Green Man Festival 2026
There are few better places to spend a weekend photographing live music than Green Man Festival.
Set against the mountains of the Brecon Beacons, Green Man has a great mix of established artists, cult favourites and bands that you might not have heard of yet. There’s always something happening somewhere.
This year I headed back to Green Man to photograph the festival for Clunk Magazine, covering a mix of artists across the weekend.
And there was plenty to photograph.
One of the things I enjoy most about festival photography is the unpredictability. You can go from an emerging band on a smaller stage to one of the biggest names on the bill, with completely different crowds, atmospheres and challenges in between.
Westside Cowboy were a great example of that unpredictability. I saw them at Green Man last year on the Rising Stage, so it was great to see them back this year, and on the Mountain Stage. Their debut album was also released on the same day they played, making it a good day for a band that has clearly come a long way in a relatively short time.
There were plenty of other discoveries too, including Little Grandad, who look like a band with a lot of potential.
But for me, there was one band that completely stole the weekend.
Getdown Services.
They were, without question, the band of the weekend. Completely infectious, slightly chaotic and impossible not to get caught up in. Their set drew the biggest crowd of the weekend to the Far Out stage and they have the kind of energy that makes photographing a band easy because there is always something happening in front of you. By the end of the weekend, they were the band I kept coming back to.
The crowds were a big part of the weekend too. Shame delivered one of the highlights of the festival, the crowd was absolutely going for it, making for some great opportunities from the pit. While Panic Shack were brilliant too, with an enormous response from the Welsh crowd, Sprints produced another seriously energetic set, with the audience giving them plenty to work with.
Then there was A Place To Bury Strangers.
An absolute wall of noise, smashed guitars and glorious chaos. Exactly the sort of set where you know you’re going to come away with some interesting photographs.
There were also some of the more established names that made the weekend special. Sparks were, quite simply, Sparks. After such a long career, seeing them command the stage at Green Man was pretty special. Baxter Dury, Wilco, Anna Calvi and Four Tet all brought something completely different to the festival.
Mogwai were another highlight. They’ve been a favourite of mine for a long time, so getting the chance to finally see and photograph them live was always going to be one of the sets I was looking forward to.
And then there was The Beta Band.
Finally getting to see them live was one of the highlights of the weekend. They’re another band I’ve wanted to see for years, so being able to photograph them at Green Man was pretty special. Between Mogwai and The Beta Band, there were a couple of long-standing favourites finally ticked off the list.
But neither quite managed to take the top spot. Getdown Services stole the weekend.
Away from the main stages, I also photographed Zack Polanski in the Talking Shop tent, along with Eaves Wilder, Dove Ellis, Dry Cleaning and a few other artists across the weekend.
Four days, a lot of music and a lot of walking later, that’s Green Man Festival 2026 done. Huge thanks to Clunk Magazine for having me along to photograph the festival.
