The Wildhearts and Smote Confirmed for ArcTanGent 2027

The Wildhearts and Smote at ArcTanGent 2027 will give the North East two very different places on the bill when the festival moves to its new Cotswolds home next August. The Newcastle-formed Wildhearts are booked for a special progressive set on Saturday 21 August, while Newcastle-based Smote will play on Thursday 19 August.

Both were included in the first wave of names announced on 30 September. The event runs from Wednesday 18 to Saturday 21 August 2027 at Todenham Manor Farm, near Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, with Wednesday entry restricted to qualifying four-day ticket holders.

The Wildhearts and Smote at ArcTanGent 2027

The Wildhearts’ booking is not being billed as an ordinary festival appearance. ArcTanGent has confirmed that the band will perform a one-off progressive set, a different proposition from the hard rock shows that have kept them on stages for decades. It is a particularly fitting booking for a festival where adventurous arrangements and musicianship sit at the centre of the programme.

For Smote, the setting makes sense for different reasons. Built around the work of Daniel Foggin, the Newcastle project explores repetition, drone and the meeting point between traditional instruments and amplified, experimental sound. Smote’s music belongs to the more exploratory end of the North East scene, so an appearance alongside international post-rock and experimental metal artists should put it in front of an audience already receptive to that approach.

These are not two acts chasing the same audience or playing the same sort of set. Their inclusion says something more interesting about the breadth of music coming out of Newcastle: one band with a long-established rock following, the other working in a markedly different, more experimental space.

A new home for ArcTanGent in 2027

ArcTanGent is leaving its former Fernhill Farm site for Todenham Manor Farm. Organisers say the move will retain the festival’s close-knit layout, indoor stages and familiar scale rather than turning it into a larger outdoor arena event. Camping remains part of the weekend ticket offering.

Blood Incantation and Neurosis are the first two confirmed main-stage headliners, with SLIFT, The Ocean, Messa, Conjurer, Holy Fawn, MØL and Employed to Serve among the other artists already named. The festival’s official 2027 line-up includes the full announcement and artwork.

Smote is listed for Thursday 19 August and The Wildhearts for Saturday 21 August. Individual performance times have not yet been published, so neither date should be mistaken for a confirmed stage slot. The festival’s official ticket page has the current booking options.

SoundBite will follow further additions involving North East artists through its ArcTanGent Festival guide. The Wildhearts are also due at The Middlesbrough Empire in December 2026, ahead of their festival appearance.

Line-ups, performance times and ticket details can change. Check the festival’s official channels before making travel arrangements.