Festivals
Preview
The best UK festivals in May 2025
From The Great Escape to Wide Awake, the festival season is finally here
Heatwave one week, heating on the next. It can only be the month of May, but that means one thing: the festival season is here. Cities start opening up for multi-venue events such as The Great Escape, while the Spring Bank Holiday at the end of the month sees the first weekenders of the season.
Dig up that old reusable cup and get your shades on, as we preview some of the best festivals May has to offer.
The Great Escape
14 – 17 May, Brighton | Find tickets here
The Great Escape is Europe’s biggest new music festival, showcasing around 450 burgeoning acts from all across the world in all the bars, venues and live spaces the coastal city of Brighton has to offer. This year’s standalone spotlight shows see a homecoming return for Rizzle Kicks and a headline show from Pete Doherty, which are ticketed separately, but with your festival pass you’ll find your new favourite acts from the worlds of rap, post-punk, jazz, folk and more.
Bearded Theory
21 – 25 May, Catton Park, Derbyshire | Find tickets here
Bearded Theory has come a long way from its humble origins in a car park outside a pub in Ashbourne. Growing and moving locations for seven years until it found its permanent home in 2014 at Catton Park, Derbyshire, today the festival is one of the UK’s most esteemed alternative music festivals, pulling in increasingly bigger names in recent years while maintaining its independent vibe. This year sees Iggy Pop share the stage with Paul Heaton, Manic Street Preachers, CMAT, English Teacher and many more.
Wide Awake
23 May, Brockwell Park, London | Find tickets here
One of the post-pandemic festivals that helped music fans get excited to be back out there, Wide Awake – which has seen Bicep, Caroline Polachek, Amyl and the Sniffers, and Primal Scream top its line-ups – is a must for left-field music lovers. This year brings the party with a headline performance from Kneecap, while there’ll also be life-affirming singalongs with CMAT, freak outs with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and sweaty dance tents with Erol Alkan and Daniel Avery.
Neighbourhood Weekender
24 – 25 May, Victoria Park, Warrington | Find tickets here
There aren’t many better ways to spend a May Bank Holiday than some indie rock up north. That’s Neighbourhood Weekender’s stock-in-trade, this year bringing in James and Stereophonics to top two days that also sees Inhaler, The Wombats, The Lathums, Ocean Colour Scene and many more come together for a blowout.
Field Day
24 May, Brockwell Park, London | Find tickets here
Once a late-summer staple, these days Field Day is an early riser, but its commitment to curating the best in electronic and alternative remains the same. As well as a headline show from the queen of cool Peggy Gou, this year also sees Ross From Friends bring his new Bubblelove project to the stage, alongside a live performance from Fatima Yamaha and DJs set from Jungle, Jayda G, Modeselektor, Girls Don’t Sync and tons more.
Field Day 2024 | Aftermovie
