If your idea of festival hell involves 80,000 people, a four-hour queue for a burger, and a headliner you can just about see on a screen. Then fear not, Mucky Weekender is nothing like that. Barry Ashworth, frontman of the Dub Pistols and the man who’s been curating this thing from the start, has built something that has evolved to become one of our favorite UK festivals. 5,000 people, 28 acres of private parkland at Vicarage Farm in Woodmancott, near Winchester, and a lineup that would not look out of place headlining a stage at a festival ten times the size. It returns from Thursday 10 September to Saturday 12 September 2026.
The 2026 theme is Circus of Wonders, which is not just a name on a poster. The site runs fire performers, LED installations, jugglers, fire-eaters and stilt-walkers across the weekend, and there is a Fire Garden built into the experience alongside a stage hidden somewhere in the woodland.
We’d say that the vibe is the main reason to go, but the lineup is absolutely off the scale. Goldie, Roni Size, Gentleman’s Dub Club, Dutty Moonshine Big Band, Pop Will Eat Itself, Goldie Lookin Chain, Children of Zeus, Norman Jay MBE, Leftfield (DJ set), the Dub Pistols themselves, and a selection of special guests. Don Letts and Dreadzone are also confirmed. The list goes on and on with Krafty Kuts, Stanton Warriors, Leeroy Thornhill, Freestylers, Soul of Man, The Nextmen, Mr Scruff, Utah Saints and even D&B legends Micky Finn and DJ Hype. The genres covered across the weekend run from dub, reggae and ska through drum and bass, jungle and breaks to hip hop, house, funk and electronic music, which is a broader range than most festivals manage across a single site.
Thursday runs from 2pm to 11pm and is strictly for Thursday ticket holders. That session opens with Utah Saints, Norman Jay MBE, Roni Size, and Terry Farley, so it is worth considering the upgrade. Friday and Saturday both run from midday to 2am.
Tickets, the prices are as follows and the booking fees are not optional so factor them in: a day ticket starts at £108 plus £8 booking fee; a 2-night camping ticket is £189 plus £14; the full 3-night ticket, which includes Thursday, is £243 plus £18. Standard camping is included in the ticket price. Glamping options exist separately if that is your preference. Tickets are sold through the official festival website. http://mucky-weekender.co.uk/
Getting there from London is straightforward. Direct trains from London Waterloo to Winchester take approximately one hour. The closest station to the site itself is Micheldever, on the London Waterloo to Southampton Central line.
