10 UK festivals in 2025 you can't afford to miss
There's more to the UK festival scene than just Glastonbury, as these amazing shows prove
After suffering through most of January, it feels only right to have something to look forward to – and there are few things better than watching live music in the sun. When it comes to music festivals, the UK has long paved the way. From the world enviously watching as living legends grace the stage at Glastonbury, to 200,000 teenagers absolutely losing it at Reading and Leeds, lovers of every genre from metal to EDM are well served in Blighty.
Yet look past these aforementioned festival juggernauts and you’ll discover a whole host of smaller events begging to be attended. A few weeks in, and 2025 is already shaping up to be another musical belter, with fans of EDM, punk, hip-hop, emo and indie catered for in spectacular fashion.
While it can be tempting to spend hundreds on the massive fests, there are smaller events that offer up an infinitely better experience. While we’re now in peak hibernation season, in just a few short months we’ll be cracking open a can in a packed field – and we can’t wait. With over 50 UK festivals closing in the last year alone and costs spiralling, smaller and medium-sized music events are in peril - and they need your support more than ever.
Looking for some summer inspiration? Here are 10 incredible spring and summer festivals for music heads of all persuasions that will get you excitedly firing up a group chat.
1. 2000 Trees
Where: Cheltenham
When: 9th-12th July 2025
In a landscape where festivals can feel soul-crushingly corporate, 2000 Trees is a breath of pine-filled fresh air. Situated in the picturesque hills of the Cotswolds, Upcote Farm lives up to 2000 Trees’ bark-ridden moniker. Featuring the latest and greatest in alternative, indie, emo, metal and punk, this year’s stacked lineup is headed up by Kneecap, Pvris, Taking Back Sunday, Alexisonfire and Coheed and Cambria.
Featuring a stage nestled deep within the forest, punters can watch acoustic sets while swinging from a hammock, or even center their chi at morning woodland-filled yoga. Also offering live podcasts, comedy, and an uproarious site-wide silent disco that goes on until the wee hours, Trees is a joyous celebration of everything alternative. With kids playgrounds, face painting, and unplugged late night sets from famous bands amidst the punters' tents in the campsite, 2000 Trees is a festival that really has to be experienced to be believed.
2. Outbreak Festival
Where: Manchester/ London
When: London 13th, Manchester 14-15th 2025
When it comes to crowd participation, no festival comes close to Outbreak. A celebration of all things hardcore, punk and hip-hop, the Manchester portion of this event features no barrier, letting fans dance across and leap off of the stage during every set. While this is undeniably a festival for those who like their drums fast and their riffs chunky, Outbreak’s organisers understand that punk’s spirit and ethos isn’t just confined to hardcore. This year’s lineup features everyone from grammy nominated acts like Turnstile and Knocked Loose to hip=hop legends Denzel Curry and Danny Brown alongside shoegazing indie artists like Alex G.
For 2025, Outbreak will also be getting a one day London outing in East London’s Victoria Park, with acts slightly varying between the two day Manchester event and the hackney hardcore celebration. While the pesky stage barrier will be making an unwelcome appearance in Vicky Park, London revellers are more likely to be rewarded with some sunshine. Either way, whichever date you choose, you will be rewarded with some of the most memorable and energetic live performances you’ve ever seen, from crowd-thumping hip hop to socially conscious hardcore.
3. Field Day
Where: London
When: 24th May 2025
For lovers of dance music, there are few better festivals than Field Day. Taking over a gargantuan London park, Field Day delivers an exhilarating blend of live bands and DJ sets, celebrating electronic music’s latest and greatest. Yet for its 18th iteration, Field Day has pulled the old switcheroo – moving both dates and location. Swapping its July slot at Victoria Park for May Bank Holiday weekend at Brockwell Park, 2025’s offering sees Peggy Gou, James Blake, Skream & Benga, Jungle and many more bringing the beats to Brockwell.
4. The Great Escape
Where: Brighton
When: 14-17th May 2025
While we all love an outdoor festival, the UK’s weather often does its best to rain on our parade. Thank goodness then, for Brighton’s Great Escape Festival. Taking place entirely indoors, The Great Escape Festival is the ultimate place for discovering the stars of tomorrow - without a muddy field in sight.
An event frequented by music industry bigwigs and excitable fans alike, The Great Escape is where you’ll catch the next big thing, be it in folk, pop, indie, grime, electro, metal or country. As you roam across Brighton’s cobbled streets hopping from venue to venue, over 450 artists will perform across three days and 30 stages. With everyone from Bon Iver, Adele, Chase and Status, Alt-J, Stormzy, Charli XCX, Ed Sheeran and Sleep Token playing the event in previous years, The Great Escape is where you’ll discover the festival headliners of tomorrow.
5. Boomtown
Where: Winchester
When: 6-10th August
The biggest festival on this list, Winchester’s legendary Boomtown is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Described as the UK’s only ‘immersive theatre’ festival, Boomtown splits its varied lineup across several themed districts, each boasting their own unique designs, stages, characters and experiences.
The music on offer is equally unpredictable, with sets that’ll see you hopping between skanking to drum and bass, chilling to folk, vibing to hip hop and crowd-surfing to raucous punk. With attendees encouraged to roleplay across the fictional world of Boomtown, it’s up to attendees how much they choose to flex those GCSE drama skills. Yet with 2025’s lineup boasting a lineup including The Sex Pistols, Sean Paul, Maribou State, Rudimental, Overmono and Boney M, the main drama will inevitably come from deciding which brilliant act you and your mates want to see.
6. Slamdunk
Where: Hertfordshire/ Leeds
When: 24-25th May 2025
If there’s any genre that screams sunshine, it’s pop-punk – and for fans of emo, distorted guitars and truck-sized choruses, there is no better place than Slamdunk. Taking place across the May Bank Holiday weekend, Slamdunk takes its star-studded lineup to both Hatfield Park in Hertfordshire and Temple Newsam in Leeds.
With a bill boasting emo heavyweights like The Used, A Day To Remember, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, Less Than Jake and Finch, Slamdunk 2025 is a glorious celebration of the days where Kerrang! and MySpace ruled the earth. If you like your festivals full of singalongs, mosh pits and more crowd surfing than you can shake a backwards baseball cap at, Slamdunk is the gloriously nostalgia-drenched celebration for you.
7. Wide Awake
Where: London
When: 23rd May 2025
For those who wouldn’t be caught dead slumming it in a sweaty tent, I present to you the one-day banger that is - Wide Awake. Taking place in South London’s Brockwell Park, Wide Awake’s avant-garde lineup delivers the best in indie, alternative and chin-stroking dance music – straddling anything and everything in between. Headlined by Irish hip hop provocateurs Kneecap and featuring performances from EDM legend Daniel Avery, rising art rockers English Teacher, punk upstarts Mannequin Pussy and singer songwriter Nadine Shah, there’s a delightfully genre-fluid mix waiting for you at this Pitchfork-esque extravaganza.
8. Arctangent
Where: Bristol
When: 13 Aug – 16 Aug 2025
If you like your music a little heavier, Bristol’s Arctangent is for you. Nestled atop the hills of the serene Fernhill Farm, this unassuming valley conceals a haven of spellbinding shoegaze, twinkly math rock and beard-stroking progressive metal. The thinking man’s Download, Arctangent is a far more chilled out affair than its Donnington counterpart. Housing an intimate 13,000 people, it’s an independent and refreshingly DIY weekender, a place for metal fans to gather and celebrate the latest and greatest in expansive guitar music.
The full lineup for 2025 has yet to be announced, with Australia’s Karnivool the only confirmed headliner thus far. Yet with last year’s offering serving up Meshuggah, Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky, you can bet that 2025 will offer a wealth of world-beating noise. If you wear a beanie, know what the word ‘djent’ means, and passionately talk about time signatures, Arctangent is the festival for you.
9. Cross The Tracks
Where: London
When: May 25th
As euphoric as a messy weekend spent camping with mates can be, there’s a lot to be said for returning to the comforts of your own bed after the last chord rings out. Enter London’s legendary jazz, soul and hip-hop day fest, Cross The Tracks. Taking place on the May Bank Holiday weekend, Cross The Tracks is a wonderfully chill way to usher in the start of festival seasons. With Michael Kiwanuka, Jordan Rakaei, Bilal and Sinéad Harnett taking the stage in 2025, this year’s Cross The Tracks is shaping up to be the most groove-laden and revitalising yet.
10. Boardmasters
Where: Cornwall
When: 6 Aug – 10 Aug 2025
If you’re looking to enjoy music by a beautiful British beach, look no further than Boardmasters. Originally founded as a surfing competition, Boardmasters’ beautiful Newquay site has blossomed into the home of England’s most scenic music festival. Taking place opposite Cornwall’s stunning coastline, patrons can unwind via beach-side yoga, gnarly it up with surfing lessons, or merely chuck themselves into the sea after a sweaty set.
Part post-GCSE festival, part beach outing, Boardmasters offers a lineup as eclectic as its clientele, ranging from hip hop and drum n bass to indie and pop. With rave legends The Prodigy headlining in 2025 – alongside sets from Nelly Furtado, Maribou State, Wet Leg and Franz Ferdinand – there’s truly something for everyone at this Cornish cracker.
