Kelburn Garden Party announce first wave of line-up for 2026 edition
Bemz, Indoor Foxes and Emma-Jean Thackray lead a stacked line-up of musical talent
Kelburn Garden Party, one of the leading boutique festivals in Scotland, has announced a stacked line-up of bands and DJs for its 2026 edition, taking in rap, jazz, indie, dance and more. Taking place from Thursday 2–Monday 6 July, the festival will host music across 14 stages in its usual location of Kelburn Castle.
A few notable acts include Bemz, the Glasgow rapper who’s long been championed as Scotland’s great rap innovator; Emma-Jean Thackray, whose latest album Weirdo was nominated for a Mercury; Indoor Foxes, the flourishing indie project from Martha Barr; and Lost Map legend Pictish Trail, who’ll be on the promo trail for his latest album Life Slime.
Championing grassroots and progressive club culture, the festival will also play host to a number of club takeovers from venues such as Sneaky Pete’s, Subculture, Headset and Jen Cardini.
David Boyle, Director and Co-Festival Founder, said: ‘When we started The Kelburn Garden Party we were, without doubt, lacking experience and blind to the challenges ahead of us, you might say naïve, but we always had big dreams and a dogged enthusiasm to create something truly magical, full of joy and creativity. What Kelburn has become, through the vision and belief of so many incredible creatives and crew, and through the beautiful culture that has blossomed in the Kelburn community, is far beyond my wildest imaginings. Kelburn to me, and I hope to many others, has become a shimmering light in the murky waters of modern existence, a weekend of boundless joy and creative self expression, where anything can happen, dreams are forged and where we can find hope in human nature.’
Here’s every act announced so far:
Bemz
Bonfire Radicals
El Buho
Emma-Jean Thackray
Hodge
Huartan
Indoor Foxes
Jinje
Joshua Idehen
La Tromba
megaTRAD
Oby Onyioha & Sai Galaxy
Paranoid London
Pictish Trail
Snapped Ankles
Soapbox
Solo Banton
Soothsayers
Tanzana
The Menstrual Cramps
Toya Delazy
Valtos
And here’s every DJ that’s been announced:
Ash Lauryn
BADSISTA
Cooly G
Dom Servini
Earthly Measures
Jen Cardini
Krust
Leon Vynehall
Mango Park
Mattana
Mungo's Hi-Fi
Quantic
Sean Johnson
Sherelle
Tigerbalm
Wallace
Kelburn Garden Party, Kelburn, Thursday 2 – Monday 6 July; main picture: Recompose.