Rain clouds gather as Green Man opens to sold out 2026 festival

Amelia Jones

Green Man, the largest independent music, science and arts festival in Wales has today opened its gates for its 24th festival, with a sold out crowd of 25,000 people set to enjoy four days of world-class music and arts programming in the spectacular setting of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

Once again, all 25,000 tickets for Green Man 2026 sold out within one hour of their release back in September 2025 – prior to the announcement of any lineup or programming.

Retaining its status as the first UK festival of the calendar year to completely sell out, the ever-growing demand for Green Man tickets proves testament to the festival’s 100% independent status, prioritising freedom of curation, experience and community over any kind of corporate investment.

For those lucky enough to have secured a Green Man Settlement ticket, the festival site opened early on Monday 17th August, allowing Settlers the opportunity to pair their festival weekend with a full week camping trip in mid-Wales.

Uniquely, the festival allows ticket holders the freedom to come and go from the site as they please, allowing a chance to engage with local heritage sites, galleries, outdoor activities and wellness experiences before getting stuck into their festival weekend.

Green Man’s 2026 music programming begins tonight, with Scottish post-rock band Mogwai headlining the Far Out stage. The band will kick off proceedings with a celebration of their 30-year discography, including material from their 11th studio album The Bad Fire.

Elsewhere this evening, Charlotte Church’s Pop Dungeon makes a monumental return to Green Man, promising a high-energy performance of pop covers with high camp and good times aplenty; alongside performances from the likes of Lime Garden, Madra Salach and Friko, and an all Welsh lineup at the Walled Garden.

While music will always be at the heart of Green Man, the festival boasts 16 stages offering comedy, science, live interviews, circus, and cinema offering something for all ages to enjoy, whether it be a yoga session in the peaceful Nature Nurture wellness area, or a freshly pulled Welsh beer at Green Man’s own Welsh Beer and Cider festival in the Courtyard.

For those attending with the family, the Little Folk area offers free activities for those aged 0-11, including Sunday’s annual Little Folk costume parade; and Somewhere gives 12-17 year festival goers a chance to make new friends and learn new skills with a series of workshops and games.

Notably, the 2026 Last Laugh stage sees Green Man’s comedy offering expanded to its biggest lineup to date. Topping the bill this year will be award-winning stand-up comedian and TV host Joe Lycett; comedian, actor and writer Bridget Christie; Green Man-regular, Stewart Lee and the likes of Josie Long; Garth Marenghi, Kerry Godliman and Jessica Fostekew.

In keeping with Green Man’s pledge to platform future talents, the stage will also platform some of the buzziest new names in comedy, including writer, comedian and actor Jack Shep, who recently shot into the spotlight as a cast member on SNL UK

At The Talking Shop, award-winning Welsh investigative journalist Will Hayward will host a series of in conversation sessions with Delyth Jewell, Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health of Wales.

Elsewhere Eamonn Forde will speak to Richard Russell, Founder of XL Recordings; and award-winning actress and star of Game of Thrones, Maisie Williams will sit down with Welsh producer and filmmaker Lowri Roberts.

On Sunday, The Guardian will host a Guardian Live special session with English actress and musician Samantha Morton, discussing her life and career through music as she unravels her ‘Honest Playlist’.

Meanwhile, over at the Cinedrome stage, film offerings this year include a special screening of the iconic 2010 coming-of-age comedy-drama Submarine, introduced by Welsh actor and director Craig Roberts, who played lead character Oliver Tate; and Adrian Utley of Portishead will introduce Broken English, followed by a special performance of songs by Marianne Faithfull from Utley and Beth Orton.

The iconic Green Man Mountain Stage will open tomorrow, Friday, with a special opening set from Tall Child, the winners of the 2026 Green Man Rising competition.

The London-based, Nigerian/Indian musician Zha Gandhi was hand selected by a panel of industry experts, beating a record breaking amount of applicants to the prize of the coveted opening Mountain slot, and will also receive a week’s studio time at Prah Recordings, a live recorded session at the festival and a physical vinyl release with Dinked Edition

The same stage will welcome Green Man’s 2026 headliners throughout the weekend; with Friday night hosting Jeff Tweedy led US rock-band Wilco, who return to Green Man for the first time since their landmark 2009 headline set.

On Saturday night, pioneering British producer and DJ Four Tet will bring his acclaimed combination of house, techno, and experimental electronics; and on Sunday, BRIT Award winning indie-rockers Wolf Alice will top the Green Man bill for the very first time, closing out the weekend with their new record The Clearing.

Further highlights include Cat Power, celebrating the 20th anniversary of her iconic album The Greatest, The Beta Band, visiting Wales as part of their first tour in 21 years, and New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, who stops off at Green Man whilst working on a forthcoming new album.

Elsewhere, South London post-punks Dry Cleaning with music from their brand new album Secret Love and North Carolina rockers Wednesday. They’re joined by the likes of Shame, Sorry, The Beths, Smerz, Fcukers and a live performance from Daniel Avery.

With Green Man firmly rooted as Wales’ most internationally-rooted music festival, the 2026 lineup will also the likes of Malian rock band Tamikrest; Ghanaian cult icon Ata Kak and South Korean punk-rockers Sailor Honeymoon, alongside the Kongo jazz of Kongo Dia Ntotila and Indonesian psych-groove of Amsterdam-based Nusantara Beat.

For the full Green Man 2026 lineup see: https://www.greenman.net

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