If you ask ten people why Hull’s annual Humber Street Sesh music festival is held so dearly by communities throughout the city and beyond, you’ll get ten very different answers. The meticulously diverse music programming is definitely one of the festival’s defining assets, along with its distinctive marina-side setting, and palpable energy that belies its size.
But what does it actually feel like to be there? That’s what I endeavoured to discover at this year’s festival.
What began in 2012 as a small-scale, grassroots showcase of Hull’s best emerging talent has, in the last 14 years, expanded into Yorkshire’s largest independent music festival. Previous iterations of the festival have welcomed household names to grace the event’s array of stages, including David Bowie’s backing band The Spiders From Mars, Yonaka, Bdrmm, Divorce, The Howl and the Hum, King No-One, The Hunna, and LIFE.
With over 100 acts spread across 10 stages in 2026, there was – as ever – no shortage of music to enjoy throughout the day, and with the festival site being small, it’s easy to catch a couple of songs from one band and run over quickly to a different stage to see songs from another.
I’ve been a punter at Humber Street Sesh every year since 2017, and I’ll admit, I get considerably more excited for it than I do for Christmas Day itself. It’s a feeling I voiced on stage this year too: when my band, Part-Time Model, played the Dead Bod Stage, I announced, “It’s Hull’s Christmas Day.” This comparison became even more of a reality at this year’s festival when I noticed two festival-goers wearing handmade t-shirts with the festival’s Founder and Director Mark Page, plastered on the back in a Santa hat, with the words “Father Seshmass” printed underneath. This was one of many highlights from Humber Street Sesh 2026.
I couldn’t have picked a better artist to ease myself into a packed festival itinerary than Hull-based singer-songwriter Toni Oliver, who took to the acoustic stage in the city’s iconic Fruit Market under a canopy of lush faux greenery and glistening lights. Moving the acoustic stage into this space was a stroke of genius, giving punters an intimate, tucked-away spot for the quieter performances, away from the pulsating bass ricocheting from other stages. Oliver delivered a mesmerising performance comprising a couple of covers, notably a gorgeous cover of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’, and her original material inspired by the experiences that shaped her journey from teenager to adulthood.
After a tactical espresso at Next Door cafe, located very conveniently back to back with the stage I was heading to next, I entered the ITSL Sound and Light Rock Stage to watch alternative rock quartet Sundown Silver. The band have been through a few iterations over the years, so I was curious to hear how their latest project with two new members would differ from previous versions. Head banging ensued (I don’t regret the neck pain I woke up with the following morning), as the band gave an impressive performance of heavy-hitting riffs to synchronised hair flips from commanding frontman Isaac Galloway.
The rock stage at Humber Street Sesh has always generated a larger-than-life feel. Despite its home on the ground floor of the Fruit Market car park, there’s nothing dingy about it, with the concrete surroundings instead lending the space an earth-shattering, industrial-strength bass sound. I would later catch Sheffield rockers Femur on that same stage, showcasing an electrifying set of their leviathan hits to a crowd that surged and swelled like a tsunami, moving as one.
One of the best elements of Humber Street Sesh is that it doesn’t just attract bands from Hull; North-East emerging talent Robyn Banks had a crowd of hypnotised onlookers firmly in the grasp of her provocative lyricism and magnetic stage craft. The same could be said later in the evening as Leeds-based grunge-rock sensation Eva Kiss delivered a blistering set on the Boardroom Stage as dusk set in on the marina. As someone who has watched both of these artists rise through the ranks of both their regional music scenes, I couldn’t help but feel immensely proud to have experienced both of their spellbinding performances at this year’s festival.
Eva Kiss wasn’t the only Leeds artist to have travelled over to Hull for this year’s festival. Indie rockers Gravy (yes, that is the band’s real name) took over the festival’s iconic Dead Bod Stage, set against a backdrop of a blotted pink-and-orange sunset and the striking silhouette of The Deep. Despite being Leeds based myself, I’ve never managed to catch the band in their hometown, so I was desperate to watch them at the festival. It goes without saying that frontman Harrison Bailey certainly knows how to catch audience members’ attention, with his irresistibly catchy lyrics and melody lines.
Two bands that never fail to have crowds launching themselves like atoms colliding are Hull post-punk collective Rothco and Leeds-based funk supergroup Flat Moon. Rothco burst onto the city’s music scene in 2024 and haven’t stopped building a reputation for their intense and deeply arresting live performances – their headline set on the BBC Introducing Stage was no exception. Similarly, Flat Moon are a band that everyone has to see live at least once in their lifetime, and the size of their crowd on the festival’s Main Stage proved to be, unsurprisingly, one of the biggest all day. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen an audience jump as much in one place as they did for Flat Moon.
Humber Street Sesh 2026 was rounded off by two immense headline performances from the first female to headline the festival, Fiona-Lee on the Main Stage, and world-class Glaswegian outfit Walt Disco on the Dead Bod stage, who both cemented their status’ as the perfect acts to close out another phenomenal festival.
So, in answer to my question of what it feels like to actually be at Humber Street Sesh? It feels like home. It has that same familiar warmth every year, a real feeling of community that never fades, no matter how much the festival’s lineup expands – a place where people from all over the country come together to discover their new favourite artists in a city that often gets overlooked or ignored for its end-of-the-line location. It’s the very best version of our city, embracing everyone searching for that same unforgettable festival experience.
Humber Street Sesh makes me so proud to be from Hull, and this year’s festival was another brilliant reminder of this.