ADÉLA, Slayyyter, Jane Remover and Frost Children Dominate Reading Festival 2026
With no Wireless, Wide Awake or even Glastonbury this summer, the 2026 edition of Reading Festival brought an amalgamation of sounds and styles to varying tribes of young British music fans.
Amid her rapid ascension to the pop big leagues, ADÉLA channelled rare star power after thousands packed into the Gallery big top. The magenta-haired Slovakian artist's confidence peaked when sharing the story behind current smash ‘Ain’t In LA’ - that she grew up in a small town thinking she wouldn’t be able to achieve her dreams. “You never hear Reading get its flowers,” she said to huge screams, having earlier given a shout out to those celebrating their GCSEs. Amid ‘Go's thumping bass and the rave-ready strobes of ‘DeathByDevotion’, the notes she hit during ‘Red Bottoms’ were Ariana-level high. With a ballet bar centre-stage, she and her dance troupe’s choreo-heavy performance put many artists to shame.
Pictured: ADÉLA
Taking a punkier route to the mainstream, cult favourite Slayyyter seemingly relished playing her first major UK festival show. Dominating the main stage, she finally got her flowers after a decade in the underground that almost almost saw her give up on being an artist entirely. Thank god she didn’t: feral cuts from breakout album ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’, including viral onslaught ‘CRANK’, whipped up a storm.
The raging hedonism of ‘BEAT UP CHANEL$, meanwhile, became a fitting precursor to the endless circle pits that erupted throughout two Reading debuts in the chandelier-adorned Ballroom tent. Jane Remover’s apocalyptic ‘Dancing with your eyes closed’ and the bone-rattling ‘TURN UP OR DIE’ saw bodies crashing into each other, as did the maximalist EDM of Frost Children’s ‘Satellites’ and ‘CONTROL’, all demonstrating the ever-growing appetite for rage-rap, hyperpop, digicore (and various other internet-born scenes) in the UK.
Pictured: Kneecap
The smaller Canopy stage, meanwhile, provided a platform for several exciting new artists: straight from Los Angeles, Lamb’s ethereal vocals proved captivating atop the bass-heavy electronic beats of bouncing jigitz collab ‘thumbs’, while London-based rapper and singer Sade Olutola’s addictive ‘2099’ was the highlight of a brief but charming set.
Having programmed a line-up brimming with online favourites and rising stars, it’s safe to say that Reading’s booking team have their finger on the pulse more than ever before.
Submit music to DMY here.
Read next: Beyond The Music Unveils Second Wave for 2026 With Tom A. Smith, ALT BLK ERA and Scorcher
