Planning your festival summer? Here's the comprehensive calendar of UK music festivals in 2025, from the mega events to the hidden gems.
TL;DR
UK festival season runs from May to September, with peak activity in June-August. Major festivals include Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Wireless, Parklife, TRNSMT, and Boomtown. Smaller festivals often offer better value and more artist-friendly experiences.
Spring Festivals: May-June
The Great Escape (Brighton, May) kicks off festival season and is essential for industry professionals and music discovery. Three nights, hundreds of emerging artists, conference panels, and networking opportunities across Brighton's venues. If you're an emerging artist or industry professional, this is your priority.
All Points East (London, May-June) returns to Victoria Park with a lineup spanning indie, electronic, and hip-hop. The multi-weekend format means diverse programming — you can attend multiple days with very different lineups.
Dot to Dot (various cities, May) brings new music to Bristol, Nottingham, and Manchester in a multi-venue format that showcases emerging talent. An excellent opportunity for both discovery and networking.
Parklife (Manchester, June) is the North's premium dance music festival, consistently booking the biggest names in electronic music alongside hip-hop and pop acts. The Heaton Park setting is stunning but prepare for Manchester weather.
Peak Season: July-August
Glastonbury (Somerset, June) needs no introduction. The world's most famous music festival covers every genre imaginable across dozens of stages. Getting tickets is the challenge — they sell out in minutes. But if you manage to secure one, the experience is unmatched.
Wireless (London, July) is the UK's premier urban music festival, featuring hip-hop, R&B, and grime headliners. The Finsbury Park setting is accessible and the lineup consistently delivers the biggest names in rap and R&B.
TRNSMT (Glasgow, July) has rapidly established itself as Scotland's premier music festival. Guitar bands, electronic acts, and hip-hop share the Glasgow Green stages in a city-centre setting.
Reading & Leeds (August bank holiday) remains the classic British festival experience. The twin-site format means you can see the same lineup in either location. Traditionally guitar-heavy, but increasingly diverse in programming.
Boomtown (Hampshire, August) is the most ambitious independent festival in the UK. Built around elaborately themed stages and immersive theatrical sets, with programming spanning reggae, jungle, techno, punk, and everything between. A genuine alternative to the corporate festival model.
Specialist and Boutique Festivals
For electronic music lovers: Houghton (Norfolk), Junction 2 (London), and Dimensions (relocated from Croatia to the UK) offer curated underground programming that the mega-festivals can't match.
For indie and alternative: Latitude (Suffolk) combines music with arts, comedy, and literature in a family-friendly setting. End of the Road (Dorset) is one of the best-curated festivals in the UK, with a lineup that consistently features the most interesting artists in indie, folk, and experimental music.
For heavy music: Download (Donington) remains the UK's rock and metal festival. Arctangent (Somerset) serves the math rock, post-rock, and progressive communities with a passion that larger festivals can't replicate.
For world music and jazz: WOMAD (Wiltshire) offers global music programming in a beautiful setting. Love Supreme (Sussex) is the UK's premier jazz festival, expanding its definition of jazz to include soul, funk, and electronic crossovers.
Festival Tips for Artists and Attendees
For artists: apply early (January-March for summer festivals), prepare a festival-specific short set, bring merch, and network relentlessly but naturally. The contacts you make at festivals are career-building.
For attendees: buy tickets early for the best prices. Smaller festivals often offer dramatically better value than mega-events. Bring cash as backup for cashless failures. Wear layers. Bring earplugs (your hearing is irreplaceable). And most importantly — put your phone down occasionally and actually experience the music.
For everyone: support the grassroots festivals. The UK's festival ecosystem depends on small events as much as the headline-grabbing mega-festivals. A 500-person festival in a field often provides a more memorable, more musical experience than a 100,000-person spectacle. Explore widely, attend locally, and treat every festival as an opportunity to discover something new.