New festival State Fayre announces headliners Kings of Leon, Neil Young, and The Lumineers

The brand-new major camping festival comes to Hylands Park in Chelmsford this June

A major new weekend camping event is set to be the UK’s largest music and barbecue festival, with a capacity of around 30,000. State Fayre will celebrate rock, Americana and barbecue, with Kings of Leon, Neil Young and The Lumineers headlining. The new festival will land in Chelmsford, Essex from 26 – 28 June 2026.

Also playing across the weekend will be The Black Crowes, Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, Counting Crows, Amble, Kingfishr, Dylan Gossett, Sierra Ferrell, Max McNown, KT Tunstall, The Coral and more.

Inspired by American state fairs and tailgate parties, State Fayre is set to bring “a true taste of Americana to the UK”, with an enormous line-up of rock, country and folk music as well as great food.

Multi-Grammy and BRIT Award winning Kings of Leon will headline the first night of the festival. Recognised globally as one of the biggest alt rock bands of the last two decades, they have headlined many of the world’s most prestigious festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury and numerous Lollapalooza’s in Berlin, Sao Paulo, Chicago and Santiago. Since their debut in 2003, the band have released nine studio albums, selling over 20 million albums and nearly 40 million singles worldwide.

Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts will headline Saturday night of State Fayre 2026. Led by one of the most iconic and influential songwriters of a generation, the band also features Spooner Oldham (organ), Micah Nelson (guitar and vocal), Corey McCormick (bass and vocal), Anthony LoGerfo (drums). The group released their debut album Talkin To The Trees earlier this year.

The Lumineers will close out the festival on Sunday evening. Founded in 2005 by Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano), the group have risen to become one of the most successful and influential bands of their generation, blending alternative rock, Americana, and heartfelt storytelling. Over five studio albums, including their most recent release AUTOMATIC, the band have achieved 24 No.1 hits across multiple radio formats, earned over 6 billion streams and sold more than 1.5 million albums in the US.