ALSO Festival

Welcome to the wonderful world of , the award-winning, show-stopping, jaw-dropping festival where ideas run wild, with over a decade’s experience putting the IQ in Boutique Festival AND consistently tipped as a Top 10 festival by The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Condé Nast Traveller, The Evening Standard and more. Set in 50 acres of lakeside Capability Brown sculpted parkland, our twelfth fabulous edition runs

Join us for a weekend full to the brim of eccentric, playful, thought-provoking programming. From life-enhancing ideas and big bands on the main stage, long table dinners, tastings and demos, creative masterclasses and wonderful workshops elsewhere. With intimate talks by day, clever comedy and music by night and a half-mile-wide lake offering swimming, paddleboarding and an in-festival sauna, enjoy a magic summer weekend at ALSO26.

Dive into ALSO 2026 highlights below and make sure to take a tour of our ALSO26 line-up on the ALSO website, see what's for you. . .

We hope to see you lakeside this summer. . .

HUGE IDEAS

Our spectacular 13th edition turns the wheel to Oh Fortuna!, and together we’ll playfully explore luck and chance encounters that ask how much of our fortune is already written and how much can we make ourselves. ALSO26 will be packed with huge ideas that could transform your fortune. Hear from Sir Grayson Perry, Emma Jane Unsworth, Sathnam Sanghera, Jamie Bartlett, Claudia Hammond, Sir Anthony Seldon, Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Luke Wright, David Tong, Oliver Bullough, Daniel M. Davis, Outdoor Adventure Girls, Greg McLeod, Abby Richardson, Nabil Ali, Catherine Loveday, Fred Mills, Ken and Mary Okoroafor, Ella Berthoud and so many more - with fabulous interviews, excellent Q&As and inspiring talks and guided walks. See the ALSO26 line-up here

COMEDY

ALSO26’s offering of smart comedy features the award-winning comedian Esther Manito (winner of Best Headliner in the 2025 Chortle Awards, as seen on Live at the Apollo) to the Woods stage for a Friday night headline set, award-winning comedian Elf Lyons and her father, economist Dr Gerard Lyons, for Elfonomics—a unique look at how the world works, multi-award-winning political comedian and activist Mark Thomas. Jane Gregory and Steve Hall test their marriage in Sounds Like Misophonia, and don’t miss comedy polymath Robin Ince in his legendary session on the Woods Stage. And how could we not recommend a touch of French flair as Marcel Lucont presents his legendary show, Cabaret Fantastique. Plus, if you want to go deeper or are on your own comedic path, we have workshops, masterclasses and debates to extend your knowledge, experience and engage with the most entertaining art. You’re in for a treat. Check out the ALSO26 comedy programme here.

MUSIC

Music at ALSO is all about the new, the eclectic and the movement-inspiring. PVA - one of the UK’s most intriguing acts- bring their visceral mix of electronics and raw emotion to the Woods stage. Saturday night will see underground sensation Afriquoi taking over the ALSO stage, bringing an uplifting fusion of African music and live electronics. PLUS the genre-defying sounds of Sheep, Dog & Wolf, Chris Coull’s dazzling new jazz suite, with award-winning vocalist Imogen Ryall, Brazilian carnival vibes of Tribo with their high-energy samba drumming, Late Night Live Film Score with Steve Pretty, and an immersive conch shell journey in Shellectronica. Jackson Roy brings a masterful mix of traditional and experimental sounds. Soulful indie artist Purdy Smith blends catchy melodies with honest storytelling, and don't miss our DJ masterclass and introduction to DJing from Neon Pumps. Naturally, our exceptional programme of DJs will keep you dancing from the lakeside Rum Bar to the straw-bale Bunker 54 before closing the weekend with Hoolla Music’s Ecstatic Dance. With our Future Music Programme - giving you the chance to discover up and coming musicians - still to be announced, there is oh so much more to come. Check out our second wave ALSO26 music programme here.

FOOD

ALSO is here to fire your taste buds. We thread through our talks, cocktail bar, dining stage, demo kitchen and Book'n'Shop so many different ways to engage with what we enjoy eating and drinking... From our fabulous handpicked concessions to our legendary long table dining experiences, you can weave your weekend around the table as we kick off with Friday night’s Cabaret Dinner, then onto Saturday’s Woodland Long-Table Lunch with River Cottage. As night falls, you’re invited to dine by candlelight at our themed Saturday Night Feast of Fortunes with Georgia Hearn before Sunday brings the unmissable Bingo Brunch - a riotous blend of bingo, brunch, beats, and Buck’s Fizz. Finally, cap off your weekend with the high-summer-inspired Sunday Long-Table Lunch with Aram by Imad. Foodies can also look forward to cookbook tasting sessions with Petty Elliot and Georgia Hearn, Cheese & Wine Tastings and Curious Cheese Pairings with Emma Young, Susan L. Schwartz’s Venetian Cocktail Tasting. PLUS our fantastic selection of hand-picked concessions will be serving up delicious food all weekend. All menus are now available, and long table dining and tastings are open for booking on the ALSO website now. Take a look at our ALSO26 food programme here.

WELLBEING

Being boutique and beautiful, your ALSO weekend enmeshes you in nature in a way no other festival can. Dip into our lakeside sauna, then slip into our cold water plunge or the cool waters of Compton pools. Take in our blue mind programming as you tour our half-mile-wide lake on a guided SUP experience and paddleboarding sessions for all abilities, as well as SUP yoga, SUP sound bath and disco SUP with SUP Stratford, or enjoy Wild Swimming at its most magical with guided Dusk and Starlit sessions. And hear from Abby Richardson (co-writer of Do Blue: Water, Waves and Wellbeing) on how reconnecting with water can transform wellbeing. Don't miss the chance to try one of our wellness partner, Numinity’s exceptionally special experiences - from cacao ceremonies, manifestation lab, ecstatic dance to transformative sound baths. Plus movement enthusiasts can join Stornoway’s Oli Steadman for TrAiLdAnCe (a joyful 5km dance-run) or his new musical (re)Orienteering challenge. There will be so many chances to try something extraordinary this ALSO. Dive into the ALSO26 wellbeing programme here.

EXPERIENTIAL

Let’s do it. Our ethos is to have plenty of things to do, leaving you to curate your weekend as you see fit. Wildly experiential, ALSO gives you so many opportunities to spin the wheel and choose your own adventure. Why not get creative in a Foraged Fascinators or Summer Wreath workshop with Sara Cant, join ALSO’s Crochet Club, Make Your Own Perfume with 4160 Tuesdays London, learn origami in Fortuna Folds with Sara Veal, or join Greg McLeod for a Sequential Art, Comic and Storyboarding Masterclass? Make time to explore the stunning festival site on one of ALSO’s incredible range of guided walks, including Foraging Walk with UK Wild Adventures, a relaxed guided walk with Outdoor Adventure Girls or a Guided Literary Walk with Elle Berthoud. Then, as daylight softens and evening approaches, gather by the lake for Daily Dusking as ALSO marks the transition from day to night. Take a tour of the ALSO26 experience programme here.

ALSO KIDS

Calling all ALSO Kids - learn how to escape being shipwrecked in our legendary Raft Building experience, or join the award-winning Playbox for a number of creative workshops in the performing arts or tiny dancers for a family rave up. Wild Adventures and Bushcraft supremo, Simon Birbeck, teaches survival basics of fire, water, shelter, and food deep in the ALSO woods and don’t miss Marcel Lucont’s Les Enfants Terribles 2 - Another Gameshow For Awful Children (Winner: Best Kids Show - UK Kids Comedy Festival). And parents who’d like a child-free hour or two can book one of our experienced Festival Nannies to look after their little ones in style. See the line-up here.

CAMPING AT ALSO

Camping at ALSO is included in the weekend ticket pass, and we have 50 acres of beautiful parkland to camp in, so plenty of options to set up in style for the weekend. But if you want more from your wild weekend away with us, we have the option to book into our High Glamp Camp in one of our pre-erected, lovely-looking bell tents, or you could bring your camper to ALSO by booking a Campervan pass. Take a look at the options here.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

ALSO Festival, Park Farm, Compton Verney, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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