The Great Escape 2026: a look back at Brighton's showcase

Brighton's biggest music week is now a matter of history rather than a date to circle. The Great Escape 2026, which marked the festival's landmark 20th anniversary, took over the city from 13 to 16 May, and if you missed it, the good news is that the festival is built to come back. For those who have never caught it, the format is what makes it: Europe's leading showcase for new music, spread across more than 30 venues across the city, with around 450 up-and-coming artists playing over the four days. It is less a single-site festival and more a city-wide takeover, which is why it works so well in a place like Brighton.

The venues are a big part of the appeal. The O2 Academy Brighton, a Grade II listed building on the corner of North Street and Western Road with a capacity of 2,500, is one of the anchors; it opened in 1912 as the New Victoria Cinema before being converted into a live music venue in 1999. Alongside it, the festival pulls in The Hope & Anchor, The Concorde, The Black Cat, and a whole host of smaller rooms, including MOTH Club, Folklore, Paper Dress Vintage, Sebright Arms, The Victoria, The George Tavern, The Jago and Oslo. Much of the action centres on the North Laine, the neighbourhood just a five-minute walk downhill from Brighton station, bounded by Trafalgar Street to the north, North Street to the south, Queens Road to the west and Grand Parade and Valley Gardens to the east.

The 2026 bill gave a good sense of the range on offer. Wednesday opened with the likes of Angine de Poitrine, BNNYHUNNA, EMNW, Flooding, Frozemode, Gilska, Girl Apocrypha, Glazyhaze, Healing Power of Horses, Hemi Hemingway, Jack Van Cleaf, Jos Rivers, Lemonsuckr, Lonnie Gunn, Mae Hill, Mudrat, Native James, Room Service, Sword II, The Itch and Vera Ellen. Thursday added Abbie Piper, AU/RA, Becky Sikasa, Brooki, Chinese American Bear, DC3, Dead Dads Club, Girl Group, Haute & Freddy, Heartworms, In Color, JNR Williams, Julia Cumming, Kellan Christopher Cragg, Lime Garden, Little Grandad, Lottery Winners, Luca George, Pigeon, Piss, Ringlets, The Orielles, The Skinner Brothers, Tooth, Way Dynamic and Westside Cowboy. Friday brought Amanzi, Any Young Mechanic, Bella Kay, Bimini, Bleech 9:3, Brother Wallace, Dééfait, Girl Tones, Headsend, Heidi Curtis, Keo, Levitation Orchestra, Lord Apex, Lucia & The Best Boys, Maddie Ashman, Marsy, Pixie McCann, Pollyfromthedirt, Pozzy, PVA, Raghd, Slag, The Orchestra (For Now), Tom A Smith, Tony Bontana, Villanelle and Wesley Joseph. Saturday closed with AK Patterson, Arxx, Bug Teeth, Congratulations, Ebi Soda, Flora Hibberd, Frenzee, Glasshouse Red Spider Mite, Goodbye, Half Happy, Hank, Keyah/Blu, Martial Arts, Mother Soki, Native James, Opal Mag, Problem Patterns, Psychonaut, Shtëpi, Song Dongye, The Gnomes, The Slow Country, Tom Rasmussen, Tommy Wá, Truthpaste, Tsatsamis, Ugly Ozo and Y.

A standout moment was the Spotlight Show at the Brighton Dome Concert Hall on Thursday 14 May, which featured the Irish alt-folk trio Kingfishr. The whole thing was teased months in advance, with the First Fifty launch event on 13 November 2025 at eight venues in East London introducing the first wave of artists. If you are already planning for the next edition, the full festival and conference schedule usually drops a month ahead via the free official app, and the official website, greatescapefestival.com, is where everything lands first.