Festivals
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The best UK festivals in June 2026
Get your summer on with our quickfire guide to the UK’s best festivals this June
What are you waiting for? Summer – in all its shades-on, guns-out glory – is happening right now, under your nose. From headbanging in historic country houses to sampling the pit barbecue of the gods, check out our essential round-up of nine UK festivals to make your June go boom.
Live At Chelsea
When is it? 10-14 June
Where is it? The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London
Designed by rock-star architect Sir Christopher Wren, the Royal Hospital’s Figure Court is a gasp-worthy landmark even when it’s just you and the pigeons. Now imagine this 17th century courtyard hosting the giants of pop-rock, as the 2026 bill kicks off with Holly Johnson, Tony Hadley and Heaven 17, then rolls out a battery of big guns with Blue, Sparks, The Proclaimers and The Beach Boys performing Pet Sounds. The Chelsea Pensioners might not get much sleep this month, but you’ll have the night of your life.
Find tickets to Live At Chelsea here
Hampton Court Palace Festival
Photo by Debbie Hickey/Getty Images
When is it? 10-20 June
Where is it? Hampton Court Palace, Richmond Upon Thames, London
Forget the usual festival keywords – from ‘mud’ to ‘moshing’ – and get gentrified with this summer concert series at Henry VIII’s 16th century crib. Your night begins with a sundown picnic in the Great Fountain Garden, ambling amongst award-winning street food vendors. You’ll clink glasses on the sweeping emerald lawn (or book a fountainside pergola, for a bonus hit of luxury). Then lose your head in historic Base Court to David Gray, OMD, Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics, The Stranglers, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Palace Disco and the ’80s Classical show.
Find Hampton Court Palace festival tickets here
Download
Photo credits: Jim Dyson/Getty Images
When is it? 12-14 June
Where is it? Donington Park, Derbyshire
Do not be alarmed if you’re driving through Derbyshire in June and the skies blacken with a murder of crows. The daddy of UK metal festivals is so heavy it could crack the Earth’s crust, and this year’s decibel-based abuse comes courtesy of the scene’s hardest and hairiest. Bang your head, throw your horns and waggle your studded tongue for a transatlantic bill headlined by Limp Bizkit, Cypress Hill, Guns N’ Roses, Trivium, Linkin Park and Bad Omens. Then soothe your battered ears with luxury onsite boltholes including yurts, bedouins, cabins and crew huts.
Find Download festival tickets here
Discovery Festival Plymouth
When is it? 12-14 June
Where is it? Central Park, Plymouth
With three themed days, think of this South Coast weekender as an all-you-can-eat aural buffet. On Friday, you’ll scream for the cream of the boyband scene, as Five, Blue and The Wanted 2.0 gyrate through the hits in Central Park. Saturday winds back the Casio wristwatch to the ’80s synth scene with OMD, Level 42, Kim Wilde, Nik Kershaw, Johnny Hates Jazz and Altered Images. Then it’s skinny-jeaned indie-rock heaven on Sunday, as The Libertines’ seminal racket tops a bill featuring Feeder, Maxïmo Park, Kid Kapichi, SOFY and Swim School.
Find tickets for Discovery Festival Plymouth here
Isle of Wight Festival
Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage
When is it? 18-21 June
Where is it? Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight
As leathery men in beat-up biker jackets will remind you on the ferry crossing, the Isle Of Wight Festival is a stone-cold legend, hosting were-you-there sets from Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Who and basically every other Sixties galactico who matters. There’s no doubting the pedigree, but this vibrant event has rolled with the times and the 2026 headliners include young guns Lewis Capaldi, Wet Leg, Calvin Harris and Teddy Swims (alongside ageless icons like The Cure and the Sex Pistols).
Find Isle of Wight festival tickets here
Pepsi Max Presents TRNSMT
When is it? 19-21 June
Where is it? Glasgow Green, Glasgow
It’s clinically impossible to have a bad time at Glasgow Green when TRNSMT hits town. Just check out that 2026 line-up: Richard Ashcroft, Wolf Alice, Nile Rodgers with CHIC, Luvcat, English Teacher, Kasabian, The Last Dinner Party, Lewis Capaldi, CMAT… We’d keep going but we’re running out of breath now. Factor in the tease by festival insiders for “a very special secret set” on Friday night at the King Tut’s Stage and our heart is already halfway to Scotland. Time-saving tip: it’s pronounced ‘Transmit’.
Pepsi Max Presents Parklife
Photo credit: Dave J Hogan / Getty
When is it? 20-21 June
Where is it? Heaton Park, Manchester
All the people, so many people. Now in its 17th year, we can’t imagine the UK festival landscape without Parklife. This northern powerhouse moved to Manchester’s Heaton Park in 2013 to keep up with demand – and the headliners have blown up to match. With five main stages – and that’s not even counting the takeover areas – you’ll need to be part raver and part military general to plot your itinerary through an iconic weekender whose 2026 headliners include Calvin Harris, Skepta, Sammy Virji and Zara Larsson.
State Fayre
When is it? 24-28 June
Where is it? Hylands Park, Chelmsford
Technically, you’re in rural Essex. But close your eyes and this could be Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Austin – or any of Americana’s other flagship music cities. Mostly, that’s down to the inaugural State Fayre line-up, whose embarrassment of roots riches includes Kings Of Leon, Stephen Wilson Jr, The Black Crowes and The Lumineers (alongside alt-rock stars like Alanis Morissette and Skunk Anansie). But the illusion is hammered home by this brand-new festival’s second great selling point: the best damn BBQ you limeys ever tasted in your lives. Just follow the hickory smoke to the Fume Pit.
Blenheim Palace Festival
When is it? 27 June-4 July
Where is it? Woodstock, Oxfordshire
You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘atmospheric’ until you’ve experienced a concert in the Great Court at Blenheim Palace. While architects John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor bring the eye-candy – check out those baroque pillars! – the world’s greatest music stars drop the tunes, with Pete Tong, Alanis Morissette, Teddy Swims, Katy Perry and Michael Bublé all waiting in the wings. The only way to make the Blenheim Palace Festival more civilised is to book a Fortnum & Mason picnic hamper.
Find tickets to Blenheim Palace Festival here
