Mangata Festival has announced it first wave of band for their 2026 edition which sees a new date of the 5th September and signals a festival pushing confidently into a new era. Alongside the announcement of twenty-two bands, the organisers have reshaped the festival’s layout, spreading it across five stages and renewing their partnership with Nottingham institution Rock City. Rescue Rooms anchors the event as the main stage, with its upstairs Red Room taking the role of a dedicated third stage, while Rock City’s Beta space becomes the second stage and the Black Cherry Lounge the fourth. Just down the road, the Tap & Tumbler once again provides the festival’s free-entry fifth stage – a reliable home for chaos, discoveries, and late-night intensity.
On the main stage, French heavy bruisers ten56. step in as headliners, bringing the ferocity and tightly wound aggression that has made their live shows a must-see. They join previously announced names Raised By Owls, Red Method, and In Search of Sun, with Manchester trio The Hara, Confessions of a Traitor, and Wolves Don’t Sleep adding further force to a bill built for high-impact release.
Rock City Beta tilts into grander, darker territory with instrumental duo Nordic Giants topping the stage – a band known for transforming performance into something closer to a multi-sensory experience than a standard set. They’re joined by Ward XVI, Gürl, Dacara, Firmament, Hidden Mothers, and Hundred Year Old Man, making the second stage a hotspot for atmosphere and abrasion in equal measure.
In the Red Room, long-time experimenters Alpha Male Tea Party headline a bill that leans into math-leaning intensity and progressive sprawl. Their set crowns a line-up featuring Sergeant Thunderhoof, Premier Jester, Gurt, Bad Milk Blood Robot, and Syncolima, all pointing toward the festival’s continued commitment to the UK underground.
The Black Cherry Lounge sees heavy prog outfit Giant Walker take charge, backed by The Grey, Tayne, Weller, and tealdeer, while over at the Tap & Tumbler, industrial force Anti Clone close out the festival with an intimate, sweat-drenched headline set supported by Glass Bridges and Tooth & Dagger.
With twelve more bands still to be unveiled, Mangata Festival 2026 is shaping up to be its most expansive edition yet. Early bird tickets have already disappeared, but general release tickets remain at £40 – at least until the next wave of announcements lands.
https://mangatafestival.gigantic.com/promoter/mangata-festival