Festival Review: 2000 Trees 2026
Credit: Mac Praed
Attending 2000 Trees 2026 showed me why the festival has earned such a loyal family of attendees each year as it approaches what will be their 20th year running in 2027. I’ve been spoon-fed reasons for why people come back every year. In typical 2000 Trees style, no drink was left at a reasonable temperature for more than 5 minutes, as the scorching hot sun kindly graced crowds with 30+ degree heat.
One thing I love about 2000 Trees is their ability to appreciate both larger established bands and local talent, giving emerging talent the same platform as these other bands and creating a lineup that feels both exciting and cohesive. Some festivals struggle to show love to talent local to their location, but Trees will continue to break these boundaries we (unfortunately) see in the industry. After all, support local bands, because most of the time they’re what you’ve been missing in your playlist, and chances are you’ll blink and they’ll be the next headliner.
Credit: Carla Mundy
The lineup this year, I think, reflected a clear understanding of the alternative music scene, balancing established favourites with emerging artists and creating enthralling opportunities for discovery throughout the weekend.
One of my favourite bands of the weekend was Bleech 9:3. Despite a challenging time slot with other popular bands on at the same time, and it admittedly being difficult to spot them on the lineup/poster, they did more than just show up and play their songs: they put on a show. Everytime I have seen these guys they always give it their best and I think that’s their biggest attribute and reason as to why they’re doing so well. You couldn’t really get a negative word in on these guys even if you tried. I really love the on stage presence and caricatures they have created, it’s extremely captivating and exactly what you want from a live show; no reason to look away. Each and every member always looks not just like they want to be there, but as though they are carefully crafting ideas to step up their performance on stage, keeping the audience's engagement and in turn putting on a great show.
Their sound is of that particular indie-rock which is emerging in mass concentrations out of Dublin at the moment; with bands such as Basht and of course Fontaines DC. This sub-genre of kind of, ‘angry indie-punk’ which is extremely unapologetic is all the craze right now. A personal favourite song of theirs is, ‘Underrated’ which always seems to get the crowd going. I will almost never skip seeing Bleech 9:3 whenever they are at a festival I am in attendance of, and almost always find myself not only bringing it up as a highlight but also recommending them to others.
Credit: Gareth Bull
Another stand out set of mine has to be Native James. Having watched and reviewed this absolute powerhouse before, his set was nothing short of awesome. This guy absolutely has a command over an audience, and it’s extremely impressive for just one guy with a mic. He has great stage presence, and again I always hear his name coming back up in conversation. It's apparent why, as he always seems to get a crowd moving and feeling alive. I always have a great time watching his set, whether I’m immersed in the crowd or at the back taking it all in. His sound is an interesting mix of metal and rap, and those two diverse styles being brought together in conjunction with nods to his culture, creates music of which two different crowds can enjoy together. I’m always excited to see what he does next. He is another act of which you can always count on to bring it, whether the crowd has 10 people or 2000 people in it.
Something that was also really unique was the sets at each campsite each night. I saw the likes of Buds, and Blank Atlas at a tiny little stage which was more like a step, and half the time most people were popping their head out the tent, or sitting down legs crossed like we were back in school. Again, there was great energy for these acoustic sets, and I thought I ought to mention it to effectively encapsulate the unique temperament which comes with an intimate festival like Trees. Strangely enough, it still manages to keep this unique and intimate impression despite now actually being quite massive, with 15,000 people in attendance this year!
Credit: Jez Pennington
On that note, I think that’s what is so enjoyable about 2000 Trees. Always being able to rely on the fact that your highlights of the weekend won’t be the headliner, and I think that’s quite beautiful that they manage to not only effectively highlight but acknowledge the relevant emerging talent of that year and feed into why they have such a buzz about them. Saying that, though, I must admit my favourite ‘headliner’ of the weekend was not any of the headline acts per se, it was the massive screening of the England football game. What an energy, you wouldn’t know everybody had been there for an alternative festival until you saw the moshpits when we scored, and then won! It was lovely to see everybody come together and to have a live commentary of the game as it went on. That could be a slogan for 2000 Trees, mind, ‘the festival which never fails to bring people together’.
2000 Trees strikes an impressive balance between delivering genuine, great live music and creating an environment that feels genuinely welcoming, well organised, and community-driven. Although well-organised in most aspects; I find it appropriate to highlight an area where the festival could be strengthened. 2000 Trees gets so much right when it comes to creating an inclusive environment, but I think there are some practical considerations which could make everybody's experience better, particularly for disabled attendees: the availability of shaded rest areas. As a disabled attendee, I found the prolonged periods of heat challenging, and there were limited opportunities to take a break out of direct sunlight between performances. While I appreciated the overall organisation and atmosphere of the festival, having more accessible shaded spaces would make a meaningful difference for disabled attendees and others who may be more affected by high temperatures. I found myself running back to our gazebo to try and catch shade, as all limited areas were taken up by others. Although maybe a small addition, I feel as though it could further improve an already excellent festival experience.
Credit: Jez Pennington
In a similar vein, I feel as though there is an opportunity for a review of the provision and placement of accessible toilets. Whilst accessible facilities were available, as someone who normally has JCW (‘Just Can't Wait’) toilet access; amongst other adjustments it was prevalent more-so to myself that it could be possible to make a separate toilet queue or area for disabled attendees. While accessible facilities are understandably located within the access campsite, not every disabled attendee will be camping there. Of course, this is intended as constructive feedback rather than criticism. Perhaps, this stood out more so because the rest of the festival was held and ran at such a high standard. From the friendly Oxfam staff who notably brought everybody's energy back up after the trek in the heat from the car park to the entrance, to the carefully crafted welcoming atmosphere built by other employees such as stage engineers who made sure sets ran smoothly and on time.
I think that could be one of the strongest attributes of the festival for me, as this is rare amongst larger scale operations. Every member of staff I came into contact with was coming forward with the genuine desire to not just be there, but give everyone the best experience possible. I even had a guy ask for my favourite flavour of crisp at the bar, which was a particular favourite moment of the weekend as it caught me so off guard- he had a tally and everything. For those wondering, the lead was Salt and Vinegar. This good vibe was something incredibly reassuring about attending a festival where the people running it appear to care just as much about the audience experience as the audience does about the music.
With those meaningful interactions, we all got to enjoy a bit of each other's weekend and contribute to that positive, ‘I don’t want to leave’ attitude when we were finally packing up our tents, even if we were sweaty and tired.
Written by Caitlyn Knight
Opinion
