Bearded Theory just got bigger. The beloved Derbyshire festival, running May 20-24 at Catton Park, has revealed its latest wave of additions to an already formidable 2026 lineup. Mercury-nominated Everything Everything, boundary-pushing icons The Horrors, and revered Scottish outfit The Twilight Sad join previously announced headliners Garbage, Pixies, and Skunk Anansie. Acid-house pioneer A Guy Called Gerald, psychedelic prog veterans Ozric Tentacles, American indie artist Sir Chloe, post-punk firecrackers Opus Kink, and afro-psychedelic future poppers BCUC round out a new wave that spans decades and genres without breaking a sweat.
Beans on Toast’s annual Foolhardy Takeover of the Woodland stage also has its lineup locked in, with Katacombs, K.O.G Soundsystem, Mr Bruce, and Nuala joining previously confirmed comedian Stewart Lee. The Woodland stage remains one of the festival’s genuine highlights, an intimate tree-canopied space for unplugged sessions, late-night singalongs, and a silent disco that regularly outlasts everything else on site.
Bearded Theory has earned its reputation the hard way, building a fiercely loyal community around a compact, carefully curated site with eight distinct stages. The Guardian called it the festival with “the laid-back, escape-from-reality vibe of Glastonbury without the step count,” and with a lineup this deep and diverse, 2026 makes a strong case for that comparison. The Festival School, the UK’s first of its kind, returns with expanded pre-school provision, and new boutique accommodation The Junkyard brings retro Americana silver trailers to the site.