It’s our favourite time of year… we’re dream­ing of fresh green fields, flags wav­ing in the gen­tle breeze, bands start­ing up on stage and a cosy tent to snug­gle into at night.

Here’s our UK fes­ti­vals cal­en­dar with an empha­sis on inde­pen­dents – and many of them come with per­son­al recommendations.

On a sad note, many of our well-loved events are not hap­pen­ing this year, main­ly down to mas­sive increas­es in costs and unpre­dictabil­i­ty of tick­et sales. Some are tak­ing a year off to recal­i­brate while oth­ers have gone for good. We look for­ward to see­ing the return of Black Deer, Wom­ad and Cam­bridge Folk Fes­ti­val in 2026 – and, fin­gers crossed, Blue­dot. Camp Besti­val will take place at Dorset as usu­al (yay) but is tak­ing a break from their Shrop­shire ven­ture (boo).

But there are new shoots for this year: Found fes­ti­val will help fill a gap in the Amer­i­cana and coun­try mar­ket and there are notice­ably more day fes­ti­vals. We’ll be adding more details as we get the so check back here for more info soon.

Focus Wales 8–10 May

This inter­na­tion­al indus­try show­case fes­ti­val is in its 15th year and has hun­dreds of artists, work­shops, con­fer­ences, talks and events tak­ing place in Wrex­ham over its three fes­ti­val days, with a focus on emerg­ing Welsh tal­ent. Over 250 inter­na­tion­al artists will play on 20 stages at venues in Wrex­ham. Sprints, Nova Twins, Gruff Rhys, Pan­ic Shack, Catri Finch and Sounds Mint are just a few artists of many tak­ing part. There’s also a con­fer­ence that fea­tures some impor­tant names in the music indus­try, plus films too. Tick­ets are very rea­son­ably priced, with sin­gle show and day tick­ets. Focus Wales

Great Escape 14–17 May

This is the fes­ti­val to attend if you want to dis­cov­er new music. Brighton buzzes with life as pun­ters make their way from one venue to anoth­er… and with around 450 artists on over the 4‑day event, there’s a lot to get through. An invalu­able asset is their con­fer­ence with a range of talks that help new artists avoid all the pit­falls. Too many artists to men­tion but here’s a few names to check out: Patche, Pem, Queen Cult, Redd, The Moon­land­ingz, Witch Post, Cat­ty and more. Great Escape festival

Bearded Theory 21–25 May

There’s a loaded line­up for this year’s Beard­ed The­o­ry. And the Mid­lands festie now sports two big stages, leav­ing the Wood­land Stage in a shady glade for the more acoustic sounds. Iggy Pop takes prize posi­tion on the line­up, along with the Man­ics, Paul Heaton, Yard Act, Fat Dog, Katy J Pear­son and many more. The Nova Twins are back plus Asian Dub Foun­da­tion and The Alarm. Coda dance tent fea­tures LTJ Bukem! Plus Dub Pis­tols, Phil Hart­noll and many more. And don’t for­get the Some­thing Else Tea Tent for a cup­pa, piece of cake and delight­ful com­pa­ny. Beard­ed The­o­ry Tickets

Wide Awake 23 May

Wide Awake is an exu­ber­ant one-day fes­ti­val tak­ing place in Brock­well Park, south Lon­don. I was very impressed with Wide Awake’s first year and wide-rang­ing mix of music. Those behind the event real­ly know their stuff – the fes­ti­val is cre­at­ed by Bad Vibra­tions, LNZRT and some of the orig­i­nal Field Day founders and the peo­ple behind MOTH Club and The Shack­lewell Arms. The line­up this year is packed: Kneecap, Eng­lish Teacher, CMAT, Daniel Avery, Sprints, Mer­maid Chunky. and many more. Wide Awake festival

Dot to Dot 24 and 25 May

Dot to Dot takes place in two loca­tions: Bris­tol for the 24th and Not­ting­ham for 25th. You’re spoilt for choice on both dates as the line­up is more like a 3‑day event and both, naturell­ment, take place at a num­ber of city-cen­tre venues. Sprints, The Deep Blue, Soft Loft, The orches­tra for Now, Bruise Con­trol, Ethan Tasch, Girlpup­py, Arm­lock and many more. Don’t miss US band Hel­lo Mary. Dot to Dot

Field Day 24th May

Field Day has gone through many iter­a­tions – Gourmet Gigs start­ed life at Field Day back in 2012! The one-day fest has moved back to May, and has relo­cat­ed to Brock­well Park, Brix­ton. Field Day is always packed with inno­v­a­tive, fresh music and with six stages to get around you won’t have much time for relax­ing. Peg­gy Gou, SWIM, Mall Grab, Calai­da, Moontalk, Mid­land and more are set to play. Field Day festival

Wychwood 30th May – 1 June

Wych­wood is a well-loved fam­i­ly fes­ti­val tak­ing place at Chel­tenham Race­course with plen­ty hap­pen­ing for all ages. On the music side, Doves make a rare fes­ti­val appear­ance; also on the line­up are James, The Lot­tery Win­ners, Zutons, Shed Sev­en and many oth­ers. Head to the Vil­lage Green for activ­i­ties galore: Glas­to fave Dan the Hat, fire and LED dis­plays from Flame Oz, and the ever-pop­u­lar Sil­ly Sports Day. Chel­tenham Poet­ry Fes­ti­val will host a spo­ken word ses­sion plus there’s a Chil­dren’s Lit­er­ary Fes­ti­val. Brand new for this year, Wych­wood wel­comes the team behind The Nation­al Trust’s hit children’s pod­cast, Ranger Rae and the Wildlif­ers for an inter­ac­tive pod­cast-mak­ing show and you can even take part in shap­ing Ranger Rae’s next big adven­ture. Under 10s go free! Wych­wood festival

Eden Festival 12–15 June

Eden Fes­ti­val is a fam­i­ly-friend­ly event set in the pic­turesque Dum­fries and Gal­loway area of Scot­land. It’s a small gath­er­ing but man­ages to host as many as 250 acts across 10 stages, cov­er­ing a very wide musi­cal base with every­thing from Bob Vylan to Orches­tra Baobob, The Blue­bells, Left­field, Bish, Gaia, The Joy Hotel and many more. In total there are 250 acts across 10 stages. You’ll also find plen­ty of fam­i­ly activ­i­ties and work­shops through­out the day. The Eden Festival

Moovin 13–15 June 

“Once Man­ches­ter’s best kept secret, it has now estab­lished itself as the place to par­ty.” Yes, it’s fun down on the farm: White­bot­tom Farm, Stock­port, to be more pre­cise. Moovin, usu­al­ly at the end of August has now moved to June. This is the event to tru­ly let your hair down and dance. All week­end long. Stages include The Barn, a large con­vert­ed cow shed with a huge bar for speedy ser­vice at rea­son­able prices, space to dance and hay bale seat­ing to kick back on. Check out Ezra Col­lec­tive, Mr Scruff, Craig Charles, Stan­ton War­riors, Fabio & Grooverid­er, Ibibio Sound Machine, Der­rick Carter and tons more. Moovin fes­ti­val

Kaleidoscope Saturday 12 July

Kalei­do­scope is a one-day event that offers a very chilled fam­i­ly day out in the grounds of Alexan­dra Palace, north Lon­don. The main stage is set half way down the grassy slope, so every­one gets a clear view of the stage with the awe­some back­drop of Lon­don in the back­ground. There’s also a dance venue tucked next to the Palace, lots of great food choic­es, sev­er­al bars and a spe­cial area with enter­tain­ment set aside for chil­dren. The line­up this year sees Faith­less live, Goldie, Eats Every­thing, Sleep­er and more. Kalei­do­scope fes­ti­val tickets

Beat-Herder 17–20 July

This much-loved event scaled down last year to ride the bumpy eco­nom­ic waves. The good news is that Beat-Herder is back for a 20th year cel­e­bra­tion this year. At the heart of Beat-Herder are six school pals who forged this incred­i­ble par­ty in the fires of the 90’s free rave scene. And as always there’s loads going on at the Rib­ble Val­ley’s “beloved and bonkers” and very inde­pen­dent Beat-Herder fes­ti­val. First names on the line­up are Armand Van Helden, Con­go Nat­ty, Goldie, Nubiyan Twist, Mor­gan Seatree, Greg Wil­son, HAAi, Den­ham Audio, DjBor­ing and more. And beyond the music, there’s lots to explore, from hid­den tun­nels, a secret swim­ming pool, cars to dance on, tele­port­ing phone box­es, and a parish church. Beat-Herder tick­ets

Tramlines 25–27 July

Sheffield­’s famous fes­ti­val at Hills­bor­ough Park stars Pulp, Spir­i­tu­al­ized, John Grant, The Last Din­ner Par­ty, Bax­ter Dury, Luvcat, Day­dream­ers and The Roys­ton Club, among hun­dreds of oth­ers. There’s lots of stuff for fam­i­lies, plus com­e­dy, poet­ry and so much more. It’s not a camp­ing event but if you need accom­mo­da­tion, there’s plen­ty to be found at local hotels and air bnbs. Tick­ets are most­ly sold out now but there are still some Sun­day and VIP ones avail­able. Tram­lines tickets

Madruga 25–28 July

There’s more fes­ti­vals than Green Man hap­pen­ing in the Black Moun­tains. Madru­ga, a fes­ti­val meets man­sion par­ty, caters for lovers of under­ground house, tech­no and beyond. Hele­na Hauff plus Dr Banana, Berlin based DJ Ogazón, Chris­t­ian AB, ver­sa­tile LA selec­tor Intro­spekt, Tris­tan da Cun­ha, Lukas Wiglflex, under­ground hero Mel­la Dee. It takes place at Baskerville Hall, Hay-On-Wye, with stages both inside and out­side the man­sion. Tick­ets for Madruga

Paradise in the City 2 August

Anoth­er day fest makes its appear­ance – Par­adise in the City at Boston Manor Park. Jamie Jones curates the first Lon­don iter­a­tion of this fes­ti­val. Its a full 4‑stage event with cut­ting edge sound sys­tem. Alisha, Seth Trox­ler, Evie, East End Dubs, Hot Since 82, plus plen­ty more. Click for tick­ets here

Camp Bestival Dorset 31 July – 3 August

Fam­i­ly fes­ti­val Camp Besti­val Dorset is back this year at Lul­worth Cas­tle. Sug­ababes, Tom Jones, The Zutons, Dread­zone and Annie Mac are on the line­up. Plus Mr Tum­ble, Big Fish Lit­tle Fish, Cir­cque du Solul DJs, Ras­cal Raves and more. It goes with­out say­ing there is a feast of dai­ly activ­i­ties for kids, such as Funky Flag mak­ing, Hula Work­shops, Silent Dis­co, Soft Play, mini skate ramps plus lessons. If it all gets a bit too fre­net­ic, make your escape and head for Cbee­bies bed­time sto­ry tent. Camp Besti­val Dorset

Wilderness 31 July – 3 August

This fes­ti­val is pure escapism. The Oxford­shire-based extrav­a­gan­za is a four-day event set at Corn­bury Park that pri­ori­tis­es expe­ri­ences with art events, poet­ry, talks, boat­ing, for­ag­ing, long-table ban­quets (food is a big focus) and well­be­ing. Sanc­tu­ary expe­ri­ences are now avail­able to book. Nat­u­ral­ly there’s a feel-good line­up too with Base­ment Jaxx, Wet Leg, Jalen Ngon­da, Air, Orbital, Rizzy, Night tapes, Women in Jazz and more. There’s also plen­ty of fam­i­ly enter­tain­ment so lit­tle ones cer­tain­ly won’t be bored. Wilder­ness festival

All Points East 16–24 August

We’re big fans of east Lon­don’s Vic­to­ria Park as a fes­ti­val des­ti­na­tion and it is a per­fect home for giant mul­ti-day gath­er­ing All Points East. APE stretch­es over two week­ends in August, includ­ing Bank Hol­i­day week­end, with real­ly sol­id, imag­i­na­tive line­ups and since their ini­tial announce­ment there’s been loads more added to each day. There are two huge stages and plen­ty more small­er ones dot­ted around the mid­dle of the site. Dur­ing the week, APE turns into a neigh­bour­hood com­mu­ni­ty event offer­ing kids’ activ­i­ties, yoga, and plen­ty of food out­lets too. We’re lik­ing Sun­day 24th August with The Mac­cabees, Bom­bay Bicy­cle Club, The Cribs and more. Check out the full sched­ule and nail down your fave dates! All Points East

Found 22–24 August

Found Fes­ti­val is brand new this year and the pro­gramme will blend Amer­i­cana, Folk, Coun­try, Roots, Blues and World music, gen­res with sto­ry­telling that con­nect and strike a chord for all. It’s a place to dis­cov­er “head-turn­ers not head­lin­ers” say the Found team. The music, mixed with spo­ken word, com­e­dy, cir­cus and arts, will go beyond the stage, as artists con­tribute in talks and work­shops. As a suc­ces­sor to Tow­ersey Fes­ti­val, this new event is a tru­ly inti­mate space, wel­com­ing only 2,000 to the Clay­don Estate, Buck­ing­hamshire. Tick­ets for Found Festival. 

RALLY 23 August

The good news is that RALLY is set for 2025, tak­ing place at South­wark Park, Lon­don and strives to cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for grass­roots cul­ture and pro­mote the dis­cov­ery of new sounds and bound­ary-push­ing artists. The line­up has just been released: Float­ing Points (live), Asha Puth­li, Geordie Greep, Mia Koden, plus plen­ty on the Visu­al arts and cul­ture pro­gramme: Gallery of the Giants, Stu­dio Chap­pie and lots more. Ral­ly fes­ti­val tickets

Victorious 22–24 August

Vic­to­ri­ous is the UK’s biggest met­ro­pol­i­tan fes­ti­val, stretch­ing over three days and sit­u­at­ed in South­sea, Portsmouth. Head along to see Queens of the Stone Age, Vam­pire Week­end and Kings of Leon plus many more at this bril­liant fam­i­ly-friend­ly mega fest that takes over the seafront. There’s also The Last Din­ner Par­ty, Gabrielle, Wun­der­horse, Ash Sprints and many more. Vic­to­ri­ous isn’t a camp­ing fes­ti­val but does have a fam­i­ly friend­ly camp­site with shut­tle bus. There’s also uni­ver­si­ty accom­mo­da­tion and a list of local b’n’bs – check out the web­site for options. Note: Uni accom­mo­da­tion sells out quick­ly as it’s a pop­u­lar choice. Vic­to­ri­ous

Love Motion 24th August

Love Motion is a one-day spe­cial, part of the South Fac­ing fes­ti­val series, tak­ing place in Crys­tal Palace Park. This year Nile Rodgers & CHIC head­line the dis­co, soul and elec­tron­ic event. Also join­ing the line up is Louie Vega, Dim­itri from Paris, Cer­rone, Brighton-based DJ Kirol­lus, the House Gospel Choir and Lon­don-based house-dis­co par­ty Don’t F**k with Dis­co. Tick­ets to Love Motion

Manchester Psychfest 30 August

An annu­al one-day event, Man­ches­ter plays host to the Psych Fest with a great line­up: Goat, Nadine Shah, W H Lung, Du Blonde, Trop­i­cal Fuck Storm, Do Noth­ing, Gong and and plen­ty more. Venues are scat­tered around Man­ches­ter’s cen­tre: Albert Hall, O2 Ritz, Projects MCR Skatepark, Man Met Stu­dent Union, Can­vas, Goril­la, YES, Deaf Insti­tute plus more to be announced. Exhi­bi­tions, murals and visu­als will be dot­ted around, for a tru­ly buzzy Man­ches­ter day. Man­ches­ter Psych Fest

Mucky Weekender 11–13 September

Tak­ing place at Vic­arage Farm, Win­ches­ter, ful­ly inde­pen­dent fes­ti­val Mucky Week­ender’s five music stages are loaded with dub, ska, reg­gae, jun­gle, house, dis­co and more to round off your fes­ti­val sea­son with a dance-heavy cel­e­bra­tion. Join Bar­ry Ash­worth with his band Dub Pis­tols and 5,000 fes­ti­val-goers for a chance to end the sea­son on a mad, dance-heavy last hooray. On stage will be Groove Arma­da, Dub Pis­tols, Eva Lazarus, David Rodi­gan, Phil Hart­noll of Orbital, Don Letts, Bar­ry Ash­worth, John­ny Rock­star, Bent­ley Rhythm Ace and that’s just for starters. Oh and this year’s theme is Dead Famous! Mucky Week­ender

Boundary Brighton 27 September

Wait a minute… it’s not quite the end of fes­ti­val sea­son after all! Brighton’s mega elec­tron­ic fes­ti­val is back with a huge line­up. Gig­gs, Andy C, and Shy FX, along­side mas­sive names like Camo & Krooked B2B Mefjus, Bad­ger, D Dou­ble E, High Con­trast, Girls Don’t Sync, Clipz, 4AM Kru, Bakey, Fabio & Grooverid­er and loads more. You’ll be spoilt for choice with stages from UKF, Hos­pi­tal­i­ty, Fin­ger­lickin’ Records, Pat­terns, Volks, and In The Wild.  It’s at Stan­mer Park, Falmer, Brighton. Gates open at 11am. Pre-sale Tick­ets avail­able from £30 + b/f at www.boundarybrighton.com 

All fes­ti­vals still have tick­ets on sale on date of post­ing: 25/3/25.
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