Team Punktuation! are at the world's largest Punk festival in Blackpool, catching as many bands as they can!
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Rebellion Festival, the world’s largest annual Punk event, returns on August 6th to 9th to its long-standing home, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
Initially known as Holidays In The Sun, the Winter Gardens first opened its doors to mark the then 20th anniversary of Punk, hosting headliners X-Ray Spex, The Damned and Buzzcocks for the landmark three-day event back in 1996. Another thirty years on, and Rebellion Festival is going stronger than ever, as Punk rock celebrates its 50th anniversary! Interest in the music and culture show no sign of dissipating, and the last two years have seen the festival completely sell out across the four-day gathering.
For the fifth year running, our intrepid Punktuation! team of writers and photographers – in 2026: Ruth, Florian, Herman, Per-Åke and Phil – bring you daily reports (and look out for our Introducing Stage Special Review next week!) from Rebellion Festival 2026:
Sunday – Ruth Rae’s Report
Whether they’re getting ‘Back on the Piss‘, thinking it’s all a ‘Conspiracy Man‘, imploring the audience to ‘Put Your Phone Away‘ or wondering if they’d be more famous ‘If I Had a Pair of Tits‘, it’s the bewteen-song banter that cracks us up the most. Smackpot has figured out what Rebellion is about: “Fuck the fascists! Fuck the racists! Fuck the sexists! Fuck the homosexuals!” “No!” interjects Sideways – It’s ‘homophobes’!” “I always get that mixed up..” protests Smackpot, before having a Punk rock tantrum about the energy crisis – “My new idea is to just stop cooking oil – it always gets burnt anyway.” We end the set joining in with their biggest hit ‘Still Be A Cunt‘, which is actually quite cathartic when you’ve been jostled by impatient drunkards for the past 3.5 days…
Our favourite train-based DIY band Eastfield station themselves on the Opera House Stage at 14:45 precisely. Their self-titled album blew us away back in February, so we’re first in the queue to catch their live set! Eastfield admit they don’t play many chords, but it adds to the charm of their infectious singalong songs – and they’re not afraid to drop bits of other people’s songs into theirs either! Jessi has some words to say about the Festival; “You don’t get homesick here, everyone is always talking to each other – this is how it should be, keep it up” He also tells us he was called the thickest guitarist in punk when first playing the Arena stage many years ago, as he didn’t know what a standby button was! “Rebellion is much more inclusive than it used to be, which is lovely – and we can see all our friends.” Ending their chipper Punk’n’Roll set with ‘Another Boring Eastfield Song‘, their guitar tech jumps in on bass – and why not?
A surprise inclusion in the Festival, The Darling Buds are a rock / indie band rather than Punk – but I LOVE them! Back with a bang, their first new album since 1992 has just arrived – make sure you give ‘Same Sun/Same Sky‘ a listen! Their second song of the set in the Opera House, ‘Shame On You’, is a favourite of mine from their debut album, and they follow it up with my favourite from their latest, ‘Jump In‘. It turns out that The Darling Buds do have a punk connection – their song ‘Please Yourself‘ was co-written by original Rezillos guitarist Jo Callis, and it’s played in this afternoon’s set. The new songs such as ‘Intruder‘ fit perfectly alongside the older ones. An amusing moment occurs when lead singer Andrea asks the audience to crouch down ready to spring up for ‘Sure Thing‘, but most can’t! “I thought punks could jump?” she says sarcastically. ‘Cut Me Dead‘ really rocks out, then we have a singalong finish with hits ‘Hit The Ground‘ and ‘Burst‘.
Attila the Stockbroker & John Otway have planned a special 35 year anniversary performance of ‘Cheryl – A Rock Opera‘, their 1991 Edinburgh Fringe hit. This tale of Satanism, trainspotting, drug abuse and unrequited love is set on a station platform.. Attila spills the beans about Cheryl’s escapades in stentorian Chaucerian narrative verse. Otway responds with a series of ever more pathetic excuses in song. Then MC Trainspotter turns up… I didn’t expect to be crying with laughter at a gig this weekend, but Attila and Otway‘s hammed-up performance has me doing precisely that – especially when MC Trainspotter sings a song about playing his pink trombone – accompanied by a pink tin whistle adorned with flashing light-up balls.
GOAT! If you were there, you’ll know 😉 Finishing slightly ahead of time, the hilarity continues with a series of well-known songs, modified to incorporate the word glue..
One of several bands I catch on the Introducing Stage today (There will be a special additional review of many more RIS bands coming next week!), Yakkie self-released ther debut album ‘Kill The Cop Inside Your Head‘ back in February, and it was a big hit with us! They’re also a big hit here – my favourite RIS band this year. Yakkie play us an energetic and emphatic set, including feminist anthems ‘He Sleeps Alone‘, ‘Lean Out‘ (an anti-‘lean in’ song), and ‘Right of Reply‘ – written because dead women don’t get this when they are blamed by the media for being murdered. With a driving, dirty bass sound, an on-point guitarist, and a lively and charismatic vocalist, if you’re not seething with righteous anger about injustice after their set, you weren’t listening!
It wouldn’t be Rebellion Festival without Ruts DC either – and what a band to conclude my weekend! Many of us have already snapped up a copy of the band’s latest release – their first ever 4-track 10″ EP titled ‘Bound In Blood‘ which includes brand new song ‘Wear The Crown‘, and we’re rewarded with its live debut performance as Ruts DC close the Opera House stage tonight. Opening with the title track from their last studio album, ‘Counterculture’, we then get ‘SUS‘, which is also a good description of the sound on stage, as bassist Segs and guitarist Leigh apparently can’t hear anything coming out of their monitors, while drummer Ruffy is struggling with his mic…
They ‘Mighty Soldier‘ on regardless, then Segs suddenly rushes off stage at the end of ‘Demolition Dancing‘! Fortunately he’s ok, he just got overheated – “anybody would think I’m 70 years old!” he exclaims with his trademark humour, “This never happened to Charlie Harper”. He gets back into the swing with the slower and beautiful ‘Born Innocent‘ and ‘Bound in Blood‘, before hitting top gear with ‘Kill the Pain‘, ‘Staring at the Rude Boys‘, Psychic Attack, In a Rut, and ‘Babylon’s Burning‘, much to our enjoyment – and we sing and dance along heartily!
Sunday – Florian Reith’s Report
And just like that, Rebellion was almost over.
With one eye smiling and the other definitely close to tears, I left the hotel and made my way back towards the Winter Gardens for one final time. After almost a week of gigs, old friends, new discoveries, far too little sleep and more punk rock than any sensible human being should probably consume in such a short space of time, it was time for the grand finale of Rebellion’s 30th anniversary.
My final day started with two consecutive gigs on the Almost Acoustic Stage, beginning with Los Fastidios. Their acoustic shows are always something special. Few bands work as hard or tour as relentlessly as Los Fastidios, so the chances of seeing them somewhere during the year are actually pretty high. Their acoustic performances, however, are a different story. These are something you mainly get at Rebellion, which makes them one of those little traditions I always look forward to.
The second song of the set was ‘Back to Blackpool’, basically a love letter to Rebellion itself – a song about returning year after year, coming back to Blackpool and meeting all those friends again. And for me, Los Fastidios have become part of exactly that group of friends.
After so many years, I can hardly imagine Rebellion without them. They simply belong here. And judging by the crowd, I’m clearly not the only one who feels that way. Despite it being Sunday lunchtime and despite the fact that many people had already survived almost an entire week of Rebellion, the Almost Acoustic Stage was completely packed. Nobody wanted to miss this one.
It certainly didn’t get any quieter or emptier afterwards, because next up were The Bolokos, all the way from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. Even before they started playing, there was plenty to look at. Between the colourful outfits and painted faces, one particular piece of equipment immediately caught my attention: their wonderfully improvised drum kit, which included an old cardboard box covered in writing. It might not have looked particularly sophisticated, but it did exactly what it needed to do. Punk DIY in its purest form.
Musically, The Bolokos brought something completely different to the day. Their Caribbean-infused punk added another flavour to an already incredibly diverse festival, and naturally a song or two involving rum couldn’t be missing either. This wasn’t their first Rebellion appearance, and by now The Bolokos have definitely moved beyond being some obscure insider tip. They are one of those bands that perfectly demonstrate how international Rebellion has become – and how punk can sound completely different depending on which part of the world it comes from.
As usual on the Sunday, the RIS was taken over by LOUD WOMEN, an organisation working to increase the representation of women and non-binary musicians on live stages and to challenge gender inequality within the music industry. Thwack! were the first band I caught there today. The London five-piece – four women and one man – immediately stood out thanks to their unusual combination of guitar, bass, drums, cello and violin. They began their set with an a cappella introduction to ‘Three Angels’ before picking up their instruments and showing what the full band could do.
There wasn’t one fixed frontperson either. The guitarist and bassist shared much of the lead vocal work, switching roles between songs and giving the set a constantly changing dynamic. Overall, Thwack! were one of my favourite discoveries of the final day. Their lyrics were creative, varied and unapologetically political. Their music provides a loud voice for LGBTQIA+ themes, touching on trans activism, queer resilience, sapphic yearning and the struggle against social exclusion.
Another recurring theme in their work is the uncomfortable question of how much of yourself you are prepared to destroy for the entertainment of others. It reflects the pressure to constantly perform, deliver and make yourself available – whether within modern society or the music industry itself. These are subjects that feel particularly relevant right now, and Thwack! approach them without losing the energy or fun of the music itself. I sincerely hope I get the opportunity to see them again soon – and hopefully a debut album won’t be too far away either?
Then it was back upstairs again to the Almost Acoustic Stage for The Whops. The two brothers from London were probably among the youngest musicians to appear anywhere at Rebellion this year. A year or two ago, I unfortunately missed the chance to see them in Germany when they played Ruhrpott Rodeo, so I was even more excited to finally catch them in Blackpool. The Whops originally attracted attention through their covers of classic punk songs, but despite their young age they have already started establishing themselves within the scene in their own right. And while those punk covers are obviously great fun, it was actually their original material that interested me even more.
There is something genuinely exciting about watching a band this young develop in front of you. They have plenty of time to figure out exactly where they want to take this, and I’m very curious to hear what comes next. Their future, after all, is still unwritten.
A few hours earlier I had already been lucky enough to simply stay at the Almost Acoustic Stage between bands, and once again that strategy worked perfectly because things continued almost seamlessly with Arturo Bassick. Best known, of course, through 999 and The Lurkers, Arturo doesn’t need much more than his voice and a guitar to command the attention of a room. His voice is particularly interesting in an acoustic setting. There is that unmistakably rough edge to it, but at other moments it becomes surprisingly warm – occasionally even carrying a slight hint of Elvis. Without a full band behind him, those qualities become much more obvious and give familiar songs an entirely different character.
As expected, Arturo delivered a colourful mixture of material, including several classics from his long history with The Lurkers and 999. Songs like these work surprisingly well on an acoustic stage: stripped back to the essentials, without unnecessary decoration and with plenty of room for Arturo’s distinctive voice. To finish, he reached into an entirely different corner of musical history with Johnny Cash‘s ‘Ring of Fire’. It was a wonderfully simple ending to a set that proved once again that sometimes the best decision at Rebellion is simply not moving anywhere and seeing what happens next.
Later in the evening, it was time for The Dickies.
I had actually written about them only a few days earlier, after seeing them at the Pitcher in Düsseldorf – The Dickies – Still The Fastest Show In Town: Düsseldorf Pitcher, 28 Jul 2026. In that review, I wrote: “One of the greatest things about Rebellion is that so many bands from the United States and other far-flung corners of the world use the festival as the centrepiece of a European tour. For fans, that often means getting the chance to experience the very same band in two completely different settings – one night in a small club, the next on a huge festival stage.”
And that was exactly what happened.
This time I had the rare luxury of a direct comparison. Only a few days earlier I had watched The Dickies at the Pitcher in Düsseldorf in front of barely 100 people. Now they were standing on the stage of the Empress Ballroom in front of around 3,000. The difference could hardly have been greater. Strangely enough, neither the show nor the setlist had changed dramatically. Essentially, I was watching almost the same Dickies concert for a second time – and yet the two performances couldn’t have felt more different.
At the Pitcher, the show had thrived on intimacy. The band were almost within touching distance, squeezed into a tiny club with the audience right in front of them. At the Empress Ballroom, however, those same songs suddenly showed just how huge they could become when thousands of people reacted to them at once. The Ballroom became so packed that eventually they had to stop letting people in. And the longer The Dickies played, the crazier the atmosphere became. There was pogoing everywhere, crowd surfers were being carried over people’s heads and thousands of voices screamed the choruses back towards the stage.
What had already started as a great gig gradually transformed into one enormous punk rock party. By the time they reached ‘Gigantor’, the atmosphere hit its absolute peak. It genuinely felt as though everyone inside the Empress Ballroom was singing along, turning the song into one massive communal chorus. These are the moments that explain why seeing bands inside the Empress Ballroom during Rebellion can be so special. Only days earlier, I had watched The Dickies in a small Düsseldorf club. Here, suddenly, they felt gigantic – despite essentially doing exactly the same thing. And perhaps that direct comparison was the most fascinating part of seeing both shows. At the Pitcher, The Dickies were raw, immediate and almost within touching distance. At the Empress Ballroom, they were a band capable of making several thousand people completely lose their minds. Two almost identical sets.
And now there was only one band left on my personal Rebellion schedule: Dummy Toys from China. There is a slightly strange personal story behind this one. I first saw Dummy Toys in Beijing back in 2018, at the legendary School Bar. It was a tiny place that could probably hold around 70 or 80 people, and the band were appearing as part of a day festival. I was in China because Die Toten Hosen were touring there for two shows, and later that evening they played a secret gig at the same venue after Dummy Toys had finished.
Musically, Dummy Toys weren’t completely my thing at the time. Their sound leaned further towards hardcore than the punk rock I normally gravitate towards, but I immediately liked the band and their energy. More than anything, I loved discovering that a band like this even existed in China. Afterwards, I bought their CD and remember thinking that it was actually a little sad. I had discovered this cool punk band on the other side of the world, but realistically I would probably never see them again. Well… never say never. A few years later, Dummy Toys were invited to play Rebellion. I genuinely couldn’t believe it when I first saw their name on the line-up. Since then, the band have returned to Europe regularly, touring and steadily building an audience far beyond China.
And now, here they were again – this time closing my Rebellion 2026. Their Pavilion set was everything you would expect from Dummy Toys: sweaty, wild, loud and absolutely overflowing with energy. At some point, I realised there was no reason to spend the final minutes of this festival standing there with a camera around my neck. So I put down my jacket, sunglasses and camera and joined my friend Bob in the pogo. And somehow, that felt like exactly the right way to finish.
After days of running from stage to stage, taking photos, making notes, filming songs and trying to somehow capture everything happening around me, the final minutes weren’t about documenting Rebellion anymore. They were simply about enjoying it.
Thirty years of Rebellion. Almost a week in Blackpool. Countless bands, old friends, new discoveries, packed rooms, acoustic stages, huge singalongs, far too little sleep and memories that will stay with me long after leaving the Winter Gardens. Every year I arrive in Blackpool knowing exactly what Rebellion is. And every year, somehow, it still manages to surprise me.
Eventually the final song ended, the lights came up and there was nothing left to do except accept that Rebellion 2026 really was over. For now, anyway. Because if this festival has taught me anything over the years, it is that goodbye in Blackpool never really means goodbye. It simply means: ‘See you next year!’
Sunday – Herman De Tollenaere’s Report
My last day of Rebellion 2026 began at the Literary Stage with author Molly Tie (Punktuation!’s previous UK Editor) being interviewed about her new book by Hannah McFaull of Pirates Press. She, like Molly, has also written for Vive le Rock. ‘Rebel Grrrls: The Real Story of Women and Punk‘ is different, being more about the experiences of female punk fans than about female musicians. Molly interviewed some 75-80 people, each interview lasting 4 to 5 hours. Many of the interviews were online. The interviewees liked being interviewed. In the straight edge subsection of punk, not drinking alcohol or taking drugs was seen as less rebellious for women than for men. I bought Molly’s book and promised to send her the research by me and Anita Raghunath on women in early, 1977-1982, punk bands in the Netherlands (there were at least 241 women in 157 bands. Most of them never written about, including the first ever Dutch punk, already in 1975, Syama de Jong.)
Next, Cherry B interviewed Faebhean Kwest, guitarist of the Cuddly Toys since they were founded in 1976 as Raped. A person in the audience remembered a Cuddly Toys concert in Stockholm, Sweden, but did not remember Faebhean. “Cuddly Toys went through many line-up changes”. Faebhean talked about meeting Joe Strummer, who he liked, and Hanoi Rocks. He knew the guitarist ofX-Ray Spex, and through him met the X-Ray Spex manager andPoly Styrene.
The next interviewees were four young punk musicians from California, USA, including an oboist. They got their band name, Spunk, from the title of a bootleg Sex Pistols LP. Last year, Spunk played at the Introductory stage of Rebellion, now at a bigger stage. “The situation in the USA is terrible, they said. People warn each other when Trump’s ICE will invade their neighbourhoods. There is much resistance in the US, but also much stupidity.” They plan to have an EP out soon.
Over to the Empress Ballroom for Chelsea. Founded in 1976, Chelsea were the first punk band I ever saw in London, in September 1978. There have been many line-up changes since then, but singer Gene October always remained. Recently, Gene has health problems, and is no longer able to front the band. Instead, the vocals are shared between bassist Mat Sargent and guitarist Nic Austin. However, the punk fire was still burning mightily in Chelsea. Ever since they started their set with ‘Urban Kids‘, the full Ballroom reacted enthusiastically. They continued with favourites like ‘No-One’s Coming Outside‘, ‘The Loner‘, and ‘I’m On Fire‘. Together with The Kids and the Au Pairs, this was one of my three best concerts of Rebellion 2026.
Jeff Turner, singer of the Cockney Rejects was next on the Literary stage. Speaking about his revealing new book, ‘Cockney Rejects II – I Love Being Me‘, Jeff Turner pulled no punches about his experiences in the band! He said that the Rejects gig in the Ballroom yesterday had been “fucking brilliant”. He had become unemployed when he was 16. Now, he is doing podcasts, with members of the Skids, Menace and others. He still does boxing training, and loves being with his family, including grandchildren.
Next came Leonard Graves Phillips, singer of The Dickies ever since their foundation in 1977. Leonard Graves Phillips spoke about his new memoir, ‘The Dickies and Me‘, coming out later this month, The book even comes with a 7” single! Leonard told us that The Dickies signed to the UK branch of A&M records, but when they went to England, they were surprised that audiences gobbed at them as a sign of appreciation! The average Dickies fan then was a 14-year-old boy, while their older brothers were Clash or Sex Pistols fans. “After we did a cover of ‘Nights in White Satin’, the Moody Blues re-issued their old version, which also charted. Some people asked the Moody Blues: Why do you play a Dickies cover?” Leonard had drug problems. The Musicians Union advised him to go to rehab, which helped. “We liked playing in China. Fans there sang along with our lyrics. We would like to play in more countries; not the Middle East, but Indonesia.”
My last Rebellion 2026 event was the interview with Illuminati – aka director Mark Sloper – talking about his latest project, the ‘50 Years of Punk‘ documentary film, which will be released in September. It is framed as “an intimate, authentic insider account featuring interviews with original icons like Gaye Advert, Vivienne Westwood, Glen Matlock, and Dave Vanian.” He said that there was little recorded film about the very beginning of punk, such as the 1976 100 Club festival. Punk fashion became DIY: most punks (including Steven Severin) could not afford the clothes at Seditionaries shop, but the shop inspired them to make something themselves. The Bill Grundy interview with the Sex Pistols greatly helped punk to become a big movement. For Mark, the best band were The Clash. That first LP, so furious, so brilliant. Although Sid Vicious died, punk did not die with him, it morphed.
Need more Punk In Your Life?
Review: Rebellion Festival 2026 – Day 3
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Rebellion Festival, the world’s largest annual Punk event, returned to its long-standing home, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Team
Review: Rebellion Festival 2026 – Day 2
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Rebellion Festival, the world’s largest annual Punk event, returned to its long-standing home, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Team
Review: Rebellion Festival 2026 – Day 1
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Rebellion Festival, the world’s largest annual Punk event, returned to its long-standing home, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Team
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Usually found jumping around down the front at gigs, I also relish taking photos and videos, singing, speaking with fellow music fans, and asking musicians the questions nobody else does. Writing about my favourite bands and connecting with people who love music too keeps me more-or-less sane! I’ve worked for over 25 years at a video production company, mainly filming live music events, therefore I have an additional backstage perspective on the scene.
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