Mark Thomas, Luke Wright, Elf Lyons, Robin Ince and More Join ALSO Festival 2026

ALSO: The UKs most inspirational summer festival combining ideas, music, comedy and wellness alongside adventures in food and nature, has announced the first wave of speakers, performers and experiences for its upcoming 13th edition: ALSO26, taking place 10th - 12th July 2026 at Park Farm, Compton Verney, Warwickshire.

ALSO26's offering of smart comedy features headline sets from multi-award-winning political comedian and activist Mark Thomas and lyrical wit from poet Luke Wright in Later Life Letter.

Elf Lyons and her father, economist Dr Gerard Lyons, will appear for Elfonomics-a unique look at how the world works.

Other comedy highlights include Jane Gregory and Steve Hall testing their marriage in Sounds Like Misophonia, and the return of comedy polymath Robin Ince on the Woods Stage. Plus, for a touch of French flair, Marcel Lucont presents his legendary show Cabaret Fantastique, hosts a panel reflecting on 10 Years of Brexit, and for younger audiences presents Les Enfants Terribles 2 - Another Game Show For Awful Children.

The unparalleled ideas programme features a range of events which could change the fortunes of budding creatives including award-winning writer and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind Claudia Hammond who presents the psychological toolkit for anyone feeling overwhelmed and award-winning neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff revealing the power of 'tiny experiments' to achieve ambitions. Writers can or join Ben Pester for The Inevitable Writing Workshop or consider how mathematics shapes creativity with Marcus du Sautoy.

ALSO's Big Summer Read sees BAFTA-nominated screenwriter and novelist Emma Jane Unsworth discussing her novel SLAGS and visit returning bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud dispensing personalized Fiction Prescriptions.

ALSO26 is the perfect place to discover new music, providing the serendipitous soundtrack to your summer including a suite of unique experiences from multi-instrumentalist Steve Pretty (Hackney Colliery Band), from a Late Night Live Film Score to an immersive conch shell journey in Shellectronica.

Always family-friendly, ALSO26 has an awesome array of activities for all ages. Playbox Theatre brings high-energy Musical Theatre Workshops and evening storytelling, while Patches Circus School will delight with a show and opportunity to learn some circus skills and Marcel Lucont returns with Les Enfants Terribles 2 - Another Game Show For Awful Children. Explore on the Mini Beasties Safari, join the Tiny Dancers Family Rave, get creative in an ARTLAB workshop, build a den with ex-Marine Dave Hamblett or join Rebecca King for bubbles and optical illusions. For the littlest festival-goers, The Stanley offers a dedicated sensory play space, and Mortimer Nannies returns to offer professional childcare, allowing parents to enjoy a hot meal or a late-night dance. And for the competitive, the ALSO All Stars talent show awaits!

This spectacular 13th edition of ALSO turns the wheel to Oh Fortuna!, and together we'll playfully explore luck and chance and encounters that ask how much of our fortune is already written and how much luck we can make ourselves. With 13 ways to experience the theme over the weekend, ALSO26 invites you to dive in and choose your own adventure:

• Journey to the edge of human understanding at a Big SciTech session,

• Get to grips with the inner workings of the human mind at a Psych+ talk,

• Delve into the written word at one of our Great Literary talks,

• Discover your new favourite band at a Future Music set,

• Have your ribs tickled at a super-smart comedy show,

• Re-energise yourself at a wellbeing experience,

• Learn a new skill at a making workshop,

• Enhance your Blue Mind with time spent in, on or by the water,

• Treat your taste receptors at a dining or tasting experience,

• Explore mythological forest installations inspired by Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fate,

• Perform in the Saturday Night extravaganza,

• Tour the site and beyond on a guided walk or run,

• Move your body and dance, dance, dance.