Max SteventonGreenbelt Festival (cap. 20,000) has confirmed that 2026 will be its final year at Boughton House, the Northamptonshire estate that has hosted the event since 2013.
The search for a new site has begun and organisers have not ruled out taking a fallow year in 2027 to make the transition.
Organisers of the long-running festival, founded in 1974, said the move is not due to financial crisis or eviction, but a strategic decision to secure the festival’s long-term future. In a statement. they explained that while finances remain stable, operating costs have risen sharply since the pandemic, leaving the event with narrow margins and it having lost money most years since the pandemic despite steady ticket sales and strong support from its Greenbelt Angels donor community.
Boughton’s greenfield site has provided a home for the festival for over a decade, but Greenbelt’s team said it also presented operational challenges that have added to costs. They said that leaving now, with reserves in place, allows them to plan for the future.
Greenbelt has moved seven times since its first edition, including stints at Castle Ashby, Deene Park and Cheltenham Racecourse. Organisers described the festival as a “portable happening,” saying the event is not tied to a single location.
Next year’s event at Boughton will be designed as a celebratory farewell. “It will be the most Greenbelt-y Greenbelt you’ve ever experienced,” organisers said.
The last event at the current site will take place from 27-30 August next year. A new site has yet to be announced.
Greenbelt festival director Paul Northup said, “As stewards of this 52-year-old festival, our first responsibility is to the legacy we’ve been handed. By making this decision now, we’re acting boldly and on our own terms. This ensures the festival will continue to thrive for future generations.”