Returning for its eighth edition, Brighton’s seminal ‘Mutations Festival‘ returns on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th October 2026, boasting an exciting mix of the most explosive, established, and emerging international artists, performing across ten of the city’s most treasured Grassroots Music Venues, which are: Chalk, Patterns, Revenge, The Hope and Ruin, Green Door Store, Dust, The Prince Albert, The Folklore Rooms , Alphabet and Daltons.
Renowned for consistently showcasing ‘the next big thing’, from CMAT, Yard Act and Sprints in 2021; to The Last Dinner Party, Wunderhorse and Fat Dog in 2022; English Teacher, Antony Szmierek and Paris Paloma in 2023; Kneecap, Arooj Aftab and Adult DVD in 2024; to Keo and Big Special in 2025; Mutations Festival 2026 will be no exception.
One of the most beloved events of the Brighton Autumn music calendar, Mutations Festival 2026 is shaping up to be the festival’s strongest, most ambitious edition yet.
Headlining this year’s festival are two of the world’s most exhilarating live acts.
On Friday, the undefinable, undeniable, raucous Fat Dog return to Brighton after a period of calm, with renewed ferocity, new members and new music. The band, with chief rabble rouser Joe Love at the eye of the storm, and now expanded to a seven-piece, will be bringing their riotous live experience back to Mutations Festival following the release of their second album, ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’, this October via Domino – and this time in their rightful place as festival headliners.
Headlining on Saturday, Mike Diamond, aka Mike D 5D, needs very little introduction. As one third of the Beastie Boys, alongside Adam Yauch (MCA) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), Mike D helped redefine hip-hop and shape the sound of a generation. Across a multi-platinum career spanning more than three decades, the Beastie Boys became one of the most influential and successful groups of all time, winning multiple Grammy Awards and earning induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
Mike D’s debut solo album, ‘Thank You’, released on 28th August via Capitol Records, comprises 13 servings of sonically inventive post-electronic grooves and hypnotic hooks, with his unmistakable voice guiding listeners through an aural playground that defies easy categorisation. Hailed by Rolling Stone as “embodied with the punk energy that led to his band’s early breakthrough”, Mike D 5D – featuring Mike alongside his sons Skyler and Davis Diamond, Eddie Ruscha, Will Graefe and Milo Ruscha – will deliver a rare headline performance at Mutations Festival. The landmark appearance marks the first live show by a member of the Beastie Boys in Brighton since the band’s legendary performance with Run-DMC at the Brighton Centre in May 1987 on the Licenced to Ill tour.
Joining Fat Dog and Mike D 5D this year are some of the most vital, urgent and boundary-pushing artists from across the globe, including:
Acclaimed Irish singer-songwriter and Mercury Music Prize nominee Dove Ellis brings magnetic, emotionally charged chamber pop; previous Mutations headliners Squid return with their propulsive blend of post-punk, jazz, indie rock, prog and Krautrock; Working Men’s Club continue to redefine post-punk with driving synths, industrial beats and razor-sharp indie hooks earning them the reputation as one of the UK’s most inspiring live bands; Alex Cameron delivers synth-heavy indie rock and 80s-inspired art pop that doubles as a sharp social commentary; Hull quartet Bdrmm blur the boundaries between dream pop, shoegaze, post-punk, ambient textures, acid house and drum’n’bass; fast-rising Irish rock band Basht. pair soaring melodies with emotional lyricism and explosive live energy; pioneering London collective UNKLE Sounds, led by Mo’ Wax founder James Lavelle, fuse hip-hop, electronica and alternative rock into their unmistakable sound; New York art-punks Lip Critic combine hardcore roots with unpredictable rhythms and sample-heavy experimentation; Welsh four-piece Panic Shack channel the spirit of riot grrrl into a frenetic indie-punk assault; UK breakthrough act the north continue selling out shows with their melody-driven take on classic British indie; and Tokyo’s bed have built a global following with their genre-defying “rave rock”, blending punk, electronic music and techno into exhilarating live performances… alongside more than 60 additional boundary-pushing artists.
Artists performing on this year’s boundary-pushing line-up:
FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER:
FAT DOG
SQUID
BASHT.
BDRMM
BED
INSECURE MEN
LAUREN AUDER
LIP CRITIC
SCALER
THE BESNARD LAKES
THEATRE
WORKING MEN’S CLUB
COWBOY HUNTERS
CYN CWSG
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS
DIVEBAR YOUTH
HOLYBONES
HUTCH
MARSY
MAX WINTER
MODERN WOMAN
MORN
MOUTH ULCERS
PAPER HATS
TANZANA
THE ITCH
UCHE YARA
WHY HORSES?
WORLD NEWS
SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER:
MIKE D 5D (BEASTIE BOYS)
DOVE ELLIS
ALEX CAMERON
MURKAGE DAVE
PANIC SHACK
THE NORTH
THE WAVE PICTURES
TTSSFU
UNKLE SOUNDS
WALT DISCO
WARHAUS
AIN’T
ALIEN CHICKS
DEARY
CASUAL SMART
HANNAH FRANCES
IGUANA DEATH CULT
LITTLE GRANDAD
LIZ LAWRENCE
ME REX
PLANTOID
PULLED APART BY HORSES
SILVER GORE
ALICE COSTELLOE
ANY YOUNG MECHANIC
BEN KIDSON
BENCHWARMER
BIG LONG SUN
BIG RED
ESMERALDA ROAD
EVELYN GRAY
EVERYONE SAYS HI
FOOT FOOT
GEORGIA MOONEY
FLORENTENES
HAMMOK
HEALING POWER OF HORSES
KELLY NO BRAKES
MLEKO
PAINKILLER
REALLY GOOD TIME
SPEEDIAL
SUNDAY MOURNERS
TASHA
With all this and more, Mutations Festival #8 is set to be one for the ages!
Tickets for Mutations Festival 2026 start at just £39.50 and are available as both Day and Weekend tickets. Reduced price Under 25’s tickets are also available, as are instalment plans.
Tickets go on general sale Friday 7th August 10am via:
www.mutationsfestival.com and www.seetickets.com
For more information on Mutations Festival:
mutationsfestival.com
facebook.com/mutationsfestival
instagram.com/mutationsfestival
x.com/mutationsfest
