Charli XCX is set to headline Reading and Leeds Festival in 2026, six years after criticising the lack of female acts at the top of the bill.
The 365 hitmaker will headline the U.K.’s sister music festivals alongside singer Raye, Florence + The Machine, Irish rock band Fontaines DC, dance music duo Chase & Status and rapper Dave in August 2026.
According to the organisers, it marks the first time in 25 years that the headliners are exclusively British and Irish acts, and that Reading and Leeds Festivals will be the U.K. exclusive festival appearances for all six headliners.
Charli performed at the likes of Coachella, Glastonbury and Primavera Sound festivals this year as part of her tour in support of her 2024 smash hit album Brat.
Next year’s festival performance will reportedly usher in a new era, which she recently signalled with the release of House and Chains of Love, two singles from the soundtrack for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
The British pop star’s performance will come more than six years after she called out the festival for having all-male headliners for many years in a row.
“They just need to book more women, but the thing is that this conversation has been going on for so long,” Charli told NME in 2020. “I feel like this literally happened last year with Reading & Leeds. The line-up came out and everybody was like, ‘There aren’t enough women on this line-up.’ Nothing has changed. Nothing. What can be done? It’s our responsibility to talk about this and be as open as we can.”
In 2023, festival organiser Melvyn Benn insisted that they had worked “really hard to get full diversity” on its bill but claimed “there’s just less women available to headline festivals”.
There has been at least one female headliner in the past four editions, with performers including Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Halsey, Lana Del Rey and Megan Thee Stallion.
The 2026 Reading and Leeds Festival will also feature performances from pop star Jade, grime act Skepta, Irish rappers Kneecap and U.S. rising stars Sombr and Role Model.
The festivals will take place at Reading’s Richfield Avenue and Bramham Park in Leeds between 27 to 30 August.
