Leeds Festival 2026 was memorable, not only for the torrential weather that's come to be synonymous with the weekend over the last handful of years, but also for the incredible talent that graced their stages. Ditching traditional headliners for co-slots, the festival now sees its "main events" from a refreshingly early 7pm, though some acts don't quite hit the same while the sun is still up (Charli xcx for example).
A glimpse of bright blonde hair carefully tucked under a hat indicated KEO were currently on the main stage, boasting a well-packed crowd for so early in the day. Most of the day's acts to follow were housed in The Gallery - a large indoor stage meticulously split into sections that quickly became a mud-filled slip-and-slide. Catching the last handful of tracks, Rose Gray had transformed the space into an energetic, bouncing atmosphere. Her infectious stage presence provided a delightful slice of what the rest of Leeds Festival had in store.
Labelling Bratislava-hailing Adéla as a singer-songwriter would be nothing short of a wild understatement. Matched only by Charli xcx's performance later in the day, Adéla Jergová found her fame as a contestant on Dream Academy, where she narrowly missed out on being selected as a member for KATSEYE. Her talents here, however, stand out as the highlight of the festival's The Gallery, which had transformed into a dance studio, complete with shining barres. The barrier was occupied by screaming fans, some donning T-shirts of the succeeding artist (Skye Newman), and those not familiar with Adéla's live show were in awe of her movements.
Dominating the stage in stilettos, 'Death By Devotion' featured an enchanting ballet sequence that offered a drastic change of pace from the hip-hop stylings offered by herself and her backing dancers during the first half of the set. As the rain continued to pour, the tent filled, fans squeezing in to catch 'Ain't In LA' - the narrative of which details the performer's move to the vibrant city from Slovakia, humorously adding that she didn't know if there were "any songs about Leeds".
Carefully selected visuals offered perfect accompaniments to the tracks she performed, with 'Marijuana' offering blush pinks and vivid blue hues atop LA's iconic palm trees. Before closing out her set, Adéla politely asked the crowd to join her in wishing Madison - one of her backing dancers - a happy birthday, before diving into the Billie Eilish ('bury a friend')-esque 'SUPERSCAR'. Despite this being her debut Leeds performance, Adéla took to the Festival like a native, and this won't be her last.
Boasting the most super-fan-filled crowd of the day, Skye Newman's fanbase here was subjugated by young girls accompanied by their Mums - and perhaps not coincidentally, this is where phone signal was hard to come by. Tears were frequent, as Newman's supporters held their space at the barrier, clinging to home-made signs asking for waves, hellos, or a quick hug from the singer. Preceding her performance, the stage's screens were splayed with "No music on a dead planet" messages - a welcome sight, as festivals are so often criticised for the carnage that attendees leave behind.
Perhaps the singer who prioritised crowd interactions the most — although not nearly as much as RAYE — she often stopped to discuss the meaning behind her songs, and thank her fans for their integral role in her life being "so different [to] a year and a half ago". The ironically performed 'It's Not Raining Today' received its second outing (debuted the previous day at the festival's Reading counterpart), and it was after 'Lonely Girl' and 'Survival Mode' that she addressed that despite the high-octane performances and bubbly-sounding lyrics, they're "not happy" songs, once you "realise what I'm actually talking about". Her final offering — the fan-favourite 'Family Matters' — was inaudible, not at the fault of Newman, or tech, however, but a testament to the decibels offered by the crowd.
The next act saw a dramatic change in pace from the pop-oriented first half of the day. Despite being ten years after their inception, it's the last twelve months or so that've catapulted Geese into success. Fronted by the enigmatic Cameron Winter, the Brooklyn quartet offers an amalgamation of post-punk and art-rock, metamorphosing The Gallery into a rock-filled delight. Short skirts and glitter were swapped out for leather and fur coats, the front row now occupied by darkly dyed hair, sunglasses, patchwork tattoos, and a sea of Geese and Fontaines D.C. merch, with only sporadic glints of glitter still visible throughout the crowd. Chants of the band's name ensued as smoke ominously dispersed throughout the crowd, before shadows of Geese slunk from the sidelines.
In expected rock 'n' roll style, they emerged a few minutes past their expected stage time, but immediately dove into emotive and theatrical 'Taxes'. Their set explored every corner of their dynamic discography - 'Out Getting Killed', 'Crusades', 'Trinidad', and, much to the crowd's delight, Winter whipped out his phone and played Soft Cell's 'Tainted Love' midway through '2122'.
In honor of the Festival's placement in the North, bassist Dominic DiGesu donned a t-shirt stating "Don't Mess With Yorkshire", a surprising but welcome homage. A French exit was necessary here was neccesary as not to miss Florence Road; thankfully, however, this was the first and only clash encountered.
After supporting Wolf Alice on their European tour and appearing on the unmatched Finsbury Park line-up, Florence Road catapulted into indie-rock stardom. A tent with decorations fit for The Last Dinner Party - a draped red roof housed numerous chandeliers, which sent strobes dancing, glinting off of teardrop crystals. Aptly named, The Ballroom easily took the title of most aesthetic stage of the weekend, perfectly befitting the County Wicklow four-piece.
Their short-but-sweet eight-track set wove through softer moments ('Storm Warnings') that allowed frontwoman Lily Aron to fully display her lush vocal range, and grittier, punchier offerings such as 'Hanging Out To Dry' and the recently released '7563' that boast incredible instrumentation. Despite the smaller stage and lower-capacity tent, Florence Road filled every corner, with a main-stage-ready performance set to see them quickly ascend line-ups in years to come.
Seeing 'BRAT' merch dotted around the grounds made it clear who was due to play the main stage that evening. But if the clues throughout the day weren't enough, the sea of mini-skirts, wraparound sunglasses and "Oblivion Is Freedom" emblems that flooded to the North end of the festival from 6.30pm onwards made it obvious. With a live band and a plethora of dancers joining her onstage, Charli xcx offered the epitome of performance. Where there's a certain beauty to singers who can command a stage with nought but a guitar and a microphone, the sheer volume of work that goes into xcx's set has to be applauded; simply, it's music, fashion and film. With a cinematically dressed stage that utilised bright white strobes, smoke, and a catwalk that took the spotlight during 'Card Declined', xcx's no-skips set commanded the entire audience: 'Apple' saw a sea of fans participating in the viral dance, 'House' was met with clenched hearts, and 'SS26', a chorus of harmonies. Despite no surprise appearances, xcx opted to sing the remix versions of a handful of tracks — 'Guess' (Billie Eilish), '365' (ShyGirl), and 'Girl, so confusing' (Lorde) — with her parading around the stage or performing directly to the camera.
The social media discourse surrounding xcx's set featured a number of wildly unfounded claims - lip-syncing, that the band was "just for show", or that her headline slot was entirely undeserved. Charli xcx was an undeniable highlight of the weekend, and her commanding of a generation is hard to match.
Fontaines D.C. are yet to take a break from touring and gracing festival stages following the release of their fourth record ‘Romance’ in 2024 — so a new project wasn’t necessarily on the minds of fans. Because when would they possibly have had time to plan, write and record? This made the surprise drop of ‘Marianne’ all the more dumbfounding. Preceded — in The 1975-style — by a cryptic Instagram post captioned, simply, “5.” which fans quickly untangled as the band not-so-subtly announcing an upcoming album. Four days later, ‘Marianne’ was unveiled - accompanied by a thrall of Normal People fan-edits - alongside their fifth record’s title: ‘Dopamine Chamber’. Where album releases are usually teased an age in advance, here, Fontaines D.C. are toeing the line between surprise drop and a lengthy wait, with ‘Dopamine Chamber’ set to hit streaming services on October 16th. A much-expected tour announcement came on the morn of their Reading headline, a mere 48 hours before the Irish quintet was set to take to Leeds Festival’s newly rebranded main stage - The Grid.
Despite the immediate downpour after Charli xcx exited the stage, fans still sat on sodden ground awaiting Chatten and co, with their slightly delayed start time of 9:35 pm. Grumblings from disgruntled fans quickly evaporated as the opening notes of the high-octane 'Boys In The Better Land' filled Bramham Park.
While most festival headliners are aware that the crowd is mainly there for them, so opt for a more traditional setlist — leaving fan-favourites for the encore — Fontaines D.C. don't abide by this. The opening six tracks consisted of their most famous, including 'Here's The Thing', 'Jackie Down The Line' and 'It's Amazing To Be Young'. Slotted in the middle was the newly released 'Marianne', which was followed up later in the performance by 'Happy For You' - a live debut whose intro was preceded by a false start of drummer Tom Coll teasing 'Hurricane Laughter' (which was missing from the evening).
'Six Shot Morning' marked the encore, a synth-filled cut debut at Baluarte de la Candelaria's open-air theatre earlier this month, and was quickly followed with 'I Love You' and 'Starburster' (complete with the 'In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)' intro) before the Irish quintet bid farewell to the 90,000-strong crowd and closed out the Saturday of Leeds Festival.
Lana Marshall
@lanatakesphotos / @_lanaajade
Images: Lana Marshall
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