BIMM festival season 2026
Festival season 2026 was another busy one for the BIMM community, with students and alumni performing, creating content and working backstage across the UK and further afield.
Here are some of the highlights from another packed summer.
The Great Escape
This year got underway in Brighton with a landmark year at The Great Escape, as the festival celebrated its 20th anniversary and BIMM marked its biggest involvement to date as lead education partner.
Across three days, students and alumni performed at venues throughout the city, with more BIMM stages, artists and opportunities than ever before.
More than 20 BIMM alumni acts appeared across the festival, while students also worked behind the scenes in production, artist liaison and stage management. The weekend finished with the annual BIMM Showcase at Dust, hosted by BBC Radio 1 DJ Swarzy.
It was a fitting way to celebrate 20 years of a festival that has become such an important part of Brighton’s music scene and the BIMM calendar.
Tons of Rock
The summer also took three BIMM students to Oslo, where they got the chance to work at Tons of Rock, one of Scandinavia’s biggest rock and metal festivals.
Leela from BIMM London, Dani from BIMM Manchester and Jessica from BIMM Berlin spent four days working alongside music PR agency Duff Press, creating content and supporting the agency’s social media activity throughout the festival.
The students were given access to the festival’s press area and had the chance to speak with members of the Tons of Rock team, giving them insights into the media and promotional operation behind an international festival.
Dani also captured one of the weekend’s standout moments when Limp Bizkit invited a young fan onto the stage, with her video going viral online.
The opportunity, secured with support from BIMM’s Creative Futures team, gave all three students the chance to put their content skills into practice at one of Europe’s biggest rock festivals.
Truck Festival
BIMM Birmingham students and alumni returned to Hill Farm in July for another year at Truck Festival.
Current student Daisy Peacock performed on the This Feeling stage, continuing a year of live opportunities that included an appearance at The Great Escape in May.
For Birmingham alumni Eighty Eight Miles, Truck 2026 marked a huge milestone. After performing at the festival every year since 2022, the band made the step up to the Main Stage this time around.
The move to the Main Stage showed just how far they’ve come since their first Truck appearance in 2022!
Brighton & Hove Pride
August brought one of the biggest weekends in Brighton’s calendar as Brighton & Hove Pride celebrated its 35th anniversary.
Pride on the Park returned to Preston Park with RAYE headlining Saturday and Diana Ross closing the festival on Sunday.
BIMM Brighton students also got a look behind the scenes, working alongside the WMA team across Pride on the Park and gaining hands-on experience in content and media.
Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
BIMM Bristol returned to Ashton Court in August for the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
Throughout the three-day event, BIMM students took to the Moon Stage, performing as part of one of the city’s best-known annual events.
The 2026 Fiesta featured more than 100 hot air balloons, mass ascents and its famous Nightglows, while live music ran across the weekend on the BIMM-curated stage.
Victorious Festival
Festival season finished on the south coast with Victorious Festival, which returned to Southsea for another huge August Bank Holiday weekend.
The 2026 line-up was headed up by Richard Ashcroft, The Black Keys and Kasabian, with artists including Scissor Sisters, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Basement Jaxx, Faithless, The Streets and Sigrid also appearing across the weekend.
The World Music Stage had a strong BIMM presence across the weekend. On Friday, Wooden Dog, Ebony Osailah, AMRI and Zoë’s Brothers all took to the stage, while BIMM Birmingham artist Bo Bardot performed there on Sunday.
That’s a wrap on festival season 2026
Another festival season done, and another summer packed with brilliant moments from across the BIMM community.
From festival stages in Brighton and Bristol to working behind the scenes in Oslo, we loved seeing so many students and alumni out there performing, creating and getting involved.
We’re already looking forward to seeing where festival season takes everyone next year.
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