Tramlines Festival 2026: Courteeners, Wolf Alice and Fatboy Slim to headline

14 hours ago7 min read4 comments

The air over Sheffield’s Hillsborough Park is set to crackle with a distinctly British electricity next summer, as Tramlines Festival 2026 unveils a headline trio that reads like a curated mixtape of modern UK music heritage. Topping the bill are the anthemic swagger of Courteeners, the mercurial art-rock dynamism of Wolf Alice, and the ageless big-beat party of Fatboy Slim—a lineup that doesn’t just promise a weekend of music, but a narrative of where the festival circuit has been and where it’s boldly heading.For Courteeners, led by the perpetually charismatic Liam Fray, this headline slot feels like a coronation long in the making; a band whose fervent, arena-filling fanbase has often made them a cultural phenomenon that exists just outside the London-centric media glare, their anthems like 'Not Nineteen Forever' and 'What Took You So Long?' are primed to become communal singalongs under the open sky, a testament to guitar music's enduring, fists-in-the-air power. Wolf Alice, fresh from their own headline triumph at Glastonbury 2025 where Ellie Rowsell’s band transformed the Pyramid Stage into a canvas of visceral emotion and sonic grandeur, represent the festival’s commitment to artistic weight.Their journey from the grungy intimacy of 'Bros' to the epic, genre-fluid soundscapes of 'Blue Weekend' mirrors Tramlines' own evolution from a inner-city gathering to a major player on the UK summer calendar, proving that critical acclaim and crowd-pleasing spectacle are not mutually exclusive. Then there's Norman Cook, the ever-smiling architect of chaos, Fatboy Slim, a figure so synonymous with festival joy he’s practically a national treasure.His sunset slot will be less a concert and more a communal rite, a thrumming, beat-driven release where 'Praise You' and 'Right Here, Right Now' function not as nostalgic relics but as timeless catalysts for pure, unadulterated euphoria. Beyond the headliners, the undercard is equally telling of the festival's curatorial ear.The return of Kaiser Chiefs, with their spiky, singalong indie, and Blossoms' sleek, 70s-infused pop, offers a bridge between the mid-2000s landfill indie boom and its more refined contemporary iterations. Meanwhile, the inclusion of the brilliantly spiky Wet Leg signals an embrace of the post-punk revival's witty, angular energy, ensuring the lineup isn't just resting on past glories but is actively engaging with the most exciting currents in new music.In an era where festival lineups can feel homogenized, Tramlines 2026 has assembled a bill with a distinct personality—one that values the raw connection of a guitar riff, the intellectual heft of art-rock, and the unifying power of a four-to-the-floor beat, all set against the backdrop of one of the country's most passionate music cities. It’s a statement of intent, a weekend that will undoubtedly sell out, and a promise of a summer soundtrack in the making.

#Tramlines Festival

#Courteeners

#Wolf Alice

#Fatboy Slim

#music festivals

#headline acts

#featured

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