Mad Cool 2026 review: Wolf Alice, Lorde and Zara Larsson conclude 10 years of Madrid’s most beloved festival

Last weekend, global musical talent descended on Madrid to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mad Cool, the capital’s most prolific festival. Boasting a line-up that gleefully blends genres, audiences and artists, this year’s offering was particularly far-reaching as Twenty One Pilots, JENNIE, Moby, The Vaccines and more all shared sweltering Spanish stages.

With a redesigned site layout, improved transport and two new stages, the festival had a lot to live up to following several flawless years. Kicking Wednesday off with a set befitting a birthday celebration, Ellie Rowsell and her Wolf Alice bandmates took to a stage adorned with decorations to tear through tracks from their acclaimed fourth album, The Clearing. A 7.30pm slot meant the animated frontwoman was locked in battle with the relentless sun, transforming into a sodden, demonic entity by the raucous ‘Play The Greatest Hits’ and ‘Yuk Foo’ before slowing things down for an anthemic closer in ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’.

A night for everybody

The first night was perhaps the festival’s most disjointed, with Foo Fighters fans rubbing shoulders with the woozy followers of alt-dance icon Moby. His set was a masterclass in soul-stirring sonics, elevated even further by the incredible vocalists joining him on stage. Then came a whiplash-inducing change of pace as late-noughties icons The Vaccines played to a packed tent that seemed to house every British attendee at Mad Cool, tearing through their debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? Arms were aloft for the nostalgia of ‘Wetsuit’ before the opening bars of ‘If You Wanna’ threatened to tear the roof off the tent.

An unexpected highlight, the complete opposite could be said for the evening’s headliners. Foo Fighters returned to the Madrid stage with a near-identical festival set to the last time they played. The Spanish faithful and Foo devotees seemed thoroughly entertained by the rock rerun.

Lorde makes her Mad Cool debut

In stark contrast, Thursday saw not only a Mad Cool debut but a Madrid debut for Lorde. Playing atop a moving video cube against an awe-inspiring sunset, the New Zealand native showcased fourth album Virgin in near entirety, peppering the set with favourites including ‘The Louvre’, ‘Supercut’ and the propulsive ‘Green Light’.

A sold-out crowd of 65,000 moved almost as one through Thursday’s unbeatable line-up of female pop royalty. CMAT thanked adoring fans for joining her at “the last ever CMAT show” as she joked about dying of sunstroke to part-concerned, part-intrigued, mostly Spanish-speaking festivalgoers. Dunboyne Diana’s stage presence grows stronger with every show, a Bowie-esque swagger propelling her from one side of the stag

Zara Larsson proves 2026 is a never ending ‘Midnight Sun’

Leaving Lorde sweating and smiling from ear to ear, thousands sprinted across the site for 2026’s breakout success story, Zara Larsson.

Ten years into a career built on near-perfect album releases, Midnight Sun has propelled the Swedish sensation firmly back into the spotlight. She arrives with the experience and confidence to not only handle a festival crowd, but completely own it. One of the most assured, charismatic and likeable performers of her generation, Zara is visibly having the time of her life as the audience deafens with singalongs to ‘Eurosummer’, ‘Hot & Sexy’ and an impassioned warble of the title track, which acts as both set opener and closer. 10/10. No notes.

JENNIE and Florence

Energy dipped slightly at one of JENNIE’s few European dates of the summer, which saw K-pop fans jostle with witchy Florence devotees on the barrier. The cheers were deafening, but the performance itself felt muted, despite pulling out the global chart topper Tame Impala collab ‘Dracula’.

Thursday concluded in fitting grandeur as the behemoth of pop, Florence, and her mighty machine ascended to the stage, cutting through ominous folk spell chanting. The mood was set immediately as the otherworldly frontwoman arrived for ‘Everybody Scream’, accompanied by her beguiling witch choir. She sprinted and floated joyfully up and down the runway, delivering a setlist built for festivals as ‘Shake It Out’ blended seamlessly into ‘Spectrum’, leaving the audience in undulating joy as ‘Rabbit Heart’ and ‘Hunger’ swiftly followed.

Florence slowed things down for the beautiful ‘Buckle’ and ‘Never Let Me Go’ before her aversion to screens offered the entire festival a moment of shared cathartic exorcism during ‘Dog Days Are Over’. She disappeared from the windy, sweltering evening, leaving the crowd breathless, screaming her name, and proving why Florence is atop nearly all UK + EU festival line-ups this summer.

Holly Humberstone brings new hits to Mad Cool

Waking up wondering if my life would ever be as good as yesterday, we headed back to site, grabbed a cerveza from a well-staffed bar, found a great bite to eat and arrived just in time for Holly Humberstone. The sun was beginning to set as the songwriter moved from ‘The Walls Are Way Too Thin’ to new tracks from acclaimed sophomore album Cruel World before rallying the audience into a singalong for ‘Scarlett’.

On the same stage, Sigrid exploded in colour and sound as much of the festival anchored itself around the football match playing on a solitary screen or a dreary set from Pixies. The girls and the gays, however, were here for some Scandi hyper-pop, and Sigrid skipped across the stage as jubilantly as if she were headlining Glastonbury. The power of her vocals and stage presence was a phenomenal surprise, with the audience completely behind her during rip-roaring singalongs to ‘High Five’ and ‘Strangers’.

Ending a decade of Mad Cool with a high

Sadly, Sigrid proved to be the final burst of vibrancy for Mad Cool 2026 as the festival closed with a more traditional, muted run of performers including Kings of Leon, Pulp and Nick Cave.

Overall, after a decade of world-class line-ups paired with Spanish hospitality and some of the hottest stages of the summer, this year’s edition truly cemented Mad Cool’s status as one of Europe’s greatest festivals. Its dedication to diversity in programming, highlighted by a near all-female Thursday line-up, showcases everything that makes the event so special.