Fortress Festival announces 13 bands for next year’s line-up

Following June’s unveiling of Norwegian black metal legends Old Man’s Child for their 2026 line-up, Fortress Festival have just announced 13 more bands.

In a whole bunch of cool exclusives, the Scarborough Spa bash will welcome Saturday headliners Galder and Sunday fest-closers Gallowbraid for their worldwide live debut, as well Abigail Williams’ return to the UK for the first time in eight years (it’ll also “potentially” be the band’s final UK performance). On top of that there’s Dødheimsgard playing Black Medium Current in full, Groza, Mortiis, Mesarthim, Midnight Odyssey, Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, Misþyrming, Old Sorcery, This Gift Is A Curse, Antrisch and Aeon Winds.

“We announced Old Man’s Child at our 2025 event, and quickly sold nearly 50 per cent of the festival’s capacity within a few days,” reveals Fortress founder Gary Stephenson. “That’s a lot of pressure to build an entire bill that everyone will be content with.

“So, it is my absolute pleasure to announce the first wave of bands that will perform in 2026; 12 exclusive bookings including Dødheimsgard performing their masterpiece album, Black Medium Current in full, Abigail Williams finally return to the UK after eight years following the recent release of their excellent record, A Void Within Existence, and the impossible has finally happened: multi-instrumentalist Jake Rogers’ Gallowbraid project will perform live for the very first time and close the Sunday Grand Hall main stage at Fortress Festival.”

Gary adds: “Fortress 2025 welcomed people from all around the world – over 50 different countries, in fact – so we can't wait to do this all again in Scarborough come next May. More announcements will follow in the coming months and we have a lot left up our sleeve for 2026.”

Fortress Festival 2026 takes place at Scarborough Spa from May 30 – 31. Early bird tickets are available now.

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