, but there are still plenty of single-day and weekend tickets available at the time of writing, at least!
Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th May, 2026; from £33; various venues around Brighton
greatescapefestival.com
