LIST: MUSIC FESTIVALS IN THE UK
This is a list of mainstream outdoor music festivals held in the UK.
| 2000 Trees | Upcote Farm, Gloucestershire 11-13 Jul 2013 |
Small eco festival in the Cotswolds, focusing on new & underground British music. Launched in 2007 with 50 bands playing to 1,000 visitors. Last year it was 4,500 visitors. The organisers shot a documentary about prepping the 2011 festival that'll give you a feel for it. |
| Beacon Festival | Skipton, Yorkshire 16-18 Aug 2013 |
Small (2,000 people) boutique festival in the Yorkshire Dales (Formerly Moor Music Festival). |
| Beautiful Days | Escot Park, Fairmile, Devon 16-18 Aug 2013 |
Family music festival celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. |
| Bestival | Robin Hill, Isle of Wight 5-8 Sept 2013 |
Cool festival that has won an award for 'Best medium-large music festival' several years in a row. |
| Big Chill | Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire n/a |
Popular, large and laid-back festival in a valley in the Malvern Hills. It didn't happen in 2012 and doesn't look as if it will be back in 2013. |
| Blissfields | Vicerage Farm, Winchester, Hampshire 5-7 Jul 2013 |
Family friendly boutique festival launched in 2001. |
| Chagstock | Whiddon Down, N. Devon 19-20 Jul 2013 |
Friendly small scale festival. Started in 2003 as a private event for around 100 people, and went 'public' in 2007 on a 30-acre site on the edge of Dartmoor. |
| Corbridge Festival | Corbridge, Northumberland Early July. Dates for 2013 not announced yet. |
Small, family friendly, one-night (2 days) festival in Northumberland. You can pitch your tent on the Friday night. The programme starts Sat morning and runs till Sunday evening. |
| Cropredy | Cropredy nr Banbury, Oxfordshire 8-10 August 2013 |
Fairport Convention's annual music festival (officially named 'Fairport's Cropredy Convention') has been attracting loyal music lovers (these days around 20,000 of them!) to the village of Cropredy each August since the 1970s. |
| Download | Donington Park, Derbyshire 14-16 June 2013 |
An opportunity to see loads of major rock bands (formerly the "monsters of rock" festival) over a busy weekend. |
| End of the Road | Larmertree, Dorset 30 Aug-01 Sep 2013 |
Not only end of the road...it's held at the end of the season too, on the same site as the Larmertree Festival (see below). One man's dream project, EOTR was voted best-newcomer when it launched in 2006. |
| Glastonbury | Glastonbury, Somerset 26 - 30 June 2013 |
The "largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world" is back on (it took a year off in 2012) once again showcasing the world's biggest acts in a multiple arena site 1½ miles wide. |
| Green Man | Glanusk Park, Brecon Beacons 15-18 Aug 2013 |
Folk music festival in Wales. |
| Guilfest | Stoke Park, Guildford Mid July. Dates not announced yet. |
Award-winning medium-sized festival. Good for families. |
| Hop Farm | Paddock Wood, Kent 1st Weekend in July. Not confirmed yet. |
Boutique festival with major acts (The Eagles and Prince last year). The 'back to basics' USP is that the festival has no branding, no sponsors and no VIPs. Ticket-holders are supreme. |
| Larmer Tree | Nr Shaftesbury, Dorset 17-21 July 2013 |
Boutique festival, popular with families (and popular with me! - Ed). They've won best family festival and best festival toilet awards, and they're 23 yrs old this year. |
| Latitude | Henham Park, Suffolk 18-21 Jul 2013 |
Small music, comedy, poetry, and arts festival. Voted 'Best Family Festival 2012' at the UK Festival Awards. |
| Leeds Festival | Bramham Park, Leeds 23-25 Aug 2013 |
Sister festival to the Reading festival with plenty of big name bands. They already know they have Eminem headlining in 2013. |
| Loopallu | Ullapool, Scotland 20-21 Sep 2013 |
Small festival, eight years old, in the remote north-west highlands with a big rep - helped in some part by featuring Franz Ferdinand's only summer festival gig in 2007! |
| Lounge on the Farm | Canterbury, Kent 26-28 Jul 2013 |
Popular small family festival launched in 2006 that has quickly grown. |
| Reading | Reading, Berkshire 23-25 Aug 2013 |
Serious, large scale festival with top acts. Sister festival to Leeds (above) with Eminem appearing this year. |
| Relentless NASS | Shepton Mallet, Somerset 11-13 July 2013 |
Probably best described as a skateboard & BMX festival with music, but for this list I call it a music fest with some action sports. :) Back for another year at the Royal Bath and West Showground. |
| Shambala | Secret location, Northamptonshire (prob!) 22-25 Aug 2013 |
Started in 1999, with 150 people in a field with a farmer's trailor for a stage. Now it has grown by word of mouth into a popular family festival with loads of activities and good bands. You don't get to know where it is until you buy a ticket, and you don't know who is playing till you get there! |
| Standon-Calling | Ware, Herts 2-4 Aug 2013 |
Small stylish festival held in the grounds of a 16-century Hertfordshire manor house with big name bands and hand cream in the portaloos! |
| Summer Sundae | De Monfort Hall & Gardens, Leicester N/A |
Popular boutique festival that's been around since 2001 getting a good reputation for attracting big names. Sadly taking a year off in 2013. |
| Truck | Hill Farm, Steventon 19 & 20 July 2013 |
Small (5,000 visitors) independent 2-day festival held annually since 1998 on a working farm in Oxfordshire (just outside Didcot). The line up is emerging and established global music bands/musicians. |
| Wakestock | Abersoch, N. Wales 12-14 July 2013 |
Relentless Nass (above) likes to describe itself as "the UK's only action sports and music festival"... Nah! Wakestock has been doing it for years! A waterside festival combining wakeboarding and music in Cardigan Bay. |
| Womad | Charlton Park, Malmesbury, Wiltshire 25-28 July 2013 |
Popular world music festival. (Womad is an international festival brand now, with 'Womads' in Australia'and New Zealand.) |
| Wychwood | Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire 31 May - 2 June 2013 |
World music festival, good for families. |
| Y-Not | Pikehall, Derbyshire 2-4 Aug 2013 |
Small, intimate 3-day global music festival, now in its seventh year. Winner of "Grassroots Festival Award" and "Best Toilets" at the UK Festival Awards, 2011. |
Notes
- National Express (£) operates a coach service to many of the principle festivals each year.