Many say its the best weekend of the year and they’d be right - 2000Trees always produce a special weekend and its one of the many reasons they have been voted the best medium UK festival multiple times. They are no strangers to pulling in some big names as well as the very best rising stars and this year was n different with a mammoth line-up taking over the gorgeous scenes of Upcote Farm in Cheltenham in what was an absolute scorching weekend. We went along to brave the heat and soak up the very best of this incredible festival.

Wednesday:

Although it’s technically the first day of the festival, the Wednesday is an add on with only two stages open but boy were they packed with talent. Kicking off my day was the always incredible Love Rarely who just seem to be going from strength to strength every time I see them. Despite the overwhelming heat of the tent, the fans came in their numbers to mosh the day away and kick off the weekend right. Festivals are always the best place to showcase what you’re all about and bring in fresh faces to your shows and if this set didn’t sway new fans then what’s the point in having ears - a few months into debut record Pain Travels, they brought out the big guns with the likes of Haunted, Severed and Mould among others getting the place moving. A big second half of the year awaits for these guys and all I’ll say is do not sleep on them!

Next up, I had to pop in and watch some Scottish chaos with the lads in Soapbox. Although hailing from Glasgow, they have made big things happen in England and more specifically this very festival having drawn a big crowd last year as well as getting rooms moving on a nightly basis when on tour with Brighton pals Snayx at the end of 2025. This set was no different and the energy they produce seriously needs studied because the entire tent was active even from people who had no idea who they were watching. Throughout the set a sea of crowd surfers made their way over the barrier, some even firing water guns as they flew through the air keeping their fellow festival goers cool in the process.

Last up for me today came later in the day due to the heat getting the better of me. Headlining the Word stage and gearing up for their debut album was the always incredible Lake Malice, a band I will never get board of watching live - you know you’re getting nothing but entertainment but also each set is different with the way they level up every time they step on stage. Personally my excitement for the new record is sky high, I feel like it’s been a long time coming and they deserve endless credit for the work they have put into making this happen. This set was a great taster for what’s to come from not only the album but the headline tour later in the year (get your tickets please) - the crowd soaked up every inch of this and gave everything back screaming back the words to Alice for the duration. Of course we can’t forget Blake taking his guitar for a walk into the crowd for the usual circle pit around him.

Thursday:

The first full day of bands and a chance to explore all stages while also trying to find shade to avoid the direct sun as and when we all could, for a nation that doesn’t often get nice weather, we go all out to avoid it at times when we get it. Today consisted if a lot of running between stages to catch bits of bands, with it being so stacked you just knew the clashes were going to be evil. Setting the day up nicely with a nice mix of metalcore and hardcore with Long Goodbye - hailing from the North-East, they brought the breakdowns to an early Thursday afternoon, warm or not the moshers were out in force for this one from spin kicks to cartwheels and everything in between. They’ve taken the scene by storm with their aggressive, scathing approach to the genre and a slot like this is how you want to kick start your day at a festival.

Now the clashes start, main stage we saw the glorious Saint Agnes do what they do best with an incredible show, and that wasn’t the only impressive viewing, they powered through the entire set in the baking sun wearing their trademark all black suits, I was struggling in shorts so I’d hate to imagine what they went through. Kicking off their set with Get Them Out and Bloodsuckers was seriously strong start and even kicked off proceedings getting a wall of death for song one. Mid set it was time to head over to Axiom to catch the second Scottish band of the weekend to catch Edinburgh based Happydaze make their festival debut and blast away any hangovers with the pop punk action. Another band from Scotland that making waves in England and it says a lot when there’s band merch spread through the crowd this far down south.

A band that are now regular on my playlist after seeing them for the first time in recent months is Pool Kids - the Florida 4-piece are making a big name for themselves over here and this is their first run in the UK. Gearing up for a big tour in September with Death Cab for Cutie, this is the perfect time to build even more momentum than they already have. A set made up most of last years record Easier Said Than Done got a great reception from both fans and newbies who just stumbled into the tent.

Closing off day one was a band who were not even in the line-up 2 weeks ago - due to headliners Alkaline Trio having to sadly pull out of the festival through illness, up stepped Bedford legends Don Broco to take their place and make sure the Thursday went off as intended and boy did it. Having only headlined the festival 2 years ago, Trees knew what to expect from a mammoth headline show from these boys. They brough new music, old music, a lot of fire and all round great vibes as they always do. From the start of opening song of Cellophane to the swinging of sweaty tops to T-Shirt Song, the crowd went off for the entirety of this set, it felt like a big thank you from the Trees family for stepping in to this headline slot. It’s really hard to describe a Don Broco show, its something you just have to experience it yourself to get a proper understanding of just how good they are, I mean where else will you get a hydration break right before a huge breakdown during True Believers (yes that happened), or sing about getting an Uber and having a mini roll - they have it all.

Friday:

Day two of bands and another jam packed day of incredible talent. Kicking off the day with female fronted 4-piece Glass Bridges on the Marshall Stage. One of the many bands on the bill who are turning heads with their punchy riffs and evocative vocals bringing out a very unique sound that instantly hooks you. They do not shy away from heavy elements in their tracks but also filter through emotional areas in the lyrics. Their stage presence covers the entirety of the stage and this just adds to what they bring any bill. The Marshall stage produced an incredible selection of talent throughout the weekend - one of their very own bands Knives brought their high energy to an early afternoon slot. Having hit the road all over Europe recently, it was great to see these guys back on UK soil doing what they do best, their explosive live show never fails to impress and as always had the crowd moving. Following that, the ever impressive Alisha brought her ferocious alt-metal and melting riffs to the Tree’s faithful whilst also making her UK festival debut in massive style.

Else where on the bill we had some amazing high energy shows with God Complex taking care of hardcore elements before the always impressive House of Protection made their presence felt on the main stage - as you would expect there was plenty of circle pits and crowd surfers from start to finish creating an unhealthy amount of dust clouds. A somewhat nostalgic band for me now with Mallory Knox, taking me back to the glory days of the Kerrang Tour and watching music videos on Scuzz TV. This band were a big part of my high school days and even now, the love never leaves you. Being in a tent filled with like minded people screaming your heart out to the likes of Lighthouse, Sugar and Ghost In The Mirror is in its own way very therapeutic.

Finally rounding off a pretty incredible Friday was a headline slot I have been ecstatic for ever since the line-up dropped and that’s the mammoth Funeral For a Friend, now fronted by one of my favourite people with Lucas Woodland of Holding Absence now at the helm. A huge crowd gathered at the main stage ready for what was one of the sets of the weekend, Lucas has always voiced his love for this band even before joining and to see him bring his own take to the music is pretty special - his stage presence has always been filled with energy and joy and their is no difference with FFAF, his infectious vibe just runs seamlessly throughout the crowd and beautifully sent back with a unison of fans chanting back every word.

Weather there fans of Funeral are also fans of Holding Absence or not, they have welcome Lucas into the family with open arms and it really is beautiful to see, the pure raw emotion plastered all over his face as he covers every inch of the stage of easy to spot, I guess when you love the band as much as he does it just adds that bit more passion into what you’re doing.

Saturday:

It’s the final day and great news for all you sun lovers, its still there and its still extra hot but we’ve made it this far so one more day can’t hurt surly. A later start to the day but a killer start none the less with the always incredible Bodyweb getting things moving in the Cave with their grungy post-hardcore metal sound. A thought that never really left my head the entire weekend was the consistency of the crowd who never let the heat effect the action they brought to every set especially the ones in the tents, this show was no different. The mix of influences in their sound leaves you guessing what’s next with every song but that’s certainly not a bad thing, the crowd were full engaged for the duration.

Next we had two of my must see bands both back to back starting off with Scottish royalty Gallus who fully took over the Marshall Stage. Bringing vibes that you’d only ever see at a Gallus show, the crowd were eating up every moment of this set bouncing along to songs like Marmalade and What Do I Know with even the added addition of the Marshall mascot getting involved in the pits. England always treats these guys so well and the response to this set was proof of that. A then quick dash over to the Forrest Stage was next for High Regard, a band who just go from strength to strength every time I see them. Any time they step on stage they just explode with passion and energy and it’s a real joy to watch. The reaction to the Warning Signs EP went down a storm and songs like Buried Alive and Red Lights go off live. Joined on stage by Charlie Rolfe from As Everything Unfolds was the perfect end to what was a perfect set.

Sticking with As Everything Unfolds, it was time for their set to a proper jam packed tent as you would expect for these guys. Fresh off releasing their latest record Did You Ask To Be Set Free? in April, the festival circuit is probably the best place to test drive some of the newbies before hitting the road, something they will be doing across the UK early next year as well as hitting Europe with friends in Future Palace later on this year. AEU know how to work a crowd and Tree’s were ready for what this set brought right from the get go - every song sung at max volume with the occasional crowd surfer going flying over the barrier. The set had a great mix of classic and new from the staples like Flip Side and Ultraviolet to the new hits of Denial and Gasoline, weather it was new material or old, the crowd gave their all.

*As Everything Unfolds - photo by Gareth Bull*

Closing off what has been a perfect weekend with the perfect band to headline a Saturday night of a festival - Neck Deep are in my opinion one of the best bands to do it in the pop punk scene and to have them top this bill was a no brainer. They have a catalogue worthy of headlining a festival and this set was everything you could possibly have wanted pre show although even the songs missed would have gone down a treat with this crowd who turned up in their numbers to round off the weekend in style. Its no surprise to anyone just how much I love this band, my words give that away but one of the things I love the most particularly about this set is the little need for a major production, the standard ‘Generic Pop Punk’ backdrop and a huge setlist is all they needed to make this festival their playground.

The first three songs of Can’t Kick Up The Roots, Where Do We Go When We Go and Motion Sickness was as solid a start as I’ve seen from Neck Deep and it just set the tone for the rest of the night just throwing out banger after banger as they went along. Despite it being the final band of the mega 4 days, the crowd gave all they had with countless action all over the place from big pits to countless crowd surfers giving the security one last job to do for the weekend on the main stage at least. I love new Neck Deep and I love old school Neck Deep, I especially love when they throw in songs we don’t always here live like Crushing Grief (No Remedy) and A Part of Me, one of the loudest songs of the night. Throw in the usual classics like Gold Steps, In Bloom and December, you have a show that suits fans, new fans and just enjoyers of live music covering all the basis.

There we go. 2000Trees 2026 is done and dusted for another year and already all eyes now turn to next years massive 20th anniversary special. Returning to the usual location in Upcote Farm from Wednesday 7th July - Saturday 10th July 2027.

2000Trees: The Big Review

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2000Trees: The Big Review

Radar Festival: Ones To Watch

2000Trees: Ones To Watch

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