Green Man 2026 drew to a close on Sunday night as Wolf Alice made their first ever appearance at the Welsh festival, headlining the Mountain Stage with a raucous set that ran through their entire catalogue. The 2026 BRIT Award winners marked the first anniversary of their album The Clearing while dipping back into earlier favourites, all the way to My Love Is Cool, in a performance that closed out the festival’s four days of music.
Ellie Rowsell held the crowd in the palm of her hand across a set that swung from the fuzzed-up warmth of ‘Bros’ to the raucous rock of ‘Yuk Foo’ and ‘Play The Greatest Hits’. Wolf Alice were joined on stage by Anna Calvi and Dove Ellis for a performance of their recent collaborative single for HELP(2), ‘Sunday Light’, before the trio delivered a breathtaking cover of Mazzy Star’s ‘Fade Into You’. It capped off a closing day that also featured Cat Power marking 20 years of The Greatest, Sparks’ theatrical art-pop, and a Mercury Prize-nominated turn from Dove Ellis in his own right.
The band closed the night, and the festival, with a run of ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ (now something of a fixture at Green Man), into ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’, ‘You’re a Germ’ and ‘Giant Peach’, delivering what organisers are calling a piece of festival history for Wolf Alice’s Green Man debut.
Beyond music, the closing day leaned heavily on film and television. The Cinedrome tent hosted Welsh actor and director Craig Roberts for a screening of Submarine, the coming-of-age film in which he plays the lead role. Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams joined Welsh producer and filmmaker Lowri Roberts at the Talking Shop, followed by a Guardian Live session in which actress and musician Samantha Morton talked broadcaster Kate Hutchinson through the “Honest Playlist” of her life and career.
Morton made a second appearance on the Mountain Stage later in the day as a guest of Richard Russell’s Everything Is Recorded, performing their track ‘You Were Smiling’ to a sun-soaked crowd. Elsewhere on the closing day, Mercury Prize-nominated duo Knats opened the Far Out stage with what they describe as “Geordie-Jazz”, before New York duo Fcukers energised the tent with tracks including ‘Beatback’ and ‘Play Me’, setting up Sparks’ joyful, eccentric set that followed.
The Class of 26 DJs closed the weekend at Round The Twist with a double bill of back-to-back surprise sets: Alexis Taylor and Fcukers, followed by Way Dynamic and SNL UK star Jack Shep.
Green Man 2026 ran across four days of music from Four Tet, Mogwai, Wilco, Dry Cleaning, Sparks, Cat Power, Cate Le Bon, Dove Ellis, Fcukers, Smerz, Celeste, Daniel Avery, Shame, Wednesday, Westside Cowboy and more, alongside the festival’s usual mix of science, arts, comedy, film, literature, workshops and wellness programming.
Organisers have confirmed that Green Man will return to Bannau Brycheiniog from 19th to 22nd August 2027, marking the festival’s 25th anniversary. Tickets go on sale on Saturday 26th September 2026 and, given the festival’s track record of selling out within minutes, are expected to move quickly.
Image credits: Marieke Macklon, Nici Eberl
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