Creamfields 2026: The Full Lineup and Four-Day Daresbury Guide
Creamfields 2026 returns to Daresbury from 27 to 30 August. The full lineup by day, arenas and how to attend the UK bank holiday finale.
Creamfields returns to Daresbury from Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 August 2026, and this year carries extra weight: it marks two decades of the festival calling the Cheshire estate home. Around 80,000 people are expected across the bank holiday weekend, which makes the Creamfields 2026 lineup one of the deepest the UK dance calendar has fielded in years.
Before the day splits, here is the sound of the weekend, pulled together in a Creamfields 2026 lineup playlist.
Here is how the four days at Daresbury break down at a glance.
Thursday eases the weekend open with a lighter card built around trance and warm-up sets. Friday is where the pace lifts: Carl Cox and Disclosure anchor a bill that also carries Fisher, John Summit, Paul Oakenfold, Shy FX and I Hate Models, spread across the festival’s harder and more melodic rooms.
Saturday is the heavyweight day. Calvin Harris and Martin Garrix bring the stadium end of the spectrum, Armin van Buuren returns on the newly launched Apex Stage, and Underworld, Amelie Lens, Dom Dolla, CamelPhat and Andy C round out a card that swings from live techno to peak-time house. Sunday closes the estate with Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto, Fatboy Slim and Faithless before the bank holiday runs out.
Beyond the headliners, the arena programming is where Creamfields 2026 shows its width. Teletech runs a three-day takeover for the harder, techno-facing crowd, Max Dean’s NEXUP hosts a stage on the Friday, and the returning Downtown area and HALO stage keep the underground rooms busy well past the marquee sets.
From where we sit, the techno end of the bill is the quiet story of Creamfields UK 2026. Carl Cox, Amelie Lens and I Hate Models sharing a weekend with pop-facing headliners shows how wide the festival has grown across its twenty years at Daresbury without losing the underground spine that built it.
Tickets and set times are live through the official Creamfields app. If Cheshire is out of reach this August, the festival’s own channels tend to share highlights, and the aftermovies give a fair sense of the scale you would be joining.
For more of what is on this season, see our techno festivals guide, and read our earlier note on Armin van Buuren’s Creamfields return.
Sources: Creamfields official site; Skiddle; Time Out.
