UK Artists are front and centre stage at the British Country Music Festival

The British Country Music Festival, now in its seventh year, has announced its 2026 line-up, and two out of three headliners are homegrown. 

The festival takes place in Blackpool at the indoor Winter Gardens entertainment centre from 4-6 Sept, and it continues to fly the flag for UK country and Americana artists. It stands alone in its approach to programming. The event always gives at least one UK artist equal headline billing alongside international performers. With five stages over the three days, and over 100 artists performing, most of the programme supports established and grassroots singer-songwriters from all four nations.

Taking the main festival headline spot with over 100 million combined views and streams across platforms worldwide, is Scotland born Cammy Barnes. He will take centre stage on Saturday night. Cammy’s career is rocketing with two concerts that sold out in minutes at Glasgow’s iconic Barrowland Ballroom, and a tour of Ireland that is looking to follow suit.  

Cammy is rapidly making his mark on the UK country music scene. His breakout single Whiskey Roll, marked a major, mainstream breakthrough, becoming a UK Top 40 hit, reaching the Top 10 in both the Official Singles Sales Chart and the Official Singles Downloads Chart. In just one year he has built a social audience of more than 1.2m. 

Drawing on his Scottish roots, his songwriting is authentic and true to the modern country genre, reflecting lived experience in his home nation. Cammy is currently dividing his time between Scotland and Nashville, and his unique incorporation of bagpipes into contemporary country arrangements, has carved out a lane that is totally unique, and one that will undoubtedly resonate with the Blackpool crowds.

On Friday night, Bristol born Americana-blues artist Elles Bailey tops the bill. Elles first played The British Country Music Festival back in 2021 when she supported Nathan Carter. Since then, she has been crowned Live Act of the Year at the UK Americana Awards 2024, as well as Vocalist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards. Elles Bailey’s latest single Growing Roots was the most played track on BBC Radio 2 for the first three weeks of 2026, and this performance sees her come full circle, returning to take her rightful place as the headliner on the Empress Ballroom main stage on day one of the festival. 

On Sunday afternoon, Nashville based duo SmithField are the headliner, with their harmony filled, contemporary country-meets-classic pop catalogue of self-penned songs. Originally from Texas, the duo has racked up over 150 million live streams, played the Grand Ole Opry many times, and supported country legends including Morgan Wallen and Kane Brown.

  

Martin Blore, festival promoter from Fit The Bill said: “We have always championed UK artists. Whilst the UK continues to lead the way in almost every other genre of music, our homegrown talent is getting overlooked and pushed down many festival bills, often because the streaming numbers can rarely compete with US artists. 

We should celebrate the talent and the contribution made by the UK to the history of the genre. British and Celtic settlers travelled across the ocean to the Appalachian Mountains and shared their fiddle playing, their stories, ballads and dance reels. This was enhanced with African- American music and instruments and out of that country music emerged. It wasn’t born in Nashville, it was created by our joint nations and we should be celebrating our contribution to the fastest growing music genre.”

He added: “UK singer-songwriters have now found their own voice and sound. They write about pubs and the countryside, not saloons and cowboys. We have some amazing country and Americana artists here. We need to keep providing an equal platform for them alongside talent from across the globe.”

With Canada now sharing the same country music market share of on-demand streaming with the USA at 8.5%*, it comes as no surprise that The British Country Music Festival international guest artist spots see Canada take the dominant role over Nashville. Now viewed as one of the key territories for country artists, The British Country Music Festival is welcoming the multi award- winning Lennie Gallant, emerging star Jessica Sevier, and from the Niagara region of Ontario; Ryan Langdon will all be playing the main stage. Annie Keating from New York is also on the programme and the remainder of artists are from the UK.

The festival welcomes the support that the Canadian government gives its artists, funding their travel costs, which takes away the major financial barrier for UK based promoters and enables them to include Canadian artists on the programme. In return, the performers promote their country and their music which results in more tourists to Canada and the rise of their singer-songwriters on the global stage. 

This year the festival is introducing more immersive experiences with dance classes hosted by professional dance teacher; Emma Gill and a poetry workshop and performance hosted by Festival as Form. 

 The full programme for The British Country Music Festival 2026 can be found here: 

The British Country Music Festival 2026 Lineup