Enjoy Britain’s best music festivals
While Eurovision lands in Liverpool this spring, summer signals festival season in Britain. Grab your wellies and keep the party going with one of the many music festivals taking place around the country. Whatever your taste, from pop to rock, rave to rap, there’s an event for you. And whether you want to be right in the middle of the action, or prefer a sedate seated event, the good news is British festivals are as diverse as the population.
Pick your playlist with Britain’s festival season
Every summer, rain or shine, you’ll find hundreds of thousands of music-lovers united in a field, park or city location, celebrating the sound of their favourite artists. From world-famous mega-events like Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds and the Isle of Wight festivals, to surfing festival Boardmasters, or family-friendly Camp Bestival, there’s an event to suit every taste, as the biggest acts in the world head to the UK to take part in its energetic music scene. And that’s before you even start on London’s high-voltage festival scene.
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Glastonbury
21 - 25 June, Somerset
The UK’s biggest festival – and the largest “greenfield music festival” in the world, is famous Glastonbury Festival. The festival began in 1970 when Michael Eavis opened Worthy Farm in the heart of Somerset, for £1 a ticket and has grown into a mega-festival that has seen music legends including David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Radiohead perform at the iconic venue. Glastonbury is enormous – with an 8.5-mile (14-km) perimeter and a capacity of around 200,000, but you’ll never forget it.
Isle of Wight
15 - 18 June, Isle of Wight
Another mega-festival is the historic Isle of Wight Festival, which was Britain’s answer to Woodstock and hosted everyone from Jimi Hendrix, The Who and The Doors, to Joni Mitchell. Revived in 2002, this island event is always enormous fun with even bigger headliners. The acts are mixed for all demographics, so it appeals to everyone.
Reading and Leeds
25 - 27 August, Reading and Leeds
Are you Reading or Leeds? That is the question Shakespeare never asked. These two music festivals have been a fixture on the festival calendar for decades. They take place over the same weekend, in two cities, with major rock bands and indie artists usually playing both venues on different days.
