The Great Escape has added more conference speakers to its 2026 line-up, including Radiohead‘s Ed O’Brien and Nadine Shah.
READ MORE: Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien on going solo: “If I don’t do this, a part of me will die”
The festival is returning to the South Coast from May 13 to 16 this year, with new and emerging talent set to hold performances at venues across the city over four nights – find any remaining tickets here.
This year will be the 20th edition, and names on the bill so far include The Lottery Winners, Villanelle, BIG WETT, Peaches – headlining this year’s spotlight show – and The Kooks, who will be playing an anniversary show presented by NME.
Aside from live music, there are also a range of keynote speakers appearing at the festival, and it was recently announced that one of which for this year will be former Spice Girl, Mel C, who is set to reflect on her three decades in the music industry.
Today (Wednesday April 1), more new speakers have been confirmed – including Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Nadine Shah, who will both be speaking about mental health in partnership with the CALM charity. O’Brien is a longtime advocate for mental health awareness, and Shah has long used her platform to speak candidly about grief, addiction and mental wellbeing.
For their conversations, they will be joined by broadcaster and DJ Harpz Kaur, as well as leading researcher Dr George Musgrave, and Chris Price, Head of Music for BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra.
Other speakers include Emma Banks (CAA) and Natasha Gregory (Mother), who will be discussing their time helping to shape the live music scene by working with huge artists, and offering a rare behind-the-scenes perspective on the global live landscape. That session will be hosted by IQ magazine on the TGE Beach Site on Wednesday May 13.
Elsewhere at TGE 2026, UK Music will lead a conversation exploring the impact of Black British music over the last 30 years following the new report ‘Black Music Means Business: Driving Economic Growth in the UK’, and AIM will present a deep dive into the award-winning campaign behind Bon Iver’s latest record, ‘SABLE fABLE’.
BBC Introducing will host a dedicated session too, War Child will present insights into the making of the newly released ‘HELP(2)’ album in a special panel hosted by NME, and The Council of Music Makers (CMM) will explore what needs to be done to create safer music communities, from accountability frameworks to grassroots cultural shifts.
The Great Escape poster. CREDIT: Press
Also for this year’s 20th anniversary edition, there is the return of The Steve Strange Award which celebrates the next generation of groundbreaking artists, and there will also be access to the ELEVATE professional development programme. The latter is funded by Arts Council England, and provides 20 artists with essential insights and key contacts to help progress their careers to the next level.
Visit here for more information.
Yesterday, it was announced that organisers will introduce TGE Wristband Rewards in 2026. These will come in partnership with a range of local businesses, and let festival-goers access exclusive perks, including discounts and special offers.
More new names were added to the bill too, including Sassy 009, Girl In The Year Above, ARXX, PVA and more. Find the full line-up poster above.
For the 2025 edition, English Teacher led the way on the line-up, alongside Skunk Anansie, Maruja and The Molotovs. That year’s spotlight show was headlined by Pete Doherty and Warmduscher.
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