The Great Escape 2026: as it happened

On the ground at Brighton's annual new music city takeover

The annual Great Escape balancing act is underway: attempting to catch as many artists as possible while accepting you can’t be in three Brighton venues at once. As the festival celebrates 20 years of new music discovery in 2026, thousands of fans, artists and industry professionals have descended on the coastal city for another weekend of buzzy showcases, impossible clashes and at least one queue that definitely looked shorter on the app.

From breakthrough sets to word-of-mouth chaos and accidental walk-ins, join us on the ground all weekend as we cover The Great Escape 2026 as it unfolds.

Big Wett

“I came all the way from Australia to tell you I’ve got the best pussy in the club,” announces Melbourne’s Big Wett at Komedia on Thursday arvo. It’s a little tricky to describe this performance and keep it PG, but let’s just say the 6 Music dads at the front get a little more from the performance than they bargain for – namely a strap-on dildo to the face. It’s horny, bizarre and definitely a bit ironic, but every track is weirdly an absolute banger. JB

Way Dynamic

OK, the transition between Big Wett to Way Dynamic must be the biggest vibe shift of the whole festival, but that’s part of its magic. Coming all the way from Australia, I was expecting Dylan Young to be performing a stripped back version of Way Dynamic, but how wrong I was, there’s six members on stage bringing these understated and whimsical songs to life with violin, keys and even a melodica. ‘Miffed It’ is clearly an anticipated fan favourite, but those layered guitars on ‘I Was The Dancer’ sound extra crunchy. JB

Julia Cumming

In spite of all of the weather’s indecisiveness over the last 24 hours, a gorgeous golden hour glow descends on the beach just in time for Julia Cumming‘s dreamy performance on Thursday evening at the Ticketmaster New Music Presents showcase. The Sunflower Bean bassist and vocalist’s own project recalls the halcyon years of 70s folk-rock, and she belts out the chorus of songs like ‘My Life’ with such conviction it feels like it could be a song from Tapestry. JB

Angine de Poitrine

Great Escapes don’t have headliners, they have queue sizes – and this year’s biggest wait went to the only Quebecois Pythago-Cubist math rockers in polkadot papier-mâché masks that anyone was talking about. Opening the festival on Wednesday night at a beach set that far too many people didn’t manage to squeeze into, a surprise second show at Hove’s Old Market proved just as crammed. Forget the Hieronymus Bosch outfits. Forget the buzz (sparked off one filmed radio appearance that sent the duo viral overnight). And forget the glossaries full of sub-genre labels being constantly pinned to them. When you’re in the room, there’s nothing quite like Khn and Klek – just a couple of alien dudes playing ridiculously tight microtonal psyche rock. PB

Westside Cowboy

Last year, Manchester’s Westside Cowboy were the talk of the town at The Great Escape, having won Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent competition just weeks before. It’s been a suitably explosive year for them, having impressed many supporting Geese and Black Country, New Road and selling out bigger and bigger venues of their own. Cool and cryptic red flyers are handed out around Brighton which likely hints at a debut album coming soon. Their performance at full-capacity Chalk tonight therefore feels charged with some the biggest anticipation of the festival and they rise to it with ease, their characteristic balance of nervous energy yet tight control coming across in perfect harmony on stage. JB

Westside Cowboy head on a headline UK tour in autumn 2026 – find tickets and more information here

Haute & Freddy

The lightning in a bottle that was DEVO in the 80s, Chromeo in the 2000s and Chappell Roan in the 2020s is Haute & Freddy at The Great Escape 2026. A synth alien carnival takes over The Deep End stage with vocalist Michelle Buzz (Haute) in a gold lamé outfit and percussionist Lance Shipp (Freddy) in a vintage circus ensemble – breezing through songs with titillating lyrics and titles such as ‘Anti-Superstar’, ‘Fashion Over Function’, ‘Freaks’, and “After midnight, when the sun goes down/ There’s a villain beggin’ to come out”. Haute gives us intervals of Sailor Moon villain cackles between crystal clear vocal performances, while Freddy balances multiple instruments at once on stage. It’s clear that Haute & Freddy is the future, and we’re lucky enough to be early on their cosmic ride. MS

BombayMami

The word “fusion” is often thrown around haphazardly in music, as everyone vies to be “genre-defying” or “genre-bending” in an increasingly saturated market. But only a few actually live up to the descriptor, and one of the chosen few is Swiss-Indian singer-songwriter BombayMami. I’ve been following her career after seeing the viral video of her skiing on the alps in a red bridal lehenga to her song ‘Fire In Delhi’ – a fusion of Bollywood, R&B and pop all wrapped into one. Her performance at Komedia Studios on Friday morning is just as impressive. Singing in English, French, Swiss German and Hindi, she confidently tells us she’s in her “Mowgli era”, embracing every part of her heritage with pop and R&B songs that weave in tabla percussion, traditional Indian folk music and more. She works the crowd, eventually turning Komedia into a party as she leaves the stage to come and dance with us up close. Finally she teaches us a chant that encompasses her message in her music, “my body, my voice, my kitty, my choice”. There isn’t anything further to add – BombayMami has said it all. MS