The Kooks to headline The Great Estate’s tenth year at Scorrier

Two decades after their debut, The Kooks are heading for a stately home in Cornwall. And they’ll be sharing it with dinosaurs, a mermaid and a drag race themed around the Mad Hatter.

The indie band have been announced as a headliner for The Great Estate Festival 2027, the tenth anniversary edition of the event at Scorrier Estate. They join synth-pop pioneers The Human League, who were announced earlier.

The festival runs from Friday 4 June to Sunday 6 June 2027 across the 400-acre grounds of Scorrier Estate. Organisers describe it as Cornwall’s “most unorthodox garden party” and promise a weekend of live music, art, theatre and the kind of happenings that are hard to explain until you’ve seen them.

📷Sophie Ellis-Bextor at The Great Estate 2026. Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

The Kooks and The Human League top the bill

The Kooks’ 2006 debut sold more than two million copies. Nearly 20 years on, the band have found a second audience, with Gen Z fans discovering their Britpop-tinged indie sound through social media.

Songs including Naïve and She Moves in Her Own Way have become cross-generational anthems. The band’s recent run has taken in sold-out world tours, big festival slots and their biggest ever UK headline tour, with dates at Manchester’s Co-op Live and London’s O2 Arena.

Their seventh studio album, Never/Know, came out earlier this year and reached the UK Top 5. That’s their highest chart position since 2008.

The Human League bring a catalogue that includes Don’t You Want Me, Love Action (I Believe In Love) and Open Your Heart. More headline and music announcements are still to come.

Past performers at The Great Estate include Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Primal Scream, James, Happy Mondays, Supergrass, Leftfield, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Darkness, The Charlatans, The Stranglers, Razorlight, The Selecter, Black Grape and Electric Six.

📷Kaiser Chiefs at The Great Estate 2026. Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

Down the rabbit hole for year ten

New for 2027, Saturday goes full Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party fancy dress competition will hand out tickets to The Great Estate 2028 as prizes, for those willing to go furthest down the rabbit hole.

An interactive theatrical trail inspired by Alice in Wonderland will wind across the estate for families to explore. Over at Madame Wong’s House of Wrong, the new Mad Hatter’s Drag Race will be followed by a Mad Hatter’s Drag Party DJ set.

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

Drones, dinosaurs and a mermaid in the pool

A new drone show will light up the sky over Scorrier on Saturday night.

Dino Discovery joins the line-up for 2027 with lifelike dinosaurs. Bubbles the Pixie returns with daytime bubbles before switching to a special LED performance after dark.

Mischief the Mermaid will be back in Scorrier Pool from 5pm to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

A fire-led feast and a secret gin garden

Chef Rupert Cooper will host a new Festival Feast on the Friday evening, bringing his fire-led cooking to an intimate dining experience in the middle of the festival.

Elsewhere there’s the Secret Gin Garden, hidden venues to stumble across and a Vintage Fairground.

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

New South West talent and a vinyl Sunday

CLUNK Presents Kavos takes its name from the Cornish for “to find”. It will be dedicated to up-and-coming artists from across the South West, putting emerging acts on the same weekend as national and international names.

The Korev Experience returns with DJs across a mix of genres. On Sunday it becomes an all-vinyl takeover, including Put It On, where festivalgoers can bring their own records and play them.

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

Silent discos, cinema and a skate ramp

The Super Sized Silent Disco takes over the main arena from 11pm until 1.30am on Friday and Saturday. Earlier in the day, the Woodland Silent Disco runs among the trees from 1pm to 3pm on the same two days.

The Silent Cinema returns with family-friendly films across the weekend, and The Greatest Skate has a skate ramp and a programme of workshops.

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

Built for all ages

A large programme of free activities is included in the ticket price. There’s a Victorian Sports Day with sack racing and other games, circus skills, storytelling, creative workshops, Hip Hop Karaoke and kids’ raves.

The Sanctuary is home to the wellness side of the festival, with The Zen Den, The Wellness Workshop Tent and other activities for the whole family.

Cornwall Shop Small will bring a hand-picked selection of Cornish makers, vintage curators and independent creatives to its Market Marquee, with locally made food and treats.

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

The setting at Scorrier Estate

Scorrier House sits within 400 acres of private parkland and historic gardens. It was built in 1780 by mining tycoon John Williams and is home to the Williams family.

Visitors can upgrade with boutique glamping at The Octopus Garden, including use of Scorrier House’s private pool and sauna.

The Great Estate won silver for The Tourism Event and Festival Award at the Cornwall Tourism Awards in 2019 and 2022, and gold in 2024.

Tickets

Attendance has topped 10,000 in previous years, and organisers say tickets are selling faster than ever. They are on sale now and expected to move up to the next price tier soon.

Tickets and updates are on the Great Estate Festival website.

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

📷Sophie Ellis-Bextor at The Great Estate 2026. Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

📷Credit: The Great Estate 2026 Matthew Hawkey

📷Credit: Freya Barber