Tramlines Festival 2026 – Hillsborough Park, Sheffield, 24th–26th July

Words and Photos – John Hayhurst

Born as a city-wide musical takeover in 2009, Tramlines has grown into one of Sheffield’s defining summer events. Around 40,000 people now descend on Hillsborough Park for three days of live music, comedy and the glorious unpredictability of attempting to navigate several stages with an overambitious personal schedule. Billing itself as “Sheffield’s Biggest Party” is a bold claim, but Tramlines 2026 wasted little time living up to it.

Friday began with Milly Pye bringing emotionally direct country-pop to the Sarah Nulty Stage before Sheffield four-piece CRUZ delivered the weekend’s first burst of hometown guitar energy. The Clause followed with sharp suits, sharper hooks and enough confidence to make the festival’s largest platform feel like a packed indie club.

Tramlines has always offered more than a conveyor belt of bands, and Reginald D Hunter’s quietly devastating observations at T’Other Stage provided an early reminder of its variety. Vanessa Carlton then transported the Main Stage back to the early 2000s, with “Ordinary Day” and “White Houses” leading towards an inevitable mass singalong during “A Thousand Miles”.

The smaller stages soon began producing the discoveries that would define the weekend. Etta Marcus brought poised, cinematic songwriting to the Leadmill Stage before Westside Cowboy unleashed their self-described “Britainicana”—a ramshackle collision of country, alternative rock and punk that sounded thrillingly close to falling apart. Their exhilarating performance confirmed why leaving the Main Stage behind remains such an important part of Tramlines.

The Vaccines returned Hillsborough Park to uncomplicated indie escapism, with “Post Break-Up Sex”, “Teenage Icon” and “If You Wanna” prompting raised arms and rapidly deteriorating voices. KEO offered a bruising diversion at T’Other Stage, while Izzy B. Phillips and Black Honey filled the Leadmill tent with grunge, glamour and deliciously controlled chaos.

Fatboy Slim then transformed the park into one enormous outdoor nightclub. Norman Cook grinned behind the decks as fragments of “The Rockafeller Skank”, “Right Here, Right Now”, “Praise You” and “Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat” triggered waves of recognition. Beats collided, visuals exploded and exhausted legs somehow found another reserve of energy. Friday had travelled from intimate songwriting to abrasive guitars, comedy, nostalgia and full-scale dancefloor release without ever losing momentum.

Saturday leaned even more heavily into northern identity. Sheffield’s Everly Pregnant Brothers opened proceedings with ukuleles, parody songs and an unmistakably Yorkshire sense of humour, before Ross Noble disappeared down a series of surreal comic detours involving squirrels, Bruce Forsyth and the hooded figure on the nearby ghost train.

Sleeper supplied a major wave of Britpop nostalgia, with Louise Wener retaining all the wit and bite that made her one of the era’s most distinctive frontpeople. Creeping Jean followed with flamboyant vintage rock ’n’ roll, but the afternoon’s standout discovery came from Girl In The Year Above.

Led by Jennifer Ball, the Irish-Cornish band fused Celtic storytelling with fierce alternative rock, moving from vulnerability to cathartic release without warning. Their performance of “Teardrop” was haunting, while “Mama, My Heart Is Achin’” demonstrated a band capable of making personal emotion feel enormous. They were not simply one of Saturday’s highlights, but one of the most exciting acts of the entire weekend. If they are not appearing on significantly bigger stages next year, something has gone badly wrong.

Rick Astley then arrived armed with charm, self-awareness and a catalogue built for communal singing. “Whenever You Need Somebody” and “Together Forever” warmed the crowd before “Never Gonna Give You Up” became one of the weekend’s most inevitable and joyous mass choruses.

Blossoms continued the run of immaculate festival pop, with “Your Girlfriend”, “Gary” and “Charlemagne” arriving polished, bright and seemingly engineered for summer fields. Inspiral Carpets later turned T’Other Stage into a pocket of Madchester psychedelia, Clint Boon’s swirling Farfisa organ driving “Saturn 5” and the poignant “This Is How It Feels”.

Courteeners closed Saturday with the atmosphere already approaching fever pitch. Liam Fray barely needed to sing as “Cavorting”, “What Took You So Long?” and “Are You in Love with a Notion?” were returned word-for-word by a fiercely devoted crowd. When “Not Nineteen Forever” finally arrived, Hillsborough Park became one enormous choir. Arms wrapped around shoulders and voices rose above the stage in a moment that felt less like a performance than an established festival ritual.

Sunday brought tired feet, fading voices and a sudden downpour, but South Yorkshire’s Sam Scherdel provided an uplifting local beginning. Lottery Winners then countered the rain with humour, warmth and boundless energy, frontman Thom Rylance transforming the Main Stage into his own comedy show between irresistible pop-rock choruses.

The Leadmill Stage once again proved essential. Dublin quartet Brooki delivered brooding guitars and emotional intensity before Bleech 9:3 channelled experiences of addiction, recovery and second chances into bruising alternative punk. Demanding movement from the moment they arrived, the band produced one of Sunday’s most thrilling performances and emerged as another name destined to outgrow stages of this size.

Reverend and the Makers turned the Main Stage into a Sheffield celebration, with Jon McClure conducting his home crowd through “Heavyweight Champion of the World”, “Open Your Window” and “Shine the Light”. Brooke Combe’s appearance at T’Other Stage was unfortunately shortened by technical problems, but her commanding voice and natural presence ensured the four songs she managed still made an impression.

Wet Leg supplied wiry guitars, deadpan humour and enough fog to make finding the band itself surprisingly difficult. “Wet Dream”, “Catch These Fists” and “Chaise Longue” nevertheless cut through the smoke, the latter prompting one of Sunday’s loudest and most joyfully absurd singalongs.

The Royston Club brought soaring Welsh indie to T’Other Stage before Florence Road provided one final glimpse of the future at Leadmill. The young Irish quartet combined grunge-pop melody with youthful frustration, making songs including “Heavy”, “Storm Warnings” and “Hanging Out to Dry” feel ready for considerably larger platforms.

As evening settled over Hillsborough Park, Wolf Alice emerged to close the festival. Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Theo Ellis and Joel Amey moved effortlessly between the dreamlike beauty of “Bros” and “Don’t Delete the Kisses” and the towering distortion of “Giant Peach” and “Smile”. Newer material showed a band continuing to expand, while Rowsell remained a compelling focal point—commanding an entire field one moment and dancing with young fans onstage the next.

Wolf Alice provided everything a closing headline performance should contain: scale, intimacy, atmosphere and emotional release. Once the final notes disappeared, Tramlines offered one last advantage over most major festivals—no tent to find, no campsite to cross and an early curfew that meant arriving home before 11pm.

Across three days, Tramlines demonstrated that its greatest strength lies in contrast. Fatboy Slim provided Friday’s euphoric party, Courteeners delivered Saturday’s arms-around-shoulders ritual and Wolf Alice brought the drama required to close the weekend. Yet many of its most memorable moments came from emerging artists such as Westside Cowboy, Girl In The Year Above, Bleech 9:3 and Florence Road.

Tramlines is large enough to attract major names but still retains the humour, musical curiosity and unmistakable personality of Sheffield. It was loud, varied, proudly northern and over far too quickly.

Special Note: Glenn Ashley

This year’s festival also carried particular emotional weight following the loss of photographer Glenn Ashley just weeks beforehand. A legend of Yorkshire music photography, Glenn had worked at every previous Tramlines and was deeply missed by those covering the weekend. These reviews and photographs are dedicated to him—with tears, laughter and enormous gratitude for the memories he left behind.