I know it seems far away still but for me, the stress of 2026’s festival season has already begun. So far, I have only bought one singular ticket (my annual trip to 2000trees in Cheltenham) but another five (!) festivals are on my radar for oncoming summer. As every year, it’s a balancing game of time, money, and urgencies: how bad do I really want to go to this particular festival? Well, in most cases, that final question can be answered with “REALLY A LOT” every single time, truly making my decisions not any easier whatsoever. As an added factor it’s worth mentioning I’m not a big fan of camping, therefore festivals in which I can avoid this would potentially be preferred over others. If I’ve done my research properly, the only one of six festivals I’m hoping to visit this year that doesn’t include camping is the Manchester based Radar Festival, featuring a stellar line-up with some of the alternative metal scene’s best in Graphic Nature, Hacktivist, unpeople, Benthos, and… a very exclusive performance by Canadian band Protest The Hero. It truly feels like this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity seeing this band live so I should probably consider Radar Festival as one of the first ones to buy a ticket for this year… Argh! I have a feeling the stress will continue for a bit longer…