The Great Escape 2026: Brighton's biggest showcase

Brighton's biggest music showcase has come and gone for the year, so it's worth a look back at what the 20th anniversary of The Great Escape actually sounded like. Europe's leading festival for new music took over the city from 13 to 16 May, run by the Great Escape Festival Company, a subsidiary of Live Nation, and once again turning Brighton into a multi-venue festival with hundreds of emerging artists playing across the city.

The line-up ran to more than 100 names, and the sheer breadth of it was the point. Among them were Ain't, Annie-Dog, Ashaine White, Au/Ra, AVA, Joe Bean Magazine, Becky Sikasa, BED, Big Long Sun, Carpetman, Clothesline from Hell, DC3, Dermot Henry, Elsa, Gareth, Girl Group, Girl Tones, Isak Benjamin, Jack Devlin, James Emmanuel, Kellan Christopher Cragg, ladylike, Lily Moore, Little Grandad, Madra Salach, Marlon Funaki, Max Baby, Meltt, Morn, Mustbejohn, Ngaiire, Persia Holder, PISS, Really Good Time, Ringlets, Saint Clair, Sean Trelford, SISTRA, SLAG, Sophia Thakur, Tanzana, Teenage Joans, The Itch, THE OBGMs, Tommy WÁ, Truman Sinclair, Tukki, Wah Wah Wah, Westside Cowboy, Yndling, ARXX, Bella Kay, Do Nothing, Gans, Girl in the Year Above, Girl Scout, The Healing Power of Horses, Kerr Mercer, The Orchestra (For Now), The Skinner Brothers and Y. On the final Saturday, the Sounds Australia at the Beach x Ones to Watch Stage brought over Flynn Gurry, Loose Content, Salarymen, Darcie Haven, Ngaiire, Charli Lucas and Teenage Joans.

The Spotlight Shows were the centrepieces, both held at the Brighton Dome Concert Hall on Church Street. The Irish alt-folk trio Kingfishr played there on Thursday 14 May, formed in Limerick in 2017 by Eddie Keogh, Eoghan "McGoo" McGrath and Eoin "Fitz" Fitzgibbon, with their debut studio album Halcyon having come out in August 2025. Peaches followed with a Spotlight Show on Friday 15 May. Neither came with the festival wristband, so you needed a separate gig ticket or to get lucky in the free ticket giveaway for wristband holders.

The venues themselves are part of the story. The Brighton Dome Concert Hall was completed in 1805, converted into a Concert Hall in 1866 and 1867, restored in 1935 with an art-deco interior and officially re-opened in March 2002 by Princess Anne, with room for 1,400 to 1,700 seated or 1,700 to 1,800 standing. The festival is also associated with the Brighton Centre on Kings Road, which opened on 19 September 1977 as the largest event venue built specifically for that purpose on the South Coast, holding 4,270 seated or 5,532 standing.

Off-stage, there was a new city-wide initiative tied to the wristband, with local businesses offering discounts and complimentary extras to anyone wearing one. Shelter Hall, Helm Gallery, Stanley Road Department Store, Chilli Pickle, Beach Box Spa and Family Store were all on board. It's a nice touch for a festival that's as much about the city as it is about the music, and it gives you something to do between stages when you're not chasing the next discovery. For anyone who missed it, the 20th anniversary was a big one to skip, but it's the kind of event that's always worth keeping an eye on for next time.