Hinterland Festival 2026: Day Four

The final day of the Hinterland Music Festival 2026 packed its own punch to conclude the long weekend of music. The first half of the day featured a mixture of different pop music performances, kicking things off with the wacky and wild pop duo, Haute & Freddy, followed by the moody and gut-wrenching indie pop lyrics of Samia. There was something particularly theatrical about this Sunday setlist, with many of the artists performing in front of elaborate stage designs, with fog flooding the crowd or extravagant costume changes.

One such performance was from Audrey Hobert, who towered over the crowd wearing a red clown nose and long trench coat.

Presumably, she was on stilts as she stood nearly 10 feet tall –the costume a clever clapback at her debut album, Who’s the Clown? It made for a humorous opening before a quick costume change brought her back down to normal height. The theatrics continued with Suki Waterhouse, complete with a massive disco ball in the shape of an anatomically-correct heart and dozens of golden arrows piercing the stage and mic stand. In traditional Suki fashion, she dramatically appeared draped in a long flowing cape, with a backdrop of an iron gate surrounded by roses. The setting was romantic, yet heartbreaking, like the stage of a Shakespearean play — an excellent representation of her newest album release, Loveland.

It was halfway through the final day when the set I was most excited for was about to begin. As waves of fog flooded the Hinterland stage, the lead singer of Wet Leg, Rhian Teasdale, strutted centerstage as she flexed her biceps for the screaming crowd. Rhian dominated the stage with her striking stance and piercing blue eyes, while fog continued to swarm around the band. It was one of those performances that didn’t require anything extravagant, because Wet Leg carries extravagance through their performance alone; you couldn’t take your eyes off of them even if you wanted to.

Following Wet Leg were more epic performances back-to-back to close out the festival.

Geese and Young Miko were the two last sets before Kali Uchis headlined. While the rock band has been around since 2016, Geese began taking the world by storm only two years ago, making a major impact on the music scene since. Like most of their live performances, moshing and crowd-surfing erupted. From the top of the hill, I could see arms thrashing about in the pit, with several people being tossed in the air like ragdolls with huge grins on their faces.

One thing Hinterland never went without that weekend was the undeniable energy. Even during Young Miko’s set, dozens of women in the crowd were tossing gifts onto the stage, including pairs of underwear while they screamed with excitement. Out of all of the performances I saw over those four days, I have never heard the cheers of a crowd carry so far as they did for Young Miko!

It was incredible to see that level of love and enjoyment for an artist by so many people at once.

As Hinterland came to a close, Kali Uchis sealed off the night with a lavish performance, with backup dancers carrying her onto the sparkling pink stage. Every song was its own scene, featuring big white feathers, a scaling staircase, and even a large bed with pillow fighting. Regardless of the extravagant stage design and dance numbers, nothing could outshine the most simple yet impactful aspect of Kali Uchis’ performance, which was the white shirt she was wearing. In pink bedazzled cursive were just two words — Fuck ICE. As a Columbian-American citizen, these current issues must be deeply personal and it was inspiring to see Kali make this statement in her own way.

Kali Uchis’ performance was the perfect way to send off Hinterland 2026, not only for how incredibly orchestrated it was, but for representing herself, her culture, and what she stands for. The festival itself is a great representation of that, as well, with Hinterland’s very diverse lineup that’s so rarely seen.

As a first time attendee, I appreciated the care and thoughtfulness the Hinterland team puts into this four-day event.

The fest gives wonderful opportunities to those in the music industry so often overlooked. There is so much more I could say about this festival, but I probably wouldn’t be done writing until next year! So, I’ll end it short and sweet with this: Hinterland is genuinely an amazing music festival and, while I’m sad I wasn’t aware of it until this summer, I am so thankful to know of it now and cannot wait for what they have in store for us next year!

Photography by Sean Rider; recap article by Michelle Zigler

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