While we may almost be in June, it is not too late to get your hands on summer music festival tickets – so we’ve put together a guide to five that you absolutely need to know
With summer approaching, many of us may be starting to get FOMO thinking about everyone heading to festivals to spend the season enjoying music and entertainment outside in the sun.
However, it’s not too late to book tickets for an upcoming festival, and there is something for everyone – whether you’re looking for rock music, a family-friendly weekend, big name stars, or theatrical performances and comedy. Here’s our guide to five summer music festivals you should know about.
Download – June 13
Held each year at Donington Park, Derby, Download Festival will take place between June 13th and 15th in 2025. Known as a rock festival, the headline artists are Green Day on Friday, Sleep Token on Saturday, and Korn on Sunday.
Other performers include Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, McFly, Apocalyptica, Shinedown, Sex Pistols, The Darkness, Dayseeker, Bullet for my Valentine, Steel Panther, Kids in Glass Houses, and Spiritbox.
You can either buy day tickets or camping tickets for the whole weekend. The festival also offers a designated solo camping area where solo attendees can meet like-minded festival goers.
Attendees can also take part in the fancy dress theme each year, and this year’s theme is Friday 13th. Outside of music, there will be live blacksmithing workshops, new immersive experience Darkfield Séance and a Heavy Metal Sports Day.
Festival-goers can also enjoy axe throwing, skate ramps, a new and improved wellness, yoga and talking therapy offering, wrestling, RockFit, live fire cooking demos, and daily themed quizzes.
This year there will be more than 160 food traders across the festival – with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. Drink spots include the new Mercian Axe brewery bar, the Hair of The Dog pub with a roof terrace and beer garden, and the Iron Harp arena bar. There will also be a Low & No bar, called Bar Zero.
Tickets: Three-night camping tickets are priced from £325 each, while five nights will cost you £345. Day tickets are £135. You can search for Download tickets here.
Isle of Wight – June 19
Taking place from June 19th to 22nd, the Isle of Wight Festival will be held at Seaclose Park in Newport. This year’s headliners are Sting on Friday, Stereophonics on Saturday, and Justin Timberlake on Sunday.
Other performers include Faithless, The Script, Paul Heaton, Busted, Razorlight, Jess Glynne, Olly Murs, Texas, Clean Bandit, Supergrass, James, Dean Lewis, Yard Act, LIghtning Seeds, and Mae Muller.
The festival has lots of different areas to explore, including the Intoxicated Tea Rooms, which provide “good old interactive and immersive entertainment, dance workshops, bunting galore, and sparkly glitter balls”.
The Hipshaker Lounge is a “groovy, funky, hip party venue specialising in all things vintage …. for all of the day and all of the night”; and Electro Love will host “some of the finest tributes & cover bands bringing you music from the 80’s, 90’s & 00’s” and by night the DJs will create the “ultimate festival nightclub”.
There is also KIDZONE where children can enjoy performances on the Bull Stage, the Living Room Stage, and the Lighthouse Stage. There will also be circus workshops, a maker’s shed with creative crafts, a mud kitchen, sensory space, and a toddler area.
Tickets: Camping tickets cost from £289.95 for adults, and £235.95 for students and accompanied teens. Day tickets are priced from £125 for adults and £95 for teens. You can search for tickets here.
TRNSMT – July 11
TRNSMT will take place on Glasgow Green in Glasgow from July 11th to 13th. Big names performing are 50 Cent, The Script, Wet Leg, and Kneecap on Friday, Biffy Clyro, Fontaines DC, Underworld, The Kooks, Inhaler, and Sigrid on Saturday, and Snow Patrol, Gracie Abrams, Jade, and Myles Smith on Sunday.
Other acts include Jamie Webster, Twin Atlantic, Jake Bugg, Alessi Rose, Biig Piig, Shed Seven, The Lathums, Nathan Evans, Tom Walker, and The Royston Club.
Attendees can also enjoy Bongo’s Bingo at The Hangout, listen to live podcasts, and watch Drag-aoke with Miss Lola Fierce. There will also be a Radio 1 Dance Stage at this year’s festival, where acts like Nimino, Jaguar, and Jazzy will be playing.
The Green is just a five minute walk from the Merchant City and is on the banks of the River Clyde, which means there are plenty of transport and accommodation options available.
Tickets: Day tickets cost £92.50, while a two-day ticket will cost £180.40. Three-day tickets are priced at £254.90. You can search for tickets here.
Latitude – July 24
Held at Henham Park in Suffolk, Latitude takes place from July 24th to 27th. Headliners include Sting and Basement Jaxx on Friday, Fatboy Slim and Kaiser Chiefs on Saturday, and Snow Patrol and Elbow on Sunday. Other performers over the weekend include Clean Bandit, Doves, Leon Bridges, Maribou State, Mika, Sigrid, Arthur Hill, Billy Bragg, Example, and Feeder.
There is also comedy at the festival, with headliners being Bridget Christie on Friday, Greg Davies on Saturday, and Reggie Watts on Sunday.
However, there is plenty of other entertainment, too. Latitude is one of the best performing arts festivals in Europe so there will be performances displaying the “emotionally uplifting, the visually astonishing and the physically defying”.
For book-lovers there is The Bookshop, “an intimate hub for browsing the aisles for your next paperback purchase, reading the latest works from a plethora of brilliant authors and sipping on delicious coffee”. It also hosts a range of authors, poets, and thought leaders on stage.
There is a Faraway Forest complete with interactive art installations, workshops, performances and games; and attendees can even go lake swimming.
The festival is family-friendly, with the Kids Area open from 10 to 6pm every day. The Kids Theatre Tent is home to a full programme of live shows, workshops, puppetry, drama and more.
The Hive geodome and its wildlife garden hosts visiting authors, illustrators, and poets, and kids can also join in on the daily Wild Earthworm Walk led by Dr David Jones from the Natural History Museum. Kids can also enjoy the Wild Science tent, the Enchanted Garden and the Woodcraft Folk Woodland Base.
Tickets: Weekend camping tickets cost £308 for adults, or £190 for teens and £28 for kids (bought with an adult ticket). You can search for tickets here.
Magpies Festival – August 8
Based in Sutton Park, York, the Magpies Festival is set to take place over the August 8 and 9 and will be the perfect spot for kids, dogs, camping and glamping. More than enough for you and the family to enjoy!
This boutique festival offers an exciting line-up of folk, americana, acoustic, swing and everything in between. You’ll also be supporting an independent festival by going along, as the two-day event is run by Yorkshire-based transatlantic folk band, The Magpies.
You’ll be in safe hands thanks to the young, female management team are set on championing gender equality in the music industry, achieving gender parity in both line-up and staff, as well as providing a safe and comfortable environment for female musicians and festival goers.
Tickets: For adults, a weekend ticket cost £72.50. Friday day tickets are £35, Saturday tickets are £50. You can search for tickets here.
Creamfields – August 21
Creamfields will take place from August 21st to 24th this year in Daresbury, Cheshire. Acts include Chase and Status, Fisher, Jamie Jones, Sub Focus and Vintage Culture on the Friday; Swedish House Mafia, Chris Stussy, Hardwell, Camelphat and Patrick Topping on Saturday; and David Guetta, Oliver Heldens, D.O.D, Martin Garrix, Sonny Fodera, and Fatboy Slim on Sunday.
At this year’s festival there will be a “stunning new stage set amidst immersive woodland-inspired décor” called the Electric Forest.
Another new addition is HALO, a “monumental 45-metre diameter, cyclical outdoor arena with pioneering 360 and overhead video, lighting and sound package designed by renowned stage and show design studio Lucid Creates”.
‘Downtown’ at Creamfields is a brand-new sports, wellness, and entertainment village which comes equipped with activities like inflatable five-a-side football, mini golf, rave karaoke, and basketball.
Attendees can enjoy workouts at the Fitness Zone, theatrical performances, food at the Culinary Quarter, and beauty treatments like make-up and hair styling.
Tickets: Three-day camping tickets cost £290. Friday day tickets are £84, Saturday day tickets are £137.50 and Sunday day tickets are £137.50 each. You can search for tickets here.