Mutations Festival 2026 in Brighton: Fat Dog and Mike D 5D Headline 90 Act, 10 Venue Weekend
Trafalgar Street in central Brighton, file photo, not from the festival (Photo: Stephen McKay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph)
Mutations Festival, Brighton's city-wide festival for new music, returns on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October for its eighth edition. Live music fans can expect more than 90 acts across ten independent venues, with Fat Dog headlining Friday and Mike D 5D, the band led by Beastie Boys member Mike Diamond, headlining Saturday.
The festival says the Saturday show will be the first live performance in Brighton by a Beastie Boys member since the band played the Brighton Centre with Run-DMC in May 1987. The full line-up and the stage times are now published on the festival's own website.
Source: Mutations Festival website and announcements, plus festival listings, linked below
The two headliners
Fat Dog top the bill on Friday 23 October. The seven-piece electro-rock band are signed to Domino Records and are releasing the album Cancel Me (I'm Tired) this month. They are no strangers to the festival: eFestivals lists them on the 2022 line-up.
Mike D 5D headline on Saturday 24 October. It is the project of Mike Diamond with Skyler and Davis Diamond, Eddie Ruscha, Will Graefe and Milo Ruscha, according to Dork. Their album Thank You came out on Capitol Records on 28 August, and Festival Insights notes the Brighton date falls 40 years after the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill. It is the band's Mutations debut.
Who is playing each day
These are some of the acts the festival lists on its website. Many more are on the full line-up, which is split across the ten venues.
Dove Ellis is described in the festival's announcement as Mercury Prize nominated. The complete list for both days, including the smaller acts, is on the Mutations website.
The ten venues
Mutations takes over ten independent Brighton spaces. This is how the festival describes them on its venues page.
How the festival got here
Mutations is known for booking acts early in their careers. Festival Insights says CMAT, Yard Act, English Teacher and KNEECAP played some of their first shows there, and describes it as a winter weekender. eFestivals lists these headline names from recent editions:
For 2026 the festival says the edition promises to be "the most ambitious and exciting edition yet".
Tickets, times and what to know
Tickets are sold through See Tickets, linked from the festival website. Prices have been reported differently: Festival Insights said tickets started at £35 when they went on sale in July, while Brighton and Hove News reported a starting price of £39.50, with reduced-price tickets for under-25s and instalment plans. Check the ticket page for the current price.
- The festival has published stage times on its schedule page, as images for each day.
- It has a wristband exchange page and an FAQ for entry details and age limits.
- Brighton.co.uk lists the Friday as 18+. Check the festival FAQ for the age limit on Saturday.
- There is no camping, according to eFestivals. The festival runs in venues across the city.
What else is on in Brighton that month
Mutations falls in a busy week. The Brighton Dome Comedy Festival runs from 16 to 25 October, and Halloween events fill the end of the month. We have laid everything out in our Things to do in Brighton this October guide, and the full Dome programme is in our Brighton Dome autumn guide. For cabaret and drag in Kemptown, see our look inside The Birdcage.
What we could not confirm
Details were not consistent across every source, so we have left them out or flagged them:
- the ticket price, which was reported as both £35 and £39.50
- the number of venues, which one report gave as nine and the festival lists as ten
- the age limit for Saturday, so check the festival FAQ before you buy
ImJustBrighton has no connection to the organisers and has not been given tickets for this article.
Sources and further reading
- Mutations Festival: line-up and information
- Mutations Festival: venues
- Mutations Festival: schedule and stage times
- Festival Insights: Brighton's festival for new music Mutations names first headline acts (21 July 2026)
- Festival Insights: Mutations Festival announces first wave of artists (August 2026)
- Brighton and Hove News: Mutations announces the first 71 acts (5 August 2026)
- Dork: Fat Dog and Mike D 5D to headline Mutations 2026
- Mixtape Madness: Mutations Festival announces the first acts
- eFestivals: Mutations Festival 2026
- Brighton.co.uk: Mutations Festival 2026, Friday
For more of what is on, see our events and what's on coverage, the live music stories and the latest from Brighton and Hove.
Read more from ImJustBrighton
Things to do in Brighton this October: your complete guide
Brighton Dome autumn 2026: full line-up, dates and how to book
