Mangata Festival 2026
What’s better than spending a day bouncing between stages, discovering new bands and catching some familiar faces along the way? Not much, and Mangata Festival 2026 delivered exactly that.
Held across Nottingham city centre on Saturday 5 September, Mangata Festival brought together a packed line-up of alternative and heavy music across a number of venues; Rescue Rooms, Stealth, Red Room, Tap & Tumbler and Rock City Beta. Organised by Mangata Music, the festival is the brainchild of two best friends and heavy music enthusiasts with a passion for live music and a love for Nottingham.
The festival's aims are refreshingly straightforward: support grassroots artists, celebrate local businesses, keep the event affordable and make sustainable choices wherever possible. With a line-up featuring a huge range of artists from the alternative and heavy music scene, there was certainly plenty to discover.
The Bands
I couldn't get to everything, of course, but I managed to catch a seriously good selection of bands throughout the day.
Firmament
Black Iris Brewery Stage — Rock City Beta
Firmament opened the day for me, and they set the bar high straight away. Their heavy riffs, twin-guitar harmonies and soaring vocals made for a powerful opening performance. Adele had mentioned that she wasn't feeling well, but there was absolutely no sign of it once they hit the stage. The performance was strong from start to finish.
A really great performance overall and easily the best I've seen them play live.
Wolves Don't Sleep
Heavy Metal Hairdresser Stage — Rescue Rooms
Wolves Don't Sleep delivered a ferocious metalcore assault, with pounding bass, darting lights and intense vocals. There was a real sense of urgency to the set and they brought plenty of energy to the stage.
These are a new band to me, but one I’ll be looking out for again. I can easily see them stepping up to bigger stages.
Gürl
Black Iris Brewery Stage — Rock City Beta
Gürl describe themselves as club metal, and their set certainly felt like it was built around having a good time. There was constant movement and plenty of jumping!
They brought a playful energy to the stage that never really let up, making their performance one of the most fun sets of the day.
Confyde
Eyesore Merch Stage — Stealth
Confyde brought something more emotive to my day. Their performance had a real sense of feeling and intensity, creating an atmosphere where the connection between the band and the audience was particularly noticeable.
It was a heartfelt performance that really stood out and made their time on stage feel particularly personal.
Hemloch
BSB TV Stage — Tap & Tumbler
Hemloch were absolutely spot on. They were clearly enjoying themselves on stage, and that enjoyment translated directly into the live experience. Their sound brings together heavy metal with cinematic and more modern heavy elements, giving the performance plenty of contrast. The heavier sections hit hard, while the more atmospheric moments helped give the set its own identity.
Hemloch were never going to be a set we'd miss. A genuine pleasure to watch.
Tooth & Dagger
BSB TV Stage — Tap & Tumbler
Tooth & Dagger brought riffs, electronic textures and plenty of energy to Tap & Tumbler. The Birmingham five-piece were tearing between atmospheric passages and punishing heaviness and the blend of riffs and electronics gave them a sound that stood apart from a lot of what else was on that day.
Bands who aren't afraid to mix genres like this are always the ones that stick with us, and Tooth & Dagger are a good example of why. A really enjoyable watch.
Ofnus
Black Iris Brewery Stage — Rock City Beta
Ofnus delivered a heavy and engaging performance, their atmospheric sound drawing the crowd into an enthralling, constantly moving mass. There was a lot of weight to the music and the atmosphere built around the riffs and vocals made the set particularly compelling.
I've known of the band for a while but never managed to catch them live before, and it was well worth the wait.
Æl-Fierlen
Black Iris Brewery Stage — Rock City Beta
Æl-Fierlen were another band who really caught my attention. Their performance moved through heavy-hitting progressive sections, atmospheric black metal and lighter, more ethereal passages.
Added to the bill late on, they turned out to be one of the day's biggest surprises. Good enough that I squeezed in some merch shopping despite the tight turnaround between bands.
You Win Again Gravity
Eyesore Merch Stage — Stealth
You Win Again Gravity brought a real sense of energy to their set, their dynamic presence and driving approach keeping the momentum building from the first song to the last. Every song felt purposeful, with no dead air between them and no drop in the crowd's attention at any point.
We'd missed our chance to catch them at ArcTanGent, so getting to see them up close in a far more intimate setting felt like a genuine treat.
Dacara
Twisted Tavern Spirits Stage — Red Room
Dacara were chaotic, electrifying and completely committed to the performance.
With clashing lights, thick smoke and the band playing right in the middle of the audience, the whole room became part of the experience. Bodies, sound and energy seemed to collide together, creating an unpredictable atmosphere that made the set impossible to ignore.
It was wild, intense and brilliant to be part of.
Tayne
Eyesore Merch Stage — Stealth
Tayne delivered a fantastic performance. Their industrial noise-pop sound pairs violent synths and riffs with haunting vocals, creating a jarring contrast between something instantly catchy and something far heavier underneath.
It was an immersive, high-impact set and one we genuinely enjoyed from start to finish.
Maatkare
BSB TV Stage — Tap & Tumbler
Maatkare brought a punishing dose of death and black metal to Tap & Tumbler, the kind of performance built on real power. There's genuine substance behind the sound too. Songs rooted in Egyptian mythology and the stories of women written out of history gave the set an extra layer of weight.
We'd missed our chance to catch them at Bloodstock 2025, so getting to see them here was great!
Cober Mouth
BSB TV Stage — Tap & Tumbler
Cober Mouth brought a raw, full-throttle performance, packed with bags of attitude. Their sound blends the aggression of hardcore, the bounce of nu-metal and the weight of metalcore into something they themselves describe as "groovy, slam, jackhammer" and live, that combination hits exactly as hard as it sounds.
I wandered in without any real expectations and left having properly enjoyed it.
Glass Bridges
BSB TV Stage — Tap & Tumbler
There's more going on in Glass Bridges' sound than punchy riffs alone. The vocals carry a lot of the emotional weight, and that came through clearly live. It wasn't just about volume either; there was a real dynamic range across the set, with quieter, more vulnerable moments given just as much space as the heavier riffs.
Genuinely loved these, and they're one of my new discoveries from the festival I've been listening to since.
Giant Walker
Eyesore Merch Stage — Stealth
I'd seen Giant Walker fairly recently at ArcTanGent, so it was great to see them again, this time at the top of the Mangata bill. Their trademark weight and groove translated brilliantly to the festival environment, with crushing riffs and plenty of live energy.
Having already seen them recently, I knew what to expect, but they still delivered a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable set.
Overall
The festival organisation was impressive, the stages ran to time, and the sound across the venues I visited was consistently strong. Once I'd got my head around the layout, getting from one venue to another was straightforward, and the variety of spaces helped give each part of the day its own character.
For me, Rock City Beta was the standout venue for watching bands, while Tap & Tumbler worked particularly well as a smaller pub venue. My musical journey only took me to the main stage in Rescue Rooms once, but the production was fabulous.
Accessibility is something that would need more consideration for me if I were attending with Emma. While getting around on foot was easy enough for me, using her mobility scooter would have been challenging due to the narrow walkways and steps into Rescue Rooms and Red Room. The festival does provide accessibility information for its venues and encourages people with accessibility requirements to contact the organisers in advance.
Most importantly though, Mangata's focus on giving grassroots and alternative artists a platform was evident in the sheer range of bands on offer and the consistent attention to detail throughout the day. I only managed to see a fraction of the full line-up, but what I did catch made for one hell of a day in Nottingham.
Roll on 2027!
Photo Credit: (me) Craig Andrews for Femetalism. Full set of pics from the day here: https://albums.femetalism.com/mangata-2026
