The Human League will headline Cornwall’s most eccentric festival in 2027

The Great Estate returns to Scorrier next June for its tenth year, bringing together synth pop, woodland discos, drag, dinosaurs, a festival feast and an Alice in Wonderland inspired takeover.

There are music festivals where the programme begins and ends with the stage. Then there are festivals where a mermaid appears in the swimming pool while dinosaurs wander elsewhere on the estate.

The Great Estate firmly belongs to the latter camp.

The Cornish festival will celebrate its tenth year from June 4 to 6, 2027, returning to the 400 acre grounds of Scorrier Estate with The Human League confirmed among its headline attractions.

The Sheffield group will bring a catalogue stretching from Don’t You Want Me and Love Action (I Believe in Love) to Open Your Heart, providing an Eighties centrepiece to a weekend that has deliberately built its reputation on offering considerably more than live music.

Further performers are still to be announced, with another headline announcement expected on October 8.

Down the rabbit hole

For its anniversary year, organisers are leaning particularly heavily into the festival's eccentricity.

Saturday will be given an Alice in Wonderland inspired transformation, including a Mad Hatter's Tea Party fancy dress competition and an interactive theatrical trail running through the estate.

Madame Wong's House of Wrong will host a Mad Hatter's Drag Race followed by a DJ party, while a new drone show will take to the sky after dark.

Elsewhere, Dino Discovery will bring lifelike dinosaurs into the grounds. Bubbles the Pixie returns with daytime bubble performances followed by an illuminated performance at night, while Mischief the Mermaid will appear in Scorrier Pool on Saturday and Sunday.

It sounds chaotic on paper. That is rather the point.

The Great Estate describes itself as a “rambunctious garden fête”, occupying a space somewhere between conventional music festival, country estate party and family theatrical adventure.

Its setting helps.

Scorrier House was built in 1780 by mining entrepreneur John Williams and sits within hundreds of acres of private parkland and historic gardens. Rather than simply filling a field with stages, the festival uses the estate's woods, gardens and buildings to create smaller venues and experiences away from the main arena.

A festival where lunch gets its own billing

Food is receiving greater attention in 2027 too.

Chef Rupert Cooper will host a new Festival Feast on the Friday evening, bringing his fire focused style of cooking to a more intimate dining experience within the wider festival.

Those who prefer their discoveries in liquid form can search for the Secret Gin Garden, while independent Cornish producers and makers will appear through Cornwall Shop Small's Market Marquee.

Music, meanwhile, extends well beyond the headline stage.

Clunk Magazine will present Kavos, named after the Cornish word for “to find”, as a space for emerging artists from across the South West.

The Korev Experience returns with DJs throughout the weekend before an all vinyl Sunday takeover that will allow festivalgoers to bring records of their own.

After the main performances finish, a large silent disco will occupy the arena until 1.30am on Friday and Saturday. There is another silent disco in the woods during the afternoon, alongside a silent cinema and The Greatest Skate, which combines a skate ramp with workshops.

Families without the children's enclosure

Where The Great Estate makes perhaps its most convincing case against Britain's much larger festivals is in its approach to families.

Rather than treating children's entertainment as a small addition to an adult festival, much of the programme has been designed to work across generations.

Circus skills, storytelling, Victorian sports, workshops, children's raves, a vintage fairground and the Alice in Wonderland trail are included within the wider programme.

There is also The Sanctuary, an area dedicated to wellness activities, including the Zen Den and Wellness Workshop.

For families attempting to reconcile seeing live music with keeping children entertained for an entire weekend, the breadth of that programme may matter as much as whichever name appears at the top of the poster.

Ten years in Cornwall

The Great Estate has previously welcomed acts including Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream, James, Supergrass, Happy Mondays, The Darkness, The Charlatans, Razorlight and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Organisers say attendance has exceeded 10,000 in previous years. The festival has also received recognition at the Cornwall Tourism Awards, including gold in the Tourism Event and Festival category in 2024.

Its tenth edition arrives at a time when Britain's festival calendar is crowded and the largest events increasingly resemble substantial logistical expeditions.

The Great Estate is not attempting to compete with them on size.

Instead, its proposition is rather more Cornish and considerably stranger: The Human League in a country estate, dinner cooked over fire, records in the woods, a mermaid in the pool and, apparently, the occasional dinosaur.

The Great Estate takes place at Scorrier Estate in Cornwall from June 4 to 6, 2027. Tickets are on sale now.

Image credit: The Great Estate 2026 / Matthew Hawkey.