The grills are (almost) cooling down. With nine festivals done and one to go, here’s the 2026 Castaway season in the order we lived it.
The route
- Cheltenham Jazz Festival, April. Our home patch, and where the season always starts.
- The Big Retreat, May. Pembrokeshire coast, wellness crowd, brilliant atmosphere.
- 2000trees, July. One of the best-run independent festivals in the country. Read our countdown post.
- Electromagnetic Field, July. Tech, art and making at Eastnor Castle.
- Camp Bestival, July/August. Family festival, Dorset castle, gyros going fast.
- Lakefest, August. Lakeside, and one of our favourites.
- Beautiful Days, August. An institution in Devon.
- Forwards Festival, August. Bristol, urban, diverse and seriously good fun.
- We Have Ways, September. History, music and community in Buckinghamshire.
You can see all of them on our interactive festival map.
What we learned
Every crowd eats differently. Wellness festivals go for the bowls, family festivals want something they can eat with one hand, and after midnight everyone wants loaded fries. Running two units means we can adapt, and we’ve learned that a good crew matters more than any piece of kit.
One to go
The finale is the Cheltenham Literature Festival, 9th–18th October.
Thank you
To every festival team that had us, and every punter who queued in the rain, thank you. If you’d like Castaway at your own event, we’d love to hear from you on our private catering page.