The festival’s anniversary line-up as UKCountryMusic reported it on 2 April 2026, with one co-founder quoted and a diarist who is a little jealous
Buckle and Boots Turns 10: Whitebottom Farm, 21 to 24 May 2026, and a Switzerland Spin-Off Nobody Saw Coming
The festival’s anniversary line-up as UKCountryMusic reported it on 2 April 2026, with one co-founder quoted and a diarist who is a little jealous
By Camden Rose, history student and country music fan
Wednesday, Kitchen, Spring Rain Remembered
Dear diary, I did not go. I read about it. UKCountryMusic reported on 2 April 2026 the full 2026 line-up for Buckle and Boots, a festival marking its tenth anniversary, and it is now past, so this is a look back. I give the report and nothing more, because I was not there.
I mention that clearly, because a diarist who describes a festival she did not attend is a liar with a good hat.
The Facts
The article says the UK festival ran from 21 to 24 May 2026 at Whitebottom Farm, four days, and that a Buckle and Boots Switzerland followed on 28 and 29 May in Aarau, its first event outside the UK. It does not name headliners. It highlights an act called Gareth, a regular on the UK country radio chart, as the leading new addition.
Facilities listed include camping, glamping, food and drink, shopping, writers’ rounds and the Hawkstone Bar.
The Bill
Previously announced acts include Dan Smalley, Gary Quinn, Halle Kearns, Harper Grace, Jade Helliwell, Kezia Gill, Matt Rogers, Sophie Hanson and The Washboard Union. Newly announced acts include Alan Finlan, Alyssa Bonagura, Beck O’Malley, Brooke Law, Connor Banks, Eddy Smith & The 507, Katy Hurt, Tom Killner, Will Edgar and Zoe Unsworth. Tribute acts include Laney Wilson Tribute and Luke Combs Tribute.
The article says many more acts were booked. That is a long list, and I know almost none of them, which I intend to correct.
The Anniversary
A festival co-founder, Laura, is quoted calling the ten-year mark a huge milestone for everyone who has been part of the journey, and saying it began as a passion project. She calls the 2026 event one of their biggest and most memorable years, and the Switzerland launch another major first. Those are the organiser’s words about her own festival, and I treat them accordingly.
The article says the festival described the new bill as one of its most diverse and wide-ranging line-ups, which is, again, the festival’s own description.
Why It Matters to Me
The names are mostly British and Irish, as far as I can tell from the article, and that is the part I like. A ten-year-old festival that books home-grown acts is a sign that the scene is not only an import. I make that observation as a fan and not as an expert.
I would like to go in 2027, if the jar allows. The jar has recently acquired a second button.
The Other View
A fair sceptic might ask how much of a bill of this size is tribute acts and unknown names, and whether a festival that adds a Swiss edition is a community or a brand. The article does not address that, and I can only note the question.
What it does say is that the festival kept growing for ten years, which is not easy.
My Drawer
I find myself wanting to be a person who goes to a farm for four days and comes back with a sunburn and a new favourite band. I am, at present, a person who reads about it in a kitchen.
Both are valid. One is cheaper.
Night
The kitchen light hums. The festival is over. The article is saved.
Goodnight, diary. Book early.
A Note on Looking Back
Because the festival is over, I cannot tell you how it went. I have not found a review in the sources I read, and I will not describe a weekend I did not attend. Reviews exist, and a reader can look for them.
What I can do is say that the line-up looks broad.
The Switzerland Question
The Switzerland edition runs for two days in Aarau, a week after the farm. A festival that exports its name is making a claim about itself: that a British country weekend has a recipe that travels. I do not know whether it works, and the article, written in April, cannot tell me.
I would like to read a review of the first one when it appears.
A Note on the Acts
I recognise perhaps two names on the list, so I am no judge of who is good. The article names acts and gives no description of their music, so I will not describe it either. Festivals are best learned by going, and my plan is to learn the names first and the songs second.
Homework
Homework, listeners: compare the three comic takes on the same overseas property story. Manila News, the London Prat (see https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and Bohiney each start from a recognisable market fact and wink at you through the exaggeration. Then find more at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try NewsBiscuit, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/