Festivals
Preview
The best UK festivals in August 2025
See out the summer properly as some of the UK's biggest hitters on the festival scene return
August is here and with it come some of the UK’s most historic and essential music festivals. Be it euphoric EDM, hard-hitting trap, soulful R&B or nostalgic indie rock, there are a whole lot of options on offer this month for a big summer see-off as the festival season begins to draw to a close.
Find our picks of the best UK festivals August 2025 has to offer below.
Bear Grylls’ Gone Wild
7–10 August, Holkham Hall, Norfolk & 21–24 August, Powderham, Devon | Buy tickets here
Gone Wild Festivals are a pair of events promising to be an extraordinary family adventure, and if there’s one man who knows how to have an adventure, it’s Bear Grylls. Expect a pop-forward music billing including Blue, Clean Bandit, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Ministry of Sound Classical (depending on the location), while the little ones can soak up the festival vibes with Dick or Dom or get involved with activities such as Bear Grylls’ Survival Academy.
Big City Festival
16 August, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow | Buy tickets here
After a successful debut in 2024, which saw Mogwai curate a line-up that included Slowdive, >Beak and Nadine Shah, Glasgow’s Big City Festival returns with a new location in Kelvingrove Park. This year the post-rock heroes invite the alt.folk outfit Lankum to headline the day, with Gruff Rhys, Rev Magnetic and more supporting.
All Points East
15–25 August, Victoria Park, London | Buy tickets here
As always, East London’s coolest festival has something for everyone as it returns to see out summer 2025. The neo-soul and R&B heads won’t want to miss Cleo Sol and Sault on the 14th, while the ravers might prefer the likes of Chase & Status and Overmono on the 16th, or Barry Can’t Swim and Confidence Man on the 22nd, depending on their tempo. The 23rd sees Raye team up with Doechi, Nao, Tyla, JADE and more for a fusion of hip hop, R&B and soul. Indie titans welcome the new generation as The Maccabees and Bombay Bicycle Club are joined by CMAT, Nilüfer Yanya, The Murder Capital and many more.
Rockstar Energy presents Creamfields
21–24 August, Daresbury Estate, Cheshire | Buy tickets here
Once a one-day event in a Liverpool club, now an essential part of the UK’s festival circuit, Creamfields is an electronic music festival that attracts artists and crowds from the world over. Once again, 2025’s line-up is frankly dizzying, covering all bases of the dance music spectrum. ANYMA, Fat Boy Slim, Swedish House Mafia, Camelphat, Martin Garrix and Amelie Lens are just a few that immediately get our attention.
Rockstar Energy presents Reading & Leeds
22–24 August, Richfield Avenue, Reading & Bramham Park, Leeds | Buy tickets here
Another big hitter on the scene, Reading & Leeds has long been an essential rite of passage for many young Brits finishing school or uni looking for the biggest summer party of their lives. Since turn of the millennium, when the Reading Festival got its northern sister, the dual-site event has provided this group and also crowds of all ages an impressively eclectic music and arts space. This year sees Hozier, Chappel Roan, Bring Me The Horizon, Travis Scott, D-Block Europe, Limp Bizkit and many more take to the stage.
Big Feastival
22–24 August, Churchill Heath Farm, The Cotswolds
Blur’s Alex Jones has been hosting this meeting of music and food on his farm since the early 2010s, and is the perfect place to soak in some late summer vibes while trying some of the UK’s best food offerings or getting stuck into a culinary workshop. This year Nelly Furtado, Faithless, Travis, Alex James’ Britpop Classical and more perform.
