Good Vibrations Society Brings Music, Wellbeing and Good Energy Back to Ashdown Forest

Good Vibrations Society returns to East Sussex this summer with a weekend of music, wellbeing, ecology and community in the surroundings of Ashdown Forest.

Taking place at Pippingford Park from 31 July to 2 August 2026, the three-day festival brings together live music, DJs, workshops, food, family-friendly activities and a strong focus on connection with nature. Now in its sixth year, Good Vibrations Society has built a reputation as a festival that feels as much about atmosphere as it does about the line-up.

Set within the wider Ashdown Forest landscape, the festival leans into its natural setting, with a programme that mixes music, movement, ecology and outdoor experiences. It is a camping weekend for people who want more than a standard festival field, with space to dance, reset, explore and discover something unexpected.

The 2026 line-up covers a broad mix of soul, reggae, electronic music, drum and bass, afrobeat, jazz, pop and global sounds. Headliners and featured acts include Orbital, Ms Dynamite, Heatwave, Bay City Rollers, Gentleman’s Dub Club, Fabio & Grooverider, Hollie Cook, Ibibio Sound Machine, London Afrobeat Collective, Prince Fatty, Sam Wills, Nectar Woode, Olympia Vitalis, Doc Scott, Ellis Dee, Zed Bias and more.

That range is part of the appeal. One minute, you could be deep in a dance set, the next you could be easing into lovers rock, afro-electric grooves or a morning class designed to shake off the night before. Good Vibrations Society is built around contrast: big sounds and quiet moments, late nights and slow mornings, crowd energy and time in nature.

The festival’s wider programme also includes wellbeing sessions, ecology-led experiences, workshops and food, with space for families as well as seasoned festival-goers. Rather than trying to be the loudest weekend of the summer, it aims for something a little more rounded: a place where music, community and the outdoors all carry equal weight.

For those plotting their weekend, here are five things not to miss at Good Vibrations Society.

• Miss Dynamite performs on Friday night. The iconic UK garage star, whose real name is Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley, won the Mercury Prize in 2002 and donated the £20,000 prize money to the NSPCC. With one of the most recognisable names in British pop and garage, her set is likely to be one of the major moments of the weekend.
• Hollie Cook brings her tropical pop to the main stage on Saturday. The former front-woman of punk-reggae band The Slits has performed at WOMAD in both the UK and Australia, so she knows her way around a sun-drenched festival crowd. Her music brings warmth, reggae lift and the kind of feel-good energy that suits a summer field perfectly.
• Run and Rave offers a very different way to start Saturday. The 5K run leaves from the bottom of the Ashdown Forest site at 11am, giving festival-goers the chance to blow away the cobwebs, meet like-minded people and possibly convince themselves to do it all again on Sunday.
• The vegan cooking classes, hosted by Amrutha, are another useful addition to the weekend. The southwest London vegan restaurant group will run classes on both Saturday and Sunday from 10am, teaching dishes such as coconut dahl and creamy cashew cheese.
• Ibibio Sound Machine are also firmly on the must-see list. Now on their sixth studio album, the band have impressed festival crowds around the world with their afro-electric sound. With tracks including All That I Want and recent release Concept of Love, they are built to get people moving.

Good Vibrations Society takes place from 31 July to 2 August 2026 at Pippingford Park, Ashdown Forest, East Sussex. More information and tickets are available at goodvibrationssociety.com.