ArcTanGent 2026 lines up Svalbard and Heck farewells plus Oathbreaker's return

ArcTanGent 2026 has sold out ahead of a four-day run built, as always, around the stranger corners of prog, metal and rock. With the tents set close together, attendees will be able to bounce between stages to catch a slice of nearly everything on offer.

Wednesday holds two of the weekend's biggest draws. Svalbard play their final ever festival set, following the band's announcement last May that 2026 would be their last year together. With hometown Bristol just down the road, the goodbye is expected to be a charged one. Also on the bill that day are Brighton's Chalk Hands, who blend math-rock, screamo and post-hardcore, Brazilian folk prog outfit Papangu, and Cardiacs, now fronted by Mike Vennart following the death of founding vocalist Tim Smith. The latter are expected to lean on 2025's 'LSD' alongside material stretching back to the eighties.

Thursday opens with IAN on the main stage, with Terminals, Dublin trio Bucket, Belgian noise rockers Ronker and American pop punk act Michael Cera Palin filling out the day. Manchester jazz punk quartet Maruja close things out at sunset.

Friday delivers another farewell. Heck, who split in 2017 and briefly returned in 2022, say this ArcTanGent appearance will genuinely be their last. Arcane Roots follow on the main stage, continuing their comeback after two sets at sister festival 2000 Trees. Worn Out, Wildernesses, Civil Service, Barrens and Witch Fever also perform.

Saturday brings Oathbreaker back to the UK for the first time in nearly ten years, with their blackened post-metal on the main stage. Erotic Secrets of Pompeii, Din of Celestial Birds, Jamie Lenman and Danish instrumentalists Town Portal also appear, before Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas perform 'Mariner' in full and Battlesnake close the weekend on the silent disco.