Electric Picnic: 12 essential acts to see, plus top tips for the smaller stages
Electric Picnic 2026 takes place this weekend with headliners such as Zara Larsson, Gorillaz, and Fontaines DC.
The 21-year-old New Yorker Shane Boose, aka Sombr, has enjoyed a meteoric rise from bedroom TikTok uploads to headlining almost every other big festival this summer. A confessional singer-songwriter for the social media denouement, his 2025 debut delivered on the early promise of breakthrough single , which was released while he was in his teens. There have been a string of singles this year, most recently, the Coldplay-aping . In front of a young crowd ready to cry along with every word, Sombr’s main stage set is set to be one of the purest “new star arrives” moments of the weekend.
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s cartoon collective make their long-overdue Electric Picnic debut as Saturday headliners. Fresh off February’s — their ninth studio album was a typically globe-spanning, collaborative affair that delivered great reviews — they’re been touring it across the year, including a couple shows at Dublin’s 3Arena. Some 25 years into their career, , , and are proven festival anthems.
The Dublin band return as Sunday night headliners on the cusp of another leap. They announced their fifth album and dropped the first single just last week, so this weekend’s show (they’re also headlining Reading and Leeds) should give a clear taste of the record they’ve described as moving decisively away from guitars of their early work into something colder, stranger, and more synthetic. The older material still hits hard — will sound humongous, and will feel like an old friend. Their homecoming already feels like a statement.
Swedish pop star Zara Larsson arrives at Electric Picnic deep into the era. Her fifth album dropped last September and the follow-up remix project (with guests including Shakira, Robyn, PinkPantheress and Tyla) kept the momentum going through 2026. She’s been on a massive world tour all year and sounds sharper and more confident than ever. , which sounds like early Rihanna, should be one of the defining songs of the weekend.
Almost exactly a year on from her award-winning, critically acclaimed, and utterly beloved-by-all (well, apart from Bertie Ahern) third album , CMAT returns to Electric Picnic to Dunboyne two-step out of summer. She’s already confirmed she’s taking a well-earned break from touring in 2026, so this might be our last chance for a while to experience the joy of a CMAT live show. Anyone who saw her at Virgin Media Park in June can confirm.
Former Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall makes her Electric Picnic debut as a fully-formed solo force. Her 2025 debut is a theatrical, frequently unhinged pop record that lets her personality and songwriting take centre stage. She’s been tearing through festival stages all year with high-camp energy and vocal power. She’s clearly enjoying the solo spotlight; is going to be a singalong for the ages.
The Los Angeles songwriter who co-wrote several tracks on Gracie Abrams’s (including the massive ) stepped out on her own with 2025’s brilliant . Witty and full of self-deprecating charm, the album and its standout single have quietly become one of the year’s most addictive listens. Her live shows lean into the same personality — part comedy, part pure pop, always engaging.
Led by Cameron Winter, who will be remembered in years to come — if he’s not already — as the voice of a generation, New York four piece Geese had been a going concern for a couple years before releasing 2025 album . Simply put, it’s the most exciting album of the decade so far. Channeling a litany of NYC bands before them from Television to the Strokes, they shift from angular art-rock to full-throttle chaos without warning. A set not to be missed.
French singer, producer, and DJ Oklou released her debut album last year and watched it land near the top of almost every best-of-2025 list. Full of dreamy, futuristic pop, it’s a modern classic, with production help from Charli XCX bestie A.G. Cook and Dua Lipa associate Danny L Harle. Her set could be the word-of-mouth success of the weekend.
The London four-piece return to Electric Picnic on the back of 2025’s — their second UK No. 1 and another Mercury-nominated statement that refined their sound without losing any of the fire. Ellie Rowsell remains one of the most compelling frontpeople around, while the band’s live sets move effortlessly between dreamy atmospherics and full-throttle rock.
The grime pioneer remains one of the sharpest and most commanding live MCs around. Ten years on from the Mercury Prize-winning , and with sixth album on the way, he’s kept the momentum going with . collaborations and a run of dancefloor-leaning releases. The set will lean hard on the classics — , , and to name but three.
The musical alias of actor and musician Joe Keery, best known for playing Steve Harrington on , Djo mixes vintage synthwave with low-key power-pop. His 2022 release featured viral hit , while 2025’s was led by - choice lyric: “I don’t want your money, I don't care for fame, I don't wanna live a life where that's my big exchange, I want simple pleasures”. Djo’s set will be full of pleasure.
The Picnic’s favourite shipwreck promises surprises dragged up from the docks and a crew you shouldn’t trust! Cork’s finest the will bring the feel-good vibes while Mary Wallopers frontman tries his hand at a Showband Party.
There are plenty of up and coming Irish acts lying in wait for curious bystanders to discover here. Our top tips: Cork ‘bitch-pop’ quintet Babyrat, the Scratch’s incendiary trad pals the Wran, and Madra Salach’s indie-music sideproject Fizzy Orange.
Nestled in the heart of the main arena, Croí is the festival’s new wellness-and-music hub — two stages (Croí and Crescent Earth) plus a cluster of smaller spaces focused on movement, meditation, poetry and live performance. By day it’s a calmer corner for workshops and conscious connection; by night it turns into a lively gathering spot with Irish acts at the centre of it. Trad legends and will play a set together, while returns to the live stage ahead of a short Irish tour in September. The and also offer something different.
Jerry Fish’s Electric Sideshow returns for the fifth outing, ready to reel you into its weird, wonderful, wildly entertaining carnival world. It boasts circus spectacle, spellbinding cabaret, sultry burlesque, and sideshow surprises. There’s also and — a chaotic, high-energy live wrestling show, mixing athleticism with crazy theatre. Fish Town also hosts a trad rave, theatre, an ‘end of the world’ party, and special guests.
The arena of ideas, spoken word, politics, and hot topics at Electric Picnic turns 20 this year — and it’s no less eclectic than the other stages on site.
Happy Mondays legend sits down with columnist Tom Dunne, photographer opens his 15,000-image archive of Irish clubbing in the 1990s and 2000s for ‘The Only Camera in the Room’, the ambassadors of Ukraine and Moldova discuss Europe as part of a strand on Ireland’s EU presidency, while CNN’s will be among the star attractions of the weekend.
