Mad Cool 2026 preview: Dates, stages and artists featuring Florence + The Machine and JENNIE

Festival season has well and truly begun with a huge selection of artists taking to stages from Mighty Hoopla to Primavera Sound. With a notable Glastonbury-sized hole in this year’s schedule, there has been a heightened focus on its peers to truly over-deliver in terms of eye-watering, unmissable line-ups and Mad Cool seems to have the strongest offering for this summer. Celebrating its 10th birthday, the Madrid-based megalith has pulled out all the stops for a truly special birthday, packing a line-up with Foo Fighters, Halsey, Pulp, Zara Larsson, Twenty One Pilots and more. Here are five must-see artists for 2026’s edition.

Florence + The Machine

Thursday’s headliner is at the top of her game. Releasing the exceptional Everybody Scream album in 2025, with co-signs from Mitski and IDLES, Florence + The Machine has been delighting audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with a sensational setlist, melding the dramatic and beguiling songs from the new release with her back catalogue of cathartic anthems. Expect mass emotional outpouring on the biggest scale as this British behemoth showcases the exact reason she’s atop the line-ups of some of the largest festivals this summer. Get ready to scream.

CMAT

Riding high from the epic response to her third album EURO-COUNTRY, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson makes her Mad Cool debut in 2026 and it’s an absolute essential set. CMAT has always had the power of the eccentric; she struts a stage like a global artist decades into a career. There’s a St Vincent-style eccentricity merged with Bowie-esque brilliance as she saunters through jangled hits such as ‘Have Fun!’ and ‘I Really Don’t Care For You’. There’s a captivation of the audience too: when she hits the sunny stage on Thursday you must be in the crowd to see this incredible performer. Dust off the cowboy boots and see you down the front for the Dunboyne county two step.

Sigrid

In 2025, Sigrid quietly released a perfect pop album, There’s Always More I Could Say. There was a short supporting tour, but now she’s out and active across the festival scene and Mad Cool is a must to see her explode on stage with a newfound assuredness and a setlist rammed full of feel-good bangers. Pint-sized in stature, Sigrid commands the stage with an unmatched confidence. Playing the Orange Stage on Friday evening, expect beautiful sunsets soundtracked by poignant tracks such as ‘Home To You’ and ‘It Gets Dark’, perfectly matched with the propulsive pop of ‘Strangers’ and should-have-been-a-smash Fort Knox.

Wolf Alice

A band truly at the top of their game, Wolf Alice are in sub-headline position on the main stage on the first day of Mad Cool, opening for the mighty Foo Fighters. Their latest album The Clearing allowed frontwoman Ellie Rowsell to lean into the avant-garde as she takes centre stage and spotlight with the same beguiling captivation of early Björk. Adding epic tracks such as White Horses and Bloom, Baby, Bloom to their already immaculate back catalogue assures their hour-long slot will be packed out with soaring anthems to truly set the tone for the festival’s 10th birthday.

JENNIE

Thursday night is a star-studded affair, as Reneé Rapp, Lorde, Florence and JENNIE share a main stage. This all-star female line-up showcases the diversity of women smashing it across genres and topping charts globally. BLACKPINK soloist JENNIE performs her only EU headline appearance this summer at Mad Cool. There is sure to be a huge turnout for this solo standout as she promises immaculate choreo, second-to-none visuals and a rare opportunity for her adoring European fans to see this world-conquering act up close and personal

See You In Madrid

With a line-up that spans global superstars, breakthrough talent and bona fide cultural icons, Mad Cool’s tenth anniversary edition looks set to be one of its biggest yet. If you haven’t decided on your 2026 festival plans, then grab tickets now via their official website.