News

A brand-new independent festival is making one of the most confident debuts the UK has seen in years.

Summer’s End Angus, taking place 14–16 August 2026 at Brechin Equestrian Fields, is bursting onto the national cultural map with a multi-genre line-up that positions Angus at the centre of the UK’s live music conversation. It is a festival where teenagers seeking Gen Z buzz will feel just as at home as parents or adult friendship groups looking for a full weekend experience — a rare, genuinely multi-generational shared event.

The festival has already announced a landmark programme of over 50 artists across three stages, including Susan Boyle, making her first-ever festival appearance and only ticketed Scottish performance announced since COVID, The Jacksons flying in from Los Angeles for the full weekend, Bonnie Tyler, Skerryvore, Tide Lines, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, The Feeling, Judge Jules Live, Gok Wan, and GBX.

Now, a final wave of announcements cements Summer’s End Angus as a national-scale cultural event. Joining the bill are Pixie Lott, Cammy Barnes, Paris Paloma, girli, Becky Sikasa, Jasmin Jet, Shambolics, and Three n Eights, alongside special guests UB40 — and a Saturday night headline booking that marks a major moment for live music in the region: Rag’n’Bone Man.

One of the most sought-after live artists of the past decade, Rag’n’Bone Man’s appearance marks his first performance in the North East of Scotland, his first-ever gig in Angus, and his first Scottish camping festival appearance — a rare moment for fans north of the Central Belt and a significant win for Scottish festival audiences.

Festival Founder and Director Katrina Hutchinson-O’Neill said:
“Summer’s End Angus is built with long-term ambition — to create something rooted in Angus but operating at national scale. Being community-rooted doesn’t mean being quiet, small or lacking ambition. Bringing artists of this calibre to the region shows what’s possible when you invest in culture, people and place with intent. Angus has never been short on history or ambition. Summer’s End Angus is about using the infrastructure we have, backing culture and people, and playing a role in putting a region with deep roots and heritage back on the national stage.”

For centuries, Brechin — with a population today of around 7,000 — functioned as a destination, not a satellite town. As a cathedral city, it was a place people travelled to for religious, civic and cultural gatherings. Standing for over a millennium, Brechin’s Round Tower is one of Scotland’s rarest medieval structures and evidence of the town’s long-standing importance and historic role within a wider international ecclesiastical network.

The festival, which has received support from Visit Angus, will re-centre Brechin as a destination once again, hosting up to 12,500 people per day across three stages, with extensive family-friendly programming, camping and glamping, on-site parking, and shuttle buses operating between Brechin and towns and cities from Perth and Dundee through to Aberdeen. Shuttle buses will also run throughout the day from Montrose train station, approximately 20 minutes from the festival site.

Alongside the main stage, the festival also features WAVE, an indie, rock and comedy stage; a dedicated family stage for children from tots to tweens; and on Sunday The Garden — a space with an entirely female artist programme, headlined by Paris Paloma, fresh off her recent world tour, and featuring acts including girli, Macie Nyah, Lucia & The Best Boys, and Katie Nicoll.

The Friday night opening event, headlined by Tide Lines, is already sold out for day tickets and now only accessible via camping tickets. Organisers report that pre-sales exceeded expectations, with strong ticket demand continuing as announcements land.

Summer’s End Angus is independently run, female-founded and community-led, with all profits reinvested locally through Hatchwork, a not-for-profit initiative supporting high street regeneration, entrepreneurship and long-term community opportunity.

As the countdown to August 2026 continues, organisers say the festival is being built not as a one-off, but as a long-term fixture in the Scottish and UK cultural calendar.