Rock Werchter 2026

[_MrDarkside_]

I had a dream last night where RW announced some new names before 2026 and it was :

 

The Killers 

Charli XCX 

The 1975

 

I doubt it will happen but that would be really cool 

[Ohad]

It just occurred to me that Kaiser Chiefs are around. They're wrapping their UK leg the weekend before Werchter and start their European festival run the week after in Bospop (the Netherlands). 

Side note- never heard about this festival before, and it does not seem to overlap with RW in lineups, but Moby is headlining KCs day, so who knows. I'll stay positive.

Edited December 28, 2025 by Ohad

[_MrDarkside_]

Kaiser Chiefs were fantastic at Pinkpop this year, I hope they will be at RW, it would be a nice addition to the line up ✨

[sisco]

With a couple of you mentioning acts that could join the lineup I thought I’d have a little prediction of what’s left to come based on the poster (and the font size etc..).  I came up with this:

 

Thursday:

 

Mumford & Sons, The War on Drugs, The Lumineers, Kasabian, ? Zwangere Guy, ?

 

The Prodigy, Jade, Loyle Carner, The Vaccines, All them Witches, ?

 

Blood Incantation, Tom Smith, ?, Dylan Gossett, Yard Act, ?

 

Friday:

 

The XX, Lewis Capaldi, Teddy Swims, Royel Otis, The Last Dinner Party, Wolf Alice, Kingfsher

 

FKA Twigs, Franz Ferdinand, ?, Social Distortion, ?, ?

 

Lauren Spencer Smith, ?, ?, Agnes Obel, Paris Paloma, ?

 

Saturday:

 

Gorrilaz, Twenty One Pilots, Halsey, Renee Rapp, ?, Kneecap, Palaye Royale

 

Pixies, Matt Berninger, The Haunted Youth, ?, Dogstar, ?

 

CMAT, ?,? Beirut, Kokoroko, ?

 

Sunday:

 

The Cure, Moby, A Perfect Circle, Rise Against, ?, ?, ?

 

Paul Kalkbrenner, David Byrne, ?, Mogwai ?, Sierra Ferrell

 

Ethel Cain, ?, Joy Crookes, ?, ?, ?

 

 

So based on my guesses still some decent sized named to come and of course more importantly (for me) the Slope lineup.  
 

(happy to be corrected on some of the guesses as i really didn’t know the size of certain acts)

[majmun]

I hope for Michael Mayo this year or next and I wish you all a happy new year and a happy good time listening to him 🫶

[sisco]

I know I’ve said it before but seeing those set times for Mad Cool make me realise again what good value Rock Werchter is 

[Ohad]

1 hour ago, sisco said:

I know I’ve said it before but seeing those set times for Mad Cool make me realise again what good value Rock Werchter is 

Second that. Their clashes are horrible. Who da fuq is that heartless to book Moby and FF at the same damn time

[sisco]

2 minutes ago, Ohad said:

Second that. Their clashes are horrible. Who da fuq is that heartless to book Moby and FF at the same damn time

Very true.  Surprised they clash but guessing Rock vs Dance.  
 

For me it’s more the amount of acts you can see for the overall cost too but I guess MC would be more of a holiday too. 
 

Anyway roll on some more names later this month

[ParanoidTourist]

I think the clashes tend to be worse at Werchter to be honest. But to each is own

[sisco]

9 hours ago, ParanoidTourist said:

I think the clashes tend to be worse at Werchter to be honest. But to each is own

Suppose we’ll get a chance to moan about that soon too.  The likely Kasabian/Loyle Carner one is already annoying me  

[ParanoidTourist]

1 hour ago, sisco said:

Suppose we’ll get a chance to moan about that soon too.  The likely Kasabian/Loyle Carner one is already annoying me  

That potential clash you mentioned sounds indeed horrible. But I guess clashes are difficult to avoid then the line ups are great such as Werchter, Mad Cool, Way Out West etc. 

[sisco]

1 hour ago, ParanoidTourist said:

That potential clash you mentioned sounds indeed horrible. But I guess clashes are difficult to avoid then the line ups are great such as Werchter, Mad Cool, Way Out West etc. 

 

Very true.  And based on the very loose clashfinder I’m already pretty much full of acts all day with 50 to come so know it’s going to get a lot more frustrating.  But hey would rather clashes than none at all

[ParanoidTourist]

3 hours ago, sisco said:

 

Very true.  And based on the very loose clashfinder I’m already pretty much full of acts all day with 50 to come so know it’s going to get a lot more frustrating.  But hey would rather clashes than none at all

Yes exactly! The opposite is way worse i.e. to have to wait around for several hours before a good band shows up. Hopefully you won´t get too many clashes at Werchter. 

[northernangel]

17 hours ago, ParanoidTourist said:

I think the clashes tend to be worse at Werchter to be honest. But to each is own

I dont think the clashes are worse there, it's the gaps now of nothing interesting waiting ages for stuff. Obviously that is subjective. The difference with Mad Cool is they stop that problem but went with a horror clash, I don't find too much clash issues with Mad Cool for acts I'm really bothered about seeing apart from that. I also don't think apsrt from that clash, it makes it any less value that Werchter. Last year as it is now for example, Werchter had no more value in it for €312 than Mad Cool this year and Werchter certainly has no more value in it this year, much less apart from the Sunday which is top. Its actually a prime of example of less names really means nothing as it depends who they are. You're not getting The Vaccines, Kasabian and Pulp there. You're not getting Lorde or Florence but Zara and Teddy, the Hasley run to TOP is great but I would miss Pixies for another act. 

[sisco]

@thetime Shot in the dark.  Dear god what a song!!  Haven’t stopped listening to them and now firmly on the must see list

[matrainertje]

On 02/01/2026 at 00:47, Ohad said:

Second that. Their clashes are horrible. Who da fuq is that heartless to book Moby and FF at the same damn time

The kind of music they make is very different though. 
 

The Pulp and David Byrne clash on the other hand… I feel like both fanbases are very similar.

[thetime]

On 02/01/2026 at 19:04, sisco said:

@thetime Shot in the dark.  Dear god what a song!!  Haven’t stopped listening to them and now firmly on the must see list

 

Fantastic stuff.

 

[MiloAFC]

On 24/12/2025 at 19:32, Kempleton said:

 

 

Pretty much the same as me. That Thursday is crazy, isn’t it?

 

I hadn’t even heard of All Them Witches or Blood Incantation a few weeks ago. Now they’re both on my must see list.

 

yeah, it's crept up on me from nowhere as actually being really solid. Kasabian weren't the main selling point for me but it can't hurt to see them once; and The Vaccines are tons of fun live. Have they mentioned whether they're doing an album anniversary set for Rock Werchter or just a regular one yet? 

[northernangel]

On 03/01/2026 at 20:56, matrainertje said:

The kind of music they make is very different though. 
 

The Pulp and David Byrne clash on the other hand… I feel like both fanbases are very similar.

The kind of music Moby and The Cure make is too but Werchter made a sensible choice with that day.

[matrainertje]

25 minutes ago, northernangel said:

The kind of music Moby and The Cure make is too but Werchter made a sensible choice with that day.

Moby will probably clash with David Byrne though. For many, this one will be brutal (for me, it's Byrne all day, I don't mind Moby). 

 

And I can see a War On Drugs/Prodigy and Gorillaz/Pixies clash coming too. You'll always have big clashes. 

[sisco]

 

16 minutes ago, matrainertje said:

Moby will probably clash with David Byrne though. For many, this one will be brutal (for me, it's Byrne all day, I don't mind Moby). 

 

And I can see a War On Drugs/Prodigy and Gorillaz/Pixies clash coming too. You'll always have big clashes. 

 I’d think it’ll be similar to the Friday last year that you’d probably be able to see David Byrne and then the last 45 to an hour of Moby 

 

Think you could see TWOD and pretty much all of The Prodigy, however you’ll not get in the tent for it.  The barn header normally is finished by the time the main header starts though so should be ok on the Pixies/Gorillaz one (but you’re right, there’ll always be clashes)

[49Lawson]

On 02/01/2026 at 12:27, sisco said:

 

Very true.  And based on the very loose clashfinder I’m already pretty much full of acts all day with 50 to come so know it’s going to get a lot more frustrating.  But hey would rather clashes than none at all

Fully echo your final sentiment there, clashes are the lifeblood of a good festival imo. However you can stomach them in a situation like Werchter were you can still see (or part see) 8-10 acts a day. What Mad Cool is doing is just insanity, suddenly becomes much less attractive when you're only watching 3-4 bands per day. 

[northernangel]

3 hours ago, matrainertje said:

Moby will probably clash with David Byrne though. For many, this one will be brutal (for me, it's Byrne all day, I don't mind Moby). 

 

And I can see a War On Drugs/Prodigy and Gorillaz/Pixies clash coming too. You'll always have big clashes. 

 I don't think Moby will clash with Byrne because Byrne is subbing the barn which I think helps. The overlap will be minimum. The Capaldi and The Prodigy are the other stand outs for the fest but that Sunday sticks out badly.

2 hours ago, 49Lawson said:

Fully echo your final sentiment there, clashes are the lifeblood of a good festival imo. However you can stomach them in a situation like Werchter were you can still see (or part see) 8-10 acts a day. What Mad Cool is doing is just insanity, suddenly becomes much less attractive when you're only watching 3-4 bands per day. 

They are collectively 4 better options though. No point in there between 8-10, not enough quality through the lineup to find 8 a day, let alone 10 but its not as sparse on a couple of days as time. Don't think I have a single clash and Werchter currently and the rest of the acts will be slope, small acts and Belgian. Rank that undercard up though if you're going to kill it and repeat at the top.

Edited January 5 by northernangel

[sisco]

5 hours ago, 49Lawson said:

Fully echo your final sentiment there, clashes are the lifeblood of a good festival imo. However you can stomach them in a situation like Werchter were you can still see (or part see) 8-10 acts a day. What Mad Cool is doing is just insanity, suddenly becomes much less attractive when you're only watching 3-4 bands per day. 

100% mate.  It amazed me how much you can actually see there and pretty much always something good on.  It’s not like they’re even filler acts too, for instance last year you had the likes of Wunderhorse,  Wet Leg, Amyl & The Sniffers early in the day and this there’s already Wolf Alice, Kneecap, Kingfishr and TLDP with plenty more to come.  (Plus loads more clashes)

 

Roll on the next announcements but for me, especially the slope.  Absolutely great little stage 

[Chermiti]

Hi all - 2026 going to be our 1st year at RW and was looking for some advice about transport etc if possible?

 

We're staying in Brussels and planning travelling back and forth each day. I know there's shuttles from Leuven - but see the night train / bus back to Brussels, is there only ever one running at a specific time or are there multiple throughout the night? 

Is there a specific station in Brussels they run to or is it just their equivalent of a city central station? I've also seen some suggestions that hotels in brussels run transfers to and from the festival site - does anyone know anything about these or what hotels it is? 

 

Any other info is much appreciated