Y NOT Festival 2026 Kicks Off in Style as Sunshine, Singalongs and Indie Legends Set the Tone for the Weekend

There is something special about the opening day of a festival. The anticipation has been building for months, campsites begin filling with familiar faces, strangers become neighbours within minutes, and for four days the outside world fades into the background. That feeling was impossible to miss as Y NOT Festival officially got underway on Thursday, with sunshine overhead, a welcome breeze rolling across Pikehall, and thousands of music fans arriving in excellent spirits for the start of another unforgettable weekend.

After getting the tent pitched and the campsite sorted, it was straight into the main arena, where the festival was already beginning to come alive. Food traders were firing up their grills, bars were pouring the first pints of the weekend, and despite the gates having only recently opened, there was already a real buzz around the site. The weather certainly helped. Warm enough to feel like summer had finally arrived, but with enough of a breeze to keep everyone comfortable as the crowds steadily grew throughout the afternoon.

Opening the main stage is never an easy job, but Human Interest embraced it brilliantly. Their blend of classic pop rock, combined with alternating male and female vocals, made for an ideal soundtrack as people wandered into the arena for the first time. You could see the audience gradually building throughout their set, with more festival-goers stopping to watch every few songs. One particular highlight was Shape Shifter, a heartfelt track about neurodivergent people who often feel like they don’t quite fit in. It was an unexpectedly emotional moment for an opening set and one that immediately established Human Interest as a band worth keeping an eye on.

Festivals are as much about the little discoveries as they are the headline acts. Within the first hour I’d somehow managed to grab some free tofu courtesy of Tofoo Co. and washed it down with a complimentary blood orange cider. Not a bad start to the weekend at all.

Over at The Pit, Irish outfit Love Buzz had already packed the tent with fans eager for their infectious mix of surf-inspired pop punk and melodic rock. The energy inside was a world away from the relaxed atmosphere outside, with the crowd bouncing along from the very first song. Their upbeat hooks and effortless stage presence made them one of those bands that instantly win over people who had never heard them before. Judging by the reaction, they left with plenty of new fans.

Back on the main stage, Deco injected a huge dose of 1980s-inspired pop into the afternoon. Dressed in matching black and white outfits against an enormous lime green LED backdrop, they delivered a colourful, feel-good performance that steadily drew more and more people towards the stage. By the end of their set, dancing had become unavoidable.

Not every attraction at Y NOT revolves around live music either. The festival’s darts competition proved surprisingly popular, attracting a sizeable crowd of spectators who were just as invested in the arrows as they were the guitars. It’s those slightly surreal festival moments that make weekends like this memorable.

As the afternoon turned into evening, Hard-Fi reminded everyone why their songs have stood the test of time. Classics including Cash Machine and Hard to Beat sparked huge singalongs from a crowd that seemed to know every word. Those songs instantly transported thousands of people back to the mid-2000s, and judging by the smiles across the field, nobody minded revisiting that era for half an hour.

The band also showcased their newer material with Digi Nada, introducing a noticeably Hispanic influence. Frontman Richard Archer explained that its roots actually stretched back to Joe Strummer and punk music, giving the song an interesting context before launching into it. It sat surprisingly comfortably alongside the older material, but it was impossible to top the finale. Living for the Weekend was always destined to be the perfect closing song on a Thursday evening at a festival. Thousands of beers were held aloft as the crowd danced and sang together, fully embracing exactly what the song has always celebrated.

Ash somehow managed to raise the bar even higher. Their catalogue is absolutely stacked with songs that have become staples of British alternative music, and Thursday’s audience was reminded just how many classics they have accumulated over the years. The field was now properly full, and every chorus seemed louder than the last.

For me, Oh Yeah was the standout moment. It was one of those defining summer songs when I was a teenager, and hearing it again with thousands of voices singing every lyric back felt genuinely special. The band stretched out the ending, allowing the audience to take over completely before crashing straight into their brilliant cover of Harry Belafonte’s Jump In The Line, ensuring absolutely nobody remained standing still. Moments later came Kung Fu, another reminder that Ash’s back catalogue is ridiculously strong. Then came Girl From Mars, which triggered complete chaos at the front, before they signed off with Burn Baby Burn, leaving the crowd wanting even more.

After all that, a quick wander over to The Watchtower revealed what might secretly have been one of the biggest parties on site. The Oktoberfest band had packed the venue to capacity, with people dancing on benches and tables while a brass band rattled through crowd favourites including James’ Sit Down, Stacy’s Mom, Teenage Dirtbag and just about every singalong anthem imaginable. If you were looking purely for atmosphere, The Watchtower was difficult to beat.

A brief escape into Tony’s VIP area offered a completely different side of Y NOT. Tucked away from the crowds, it provided a welcome opportunity to catch your breath before the evening’s biggest headline performance.

The Libertines exploded onto the stage to one of the biggest receptions of the day. From the moment Pete Doherty and Carl Barât walked out, the roar from the audience was deafening. There is still something uniquely special about seeing those two sharing a stage. They have always had a chemistry that feels impossible to manufacture, and watching them laughing together between songs genuinely makes you smile. Dressed sharply in suits as ever, they looked effortlessly cool, while Pete, looking healthy and relaxed, seemed to be enjoying every second.

The first time I saw The Libertines was during their reunion in 2014. It wasn’t simply a concert; it felt like an event that perfectly encapsulated everything the band had become. The atmosphere teetered on the edge of chaos from the moment they appeared. Crowd crushes rippled through the arena, people somehow found themselves climbing delay towers for a better view, and by the end of the night the bars had literally run dry. It was unpredictable, exhilarating and, at times, completely out of control. That beautiful sense that absolutely anything could happen had always been part of The Libertines’ appeal.

Thursday’s headline performance felt like the perfect snapshot of the modern-day Libertines. The danger has softened around the edges, but none of the magic has disappeared. The songs still hit with the same emotional weight, Pete and Carl still bounce off one another effortlessly, and the performance itself remains every bit as captivating. They’ve simply become a more polished, more measured version of themselves. For anyone who has followed the band for the last two decades, that’s oddly reassuring.

“What became of the likely lads?” We know the answer now. They settled down a little. They lived the dreams they had, somehow navigated the chaos that nearly consumed them, and came out the other side still standing together. They may no longer feel like a band teetering on the edge, but that’s exactly what makes The Libertines of 2026 so compelling. The fire still burns, only now it’s tempered by experience rather than fuelled by self-destruction.

The set itself was packed with classics. Carl swapped between guitar, piano and even saxophone during Baron’s Claw, adding another layer to a performance that constantly evolved without ever losing momentum. Their songwriting remains their greatest strength. These songs still paint vivid pictures of late-night London, broken friendships, romance and youthful recklessness just as brilliantly as they did twenty years ago, and a surprisingly young audience sang every word back as if they’d grown up alongside them.

Towards the closing stretch, the hits came thick and fast. Up The Bracket detonated across the field before What a Waster sent the front rows into absolute bedlam. Everywhere you looked there were teenagers perched on shoulders alongside fans who had been following the band since the early 2000s, all united by songs that have somehow become timeless. Can’t Stand Me Now carried all the emotional weight it always has, before Don’t Look Back Into The Sun closed the main stage with the perfect festival finale. As the final notes rang out, the band stood shoulder to shoulder with their arms around one another, soaking up a lengthy standing ovation from a crowd that knew they’d just witnessed something special.

After the band had left, drummer Gary Powell remained behind to address the audience, encouraging everyone to never lose their love for music before also expressing support for Palestine. It was a brief but heartfelt moment before the lights finally came down.

While the main stage closed for the evening, the festival simply shifted gears. Pete Doherty and Carl Barât headed to the Silent Disco for a DJ set that kept the celebrations rolling until midnight. Across the site, headphones glowed under the Derbyshire night sky as thousands continued singing, dancing and raising glasses together.

If Thursday proved anything, it’s that Y NOT Festival has once again mastered the art of starting a weekend. Great weather, genuinely happy crowds, memorable performances and that unmistakable feeling that everyone is exactly where they want to be. With three full days still to come, opening day has set an incredibly high standard.

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