Manchester Psych Fest 2026

Manchester Psych Fest returns on Saturday 5 September for its 13th edition, and the final line-up announcement is a big one: more than 30 new names added in one go, and a stage upgrade to match. With ticket demand pushing towards a sell-out, Now Wave have confirmed O2 Apollo as the festival’s main stage for the first time, a size jump that says plenty about how far MPF has grown in recent years.

That main stage was already shaping up before this announcement. The Beta Band and Stereolab anchor things at the veteran end, alongside Ty Segall’s prolific, shape-shifting garage rock. Anna von Hausswolff brings a very different kind of scale: the Swedish composer builds her music around the pipe organ, and her most recent record, a warmer, more collaborative turn than her earlier gothic-leaning work, features Iggy Pop and Ethel Cain among its guests. Model/Actriz’s second album pushed their dance-punk into more confessional territory without losing its nerve, while Gwenno – Welsh-Cornish, formerly of The Pipettes, three albums deep in Celtic-language psych-pop before her last record’s turn to English – continues to be one of the more quietly radical songwriters on any UK bill. White Denim, Allah-Las, Working Men’s Club and Automatic round out a main stage with real range.

Headlining the new wave are Billy Nomates and bdrmm. Tor Maries’ Billy Nomates project has built its reputation on deadpan, sprechgesang-style vocals over punk-lean bass and increasingly wide-ranging production. Hull’s bdrmm arrive from a different direction: once tidy shoegazers, their last album pushed hard into dance and electronic territory, trading pedalboards for club rhythms without losing the band’s ear for atmosphere.

Elsewhere, the additions lean towards noise and abrasion. Manchester/Berlin’s Mandy, Indiana return with a French-sung, industrial-edged record that channels rage and resilience into some of the year’s most physically confrontational music. Austin’s Holy Wave bring sun-warped psych in the other direction, while Peter Doherty-backed Birmingham duo Gans and Dublin alt-grunge four-piece Bleech 9:3 fill out a bill that’s as much about volume and texture as melody. Prewn, Nightbus, Maquina., The Dharma Chain, Spiral Drive, Lowertown and MORN complete a line-up now numbering well over 70 acts, alongside returning local favourites like Mleko, whose morbid, doom-jazz-adjacent songwriting has made them one of the city’s most talked-about new bands.

All of this plays out across Manchester Academy, Albert Hall, O2 Ritz, Gorilla, YES, The Deaf Institute, The Bread Shed and Projekts Skate Park, alongside the new main stage. As ever, live visuals come courtesy of Innerstrings, with food, art, DJs, workshops and yoga rounding out the day.