Arctangent – the UK’s best prog metal festival – announces first bands for 2026, including Igorrr, Svalbard, Alcest, Agent Fresco, Chat Pile

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By ( Metal Hammer, Louder, Prog ) published

The most forward-thinking bands in prog, post-rock and metal will once again gather at Bristol’s Fernhill Farm next August

Igorrr in 2025, Svalbard in 2023 and Alcest in 2016
(Image credit: Frank Hoensch/Redferns | Katja Ogrin/Redferns | Mariano Regidor/Redferns)

UK prog metal haven Arctangent has announced its first bands for 2026.

Earlier today (October 30), the Bristol weekender confirmed 37 artists for next year’s lineup. They include French avant-garde artist Igorrr, US genre-smashers Chat Pile, blackgaze leaders Alcest and progressive rockers Agent Fresco.

The festival has also confirmed multiple acts for its warm-up lineup on the Wednesday, which is normally used to showcase the best performers to have graced Arctangent in recent years. The likes of Svalbard, Dimscûa, Overhead The Albatross and Lost In Kiev have all been confirmed.

Arctangent takes place every August at Fernhill Farm in Bristol, UK, and next year it will run from August 19 to 22. The full lineup can be found on the poster below.

No headliners have been announced yet, but weekend tickets are already more than halfway sold. Weekend and VIP tickets are now available via the Arctangent website.

The lineup will boast multiple 2026 UK festival exclusives and special shows. Heavy metal band Heck will reunite to celebrate 10 years of their Instructions album and sludge metal band Humanfly will play their first show in 13 years. In addition, British rock band Amplifier will host a live silent disco set.

Organiser James Scarlett comments: “The demand for Arctangent 2026 tickets has truly been unprecedented, with over half our tickets sold in the first 2 weeks of them being on sale.

“Fans will have to wait a little bit longer before we can announce our headliners, but we’re so excited for the exclusives, reformations and special sets we’ve already cooked up – Early Bird tickets are running low so if you want to lock in for another vintage Arctangent, don’t sleep!”

Arctangent started in 2013 as a two-day event dedicated to math rock and post-rock. It has since expanded its horizons to also include metal, hardcore, prog and other forms of alternative/experimental music. Last year was headlined by Wardruna, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Karnivool and Tesseract.

Arctangent 2026 poster

(Image credit: Arctangent)
Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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