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Dec 22, 2025 By Jimi Arundell Web Exclusive

The new year is fast approaching, and music fans are already looking ahead to see what the festivals of 2026 have to offer. But who cares about being one of untold thousands crammed into a Carling-sponsored field, subjected to a joyless line-up when you could be living your best life at Bognor Regis Butlins, enjoying the carefully curated roster of Rockaway Beach?

Our favourite festival returns to the West Sussex seaside town from Friday 2nd to Sunday 5th of January. As always, you can look forward to an excellent array of big-name acts, huge legacy artists and all the bands sure to become your new obsession. This year’s headliners include punk rock pairing Soft Play, indie rockers English Teacher, and post-punk pioneers Public Image Ltd.

Where else can you discover cutting-edge music whilst also revelling at pool parties, burning through change on the 2p machines and tearing it up on the go-kart tracks? Plus, Q&A sessions with the artists and the essential Closing Party with our very own Festivals & Live Reviews editor Dom Gourlay and The Telescopes drummer John Lynch!

Take a look at the Top 10 acts we’re most excited to see at Rockaway Beach 2026.

Shedding their previously controversial moniker saw a revolution in sound for Soft Play. Ditching the cheeky chappy aspects of their music for a more mature direction with a harder edge saw Isaac Holman (lead vocals, drums) and Laurie Vincent (backing vocals, guitar) secure their highest chart position yet with Heavy Jelly.

English Teacher met immediate acclaim with the release of their debut album This Could Be Texas in 2024, taking home the illustrious Mercury Prize. We’re hoping the Leeds-based band will be showing off new material at the big Bognor weekender.

Led by the ever-anarchic John Lydon, Public Image Ltd top the bill on Saturday. Their constant need for experimentation saw the creation of the avant-garde masterpiece Metal Box in 1979, tapping into everything from dub to disco. We’re looking forward to hearing “Rise” and “This Is Not a Love Song”, but hopefully none of the former Sex Pistol provocateur’s pro-Brexit, Trump apologist nonsense.

Fusing ‘90s dance with pop poetry, Antony Szmierek is a top choice for the thinking raver. Debut album Service Station at the End of the Universe dropped towards the start of 2025 to huge critical praise, and the Manchester lad looks set to become even bigger in the new year.

Indie rock stalwarts Idlewild exploded onto the scene at the end of the 20th century in a blaze of furious riffs and screaming, later maturing into writing timeless anthems that tug at the heartstrings. The Edinburgh veterans have just celebrated the 25th anniversary of the sublime record 100 Broken Windows, and we’re hoping that will make up the bulk of their set.

Neo-psyche collective The Moonlandingz are comprised of members from Eccentronic Research Council and Fat White Family. Wonderfully weird and strangely seductive, their latest LP No Rocket Required is essential listening.

Shoegaze hopefuls Swallowtail are fast establishing themselves as ones to watch. Delicate melodies are intertwined with fuzz-driven guitars, creating an elegant yet raw trance-like state that’s a delight to get lost in.

Looking for loud, hard and heavy? Coach Party are sure to satisfy. Brimming with attitude, tracks like “Micro Aggression” and “All I Wanna Do Is Hate” absolutely kick arse. Check out their new(ish) album Caramel, it’s a non-stop adrenaline-fuelled thrill ride!

Halifax-born songwriter Ellur (Ella McNamara) is the spellbinding new star of confessional anthems, ready to break your heart a thousand times. Her brutally honest lyrics combined with swooning vocals and gorgeous melodies take her music to dramatic heights on an epic scale.

Reinventing new wave for Gen Z, Walt Disco have twice appeared on the Scottish Album of the Year shortlist. Their queer take on art pop is both charming and challenging, tackling issues of toxic masculinity with addictive rhythms guaranteed to get you wiggling your hips.