Hinterland Music Festival 2026 Lineup and Headliners Preview

We’re heading back to Iowa for Hinterland Music Festival 2026, and this year brings the festival’s first-ever four-day format—a welcome change for those of us making the long drive from out of state. Hinterland won us over in 2025 with its thoughtful programming and relaxed, rural setting, and the 2026 lineup gives us even more reason to return. A longer schedule means a better payoff for the road trip, and we’re ready for another extended weekend in the Iowa countryside.

The Hinterland Music Festival 2026 Lineup

The Hinterland 2026 lineup spans four full days and continues the festival’s trend of pairing internationally recognized headliners with artists shaping today’s musical landscape. The result is a weekend that blends pop, indie rock, folk, and genre-bending experimental sounds into one of the most thoughtfully curated events of the year.

Hinterland 2026 Headliners

KATSEYE — Thursday

KATSEYE—formed through HYBE x Geffen’s global audition project—brings a polished pop production to Hinterland’s first-ever Thursday night. Their placement adds a different contour to the festival’s opening, especially as Hinterland continues expanding its programming beyond the indie and folk spaces it’s traditionally anchored in.

The six-member group, comprising artists from Atlanta, Los Angeles, Zurich, Honolulu, Manila, and Seoul, emerged from a years-long selection process documented in Netflix’s KATSEYE: Pop Star Academy. After releasing their first single, “Debut,” in 2024, they followed with two EPs—SIS (Soft is Strong) and BEAUTIFUL CHAOS, the latter reaching the top 10 of the Billboard 200. With a lineup spanning three continents and a performance style built around precision and movement, they bring something different to Hinterland’s expanded opening night.

Lorde — Friday

Lorde headlines Friday with a catalog that reshaped modern pop in the 2010s. Emerging from New Zealand with the breakout single “Royals,” she quickly became known for writing that focused on isolation, introspection, and coming-of-age experiences, standing apart from the era’s louder, brighter trends. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, followed in 2013 and earned international acclaim, setting the stage for extensive touring and multiple charting singles.

Lorde began performing and writing at an early age before developing her sound through a key collaboration with producer Joel Little. Her second album, Melodrama, arrived in 2017 with Jack Antonoff as a primary collaborator and solidified her reputation for emotionally layered songwriting and minimalist production. With several years of continued evolution and creative exploration since, her Hinterland set is poised to be one of the festival’s most anticipated moments.

Mumford & Sons — Saturday

Mumford & Sons headline Saturday with a sound that helped redefine folk-leaning music in the early 2010s. Their debut album, Sigh No More, paired traditional acoustic foundations with the drive and dynamics of a rock band, pushing banjo-forward arrangements and group harmonies into mainstream rotation. The album became a global success and was followed by four more records, multiple BRIT Awards, and two Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

Across the last decade and a half, the band has become a dependable festival headliner, performing at major events including Glastonbury and selling out arena tours worldwide. Their latest album, RUSHMERE, revisits the place on Wimbledon Common where the band first formed and was recorded across Nashville, Savannah, and the U.K. with producer Dave Cobb. At Hinterland, their set is positioned to deliver one of the weekend’s largest, most familiar sing-along moments.

Kali Uchis — Sunday

Kali Uchis closes the festival with a catalog that spans R&B, pop, soul, and Latin influences, built over more than a decade of steady evolution. After early projects that blended doo-wop, reggae, and bedroom-pop experimentation, she gained wider recognition with her 2018 debut album Isolation, a critically acclaimed release that showcased her range as a writer and vocalist. Her follow-up, Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios), introduced her first Spanish-language project and produced “Telepatía,” a breakout hit that reached the Billboard Hot 100 and expanded her global presence.

Uchis continued that momentum with a run of successful releases—Red Moon in Venus (2023), Orquídeas (2024), and Sincerely (2025)—all of which charted strongly and reinforced her status across pop and Latin music. Drawing from 1960s soul, jazz, Latin traditions, and alternative influences, her work favors fluidity over genre boundaries. Her set will bring a distinctive close to the festival’s expanded four-day run.

Highlights Beyond the Headliners

In most years, we’d divide subheadliners from the undercard. But the Hinterland Music Festival 2026 lineup blurs those lines—genres intersect, fanbases overlap, and many artists fall somewhere between rising stars and established favorites.

This year we’re particularly excited about Geese, Wet Leg, Suki Waterhouse, Samia, CMAT, Santigold, The Format, Julia Wolf, and Paris Paloma, each contributing a different tone to the weekend. From angular indie rock to polished alt-pop to theatrical folk influences, the middle of the bill feels especially broad.

Hinterland has always been a festival where attendees discover new artists unexpectedly, and the expanded four-day structure allows even more time for that to happen. The wider lineup rounds out the weekend with names spanning pop, indie rock, folk-leaning songwriting, electronic edges, and future-facing sounds—ensuring plenty of opportunities to stumble into something new.

Staying at Hinterland (Early Camping Guide for 2026)

A big part of the draw for us is the camping. Hinterland is one of those festivals where staying on-site genuinely improves the experience—you roll in and roll out without traffic, meet new neighbors, and end each night at the Campfire Stage without worrying about driving or long shuttle rides. With most hotels sitting a meaningful distance from St. Charles, camping simply makes sense. Full camping information is available on the Hinterland website here.

Camping passes are sold separately from festival admission, and you’ll need both to stay on the grounds. Options include Tent Camping, Car Camping, RV, and Glamping, each with different levels of convenience and proximity.

Last year we stayed in Tent Camping, a car-free open field closest to the Campfire Stage. Campers unload gear at a designated drop-off zone and then walk or cart everything to their site. With a rolling wagon, it’s manageable, and the trade-off is a quieter, more communal environment that keeps you close to the late-night sets.

Car Camping provides a 20’ x 20’ site with your vehicle parked inside—ideal for quick access to gear. RVs and generators aren’t permitted in this area, and vehicles cannot re-enter once they leave.

RV and Glamping options offer more comfort, but all camping areas follow the same structure: sites first come, first served, and ADA camping is available in both tent and car formats.

No matter which option you choose, staying on-site is part of Hinterland’s identity, and for us, it’s an essential part of the weekend.

We’ll publish more updates on camping and insider tricks as we get closer to the festival!

Traveling to Hinterland Music Festival 2026

For many attendees, Hinterland is a true road trip destination. Last year, we turned the drive from Nashville into a multi-day route that made the journey just as memorable as the festival.

We stopped in St. Louis to visit the National Museum of Transportation and the Gateway Arch; made our way to Clear Lake for the Surf Ballroom and the Buddy Holly/Ritchie Valens/Big Bopper crash site memorial; explored the Bridges of Madison County near St. Charles; and spent a night in Hannibal, Missouri, visiting Mark Twain landmarks followed by a Mississippi Riverboat dinner cruise.

For 2026, we’re planning a new route with new places to explore. Anyone traveling from out of state can easily build a similar experience—Hinterland offers plenty of opportunities to turn the journey into part of the festival.

How to Attend Hinterland Music Festival 2026

Presales began today, Thursday, November 20 at 11 a.m. CT, with the general on-sale starting next Friday, November 21 at 11 a.m. CT at HinterlandIowa.com. Ticket options include 4-Day General Admission, GA+, VIP, and VIP+, along with parking, shuttle passes, and several camping tiers. Payment plans start at $25.

Hinterland also returns its 90° Guarantee, allowing ticket holders to request a return for any day forecasted to reach 90° or higher on July 27 at 10 a.m. CT (valid only for festival admission purchased through AXS). Camping, parking, and shuttle passes are not included in the policy. Full information is available here.

If you plan to camp, remember that festival and camping passes are sold separately.

More to Come From Hinterland 2026

We’ll continue to update this preview as more details from the Hinterland Music Festival 2026 lineup become available, including set times, festival maps, food and drink options, art installations, and the always-fun Campfire Stage, which releases its lineup closer to the event. Last year’s late-night programming was one of our favorite parts of the weekend, and we anticipate 2026 will offer that same communal energy.

Stay tuned for more coverage as we get closer to July. Hinterland 2026 is shaping up to be another memorable year in the Iowa countryside, and we’ll be back with deeper features on artists, logistics, and travel for anyone making the trip.