Ahead of the summer 2026 season and BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) is launching a collective campaign to celebrate the ‘First Festivals’ of the UK’s artists, fans and festival-goers.

The campaign will run from Friday May 15 – Thursday May 21, highlighting the independent festival sector as the essential breeding ground for musical talent, showcasing the diversity and cultural impact of festivals that operate outside of the major corporate structures.

Driven by more than 200 festivals of every size and genre across the country, the campaign will run across TV, radio, social media and online. By focusing on the ‘power of the collective’, the AIF aims to demonstrate the immense scale of this British sector.

Every global headliner started somewhere and, during First Festival Week, festival promoters across the UK will be delving into their archives and unearthing footage that showcases the early stages and formative performances of artists that have moved up through smaller stages to become concert and festival headliners as well as much loved radio and broadcast favourites.

Meanwhile, festival-goers will also be encouraged to share photos and memories of their first festival experiences.

The campaign will launch in tandem with the start of the summer festival season, supported by BBC Music coverage in the run-up to Radio 1’s Big Weekend.

Leicestershire’s 110 Above Festival counts Olivia Dean and Lola Young among its line-up alumni. Both played the event multiple times early in their careers, starting in 2020. 110 Above Festival Founder, Michael Lain remembers: “2020 was the year of COVID but, by September, we were able to have people in groups of six, two metres apart for a restricted attendance Camping Sessions edition. Both Olivia Dean and Lola Young were among the performers that year, and then Olivia came back later in the evening to do a set from a furniture van that her management had converted into a stage. For both Olivia and Lola, you only had to hear their voices once to know that they were going to be stars. They both returned to the festival to perform on the proper stage in 2021, and Lola came back again to make it three years in a row.”

Megan Evans, Director at Deer Shed in North Yorkshire, remembers an early appearance from CMAT: “She was mid-bill at Deer Shed 2022, tangoing with her keyboardist in front of a field full of families and children who had no idea they were watching a future festival headliner. Fast forward two years and one Mercury-nominated album later, CMAT made her triumphant return to Baldersby Park as Sunday headliner, closing out the main stage with her first-ever UK festival headline slot. For a generation of young Deer Shed festivalgoers, CMAT’s journey from mid-bill act to festival headliner is one they can say they witnessed firsthand, and a testament to her ability to connect with every member of her audiences regardless of their age.”

Inverness-Shire’s Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has seen early performances from Twin Atlantic, Sam Fender, Self Esteem, Emeli Sandé, Lewis Capaldi and others. “What’s amazing is seeing artists that have developed through the ranks over the years come back to play our festival later on in their career when they are household names,” says Event Producer Dougie Brown. “Twin Atlantic first played in 2008 on our Seedling Stage for new acts. There was a little bit of a buzz about them, but it was very early days. The crowd was having such a good time that the band had to get them to sit down so they could continue safely. They returned a number of times over the years until finally headlining in 2013 – and that was their first UK headline festival slot. It’s a similar story with Callum Beattie, who we’ve had a number of times over the years and now he’s got his first major headline slot with us this year after also selling out Glasgow’s Hydro earlier this year. Emeli Sandé also played our Grassroots Tent as a relative unknown. She came back 10-12 years later to headline the festival and we reminisced about previous crowds that were a fraction of the size.”

Hereford’s Nozstock presents Into The Valley has hosted very early performances from Idles and Ben Howard among others. “Ben Howard’s performance was around 2005 – incredibly early in Nozstock’s life and his career,” says Creative Director Ella Nosworthy. “It actually came about because he was the friend of a girlfriend of one of our team. They asked if he could play a set and I initially said no! He did end up playing and was very good, but we had no idea how successful he would go on to be. It was similar with Idles, who we had in 2016 prior to their debut album. You could see they had an amazing stage presence and clearly knew what they were doing, but you never can predict just how big a band will become. You book every act because you love them in that moment.”

The inaugural First Festival Week comes following the launch of here.live, a new discovery platform built by the AIF showcasing over 200 independent music festivals in the UK, where music fans can find and follow their next favourite artist at their next favourite festival as well as plan their festival journey.

“So many artists dream of headlining festivals, but the route to becoming a festival headliner often comes from years of playing across outdoor stages, in and out of tents and through multi-venue festivals,” says AIF CEO John Rostron. “Those first festival performances are so special for artists and audiences alike, and it’s a joy for us all when someone we have been supporting makes their way up to a bigger stage. First Festival Week is a way for us to share and celebrate all those stories, as well as our own experiences of heading to festivals for the first time, and picking out or discovering which will be the first festivals we head to this year.”

To join in during First Festival Week 2026 please tag @aif_uk on Instagram, use #firstfestivalweek2026 where relevant and point your audience to firstfestival.info.