Rolling Stone
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View Gallery 62 photos Griffin Lotz; Maria-Juliana Rojas; Sacha Lecca New York is so up right now — and nowhere was that felt more than at Governor’s Ball 2026. This year’s iteration was led by a stacked lineup featuring Lorde, Stray Kids, and A$AP Rocky as the headliners, plus must-see performances by Jennie, Katseye, Geese, Clipse, Wet Leg, and more. The festival kicked off in the midst of the New York Knicks’ first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, and the excitement could be felt all through the weekend in New York’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Even the weather challenges that impacted Saturday’s festivities couldn’t bring the energy down. Here are the best things we saw at Gov Ball 2026.
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Gov Ball Proves the Power of Lorde
Image Credit: Sacha Lecca for Rolling Stone The last time Lorde played Gov Ball, it was 2017 and she had just released her second album, Melodrama. The entire day had been pouring rain, something she remembered onstage this year as she performed in what she called “perfect” summer weather. Everything — the balmy temperature, the lighting, her incredible stage production, and her vocal power — seemed to be working in order, lining up and allowing her to deliver one of the most powerful festival performances in recent memories.
She started the show with an upbeat, tech-inspired version of “Royals,” the breakthrough from 2013 that kicked off her career. In a lot of ways, the Gov Ball set felt like a highlight reel of her entire trajectory and just how far she’s come since signing her first deal as a kid (something she seemed to allude to when she had fans hold up a banner that read “I don’t belong to anyone” with the years 2013-2026). She worked through hits from her full discography, closing with a gorgeous rendition of the classic “Ribs,” and was deeply vulnerable, sharing how today’s turbulent times have affected her. “Our world feels increasingly unjust, and it feels harder and harder to arrive at your own definitions of beauty and the truth and what is real,” she told the audience. “To combat all of this, all these fucked-up forces in our world, I would say show yourself… If we show ourselves in all the broken bits, all the jagged edges, all the filth, I really believe we will start fucking going somewhere.” It felt like the throughline in a set that was transcendent, inspiring, and radically beautiful. —Julyssa Lopez
