Missing out on Glastonbury tickets used to make you a social pariah. Now, for the same price as entry to Worthy Farm, you can hop between four or five London day festivals this summer, prompting jealous “Oohs!” and “Aahs!” from your friends and Instagram followers.
This year, more than ever, festivals are making use of London’s sprawling green spaces. The Victoria Park-based All Points East mega-show and Hyde Park’s British Summer Time pop extravaganzas may still reign supreme, with six and eight days of music respectively, but with more new festivals popping up each year in different locations, there’s never been a better time to catch your favourite artists al fresco.
It is now entirely possible to leave the house and wander to a local park for 12 hours of live music. And the best part? The short trip home to your own dry, clean, comfy bed.
Here’s our rundown of the very best...
Project 6
South of the river there’s a handful of brilliant Brockwell Park-based festivals to pick from this summer, one of which is Project 6, returning for its second year this May. And this edition is special as it’s a collaboration in honour of the 30-year anniversary of Rinse FM, aka the London-based former pirate radio station that’s now described as the “beating heart of UK underground radio”. And there’s some of London’s most cult performers on the lineup, including AJ Tracey, ultra-secretive rapper CASISDEAD, as well as beloved Peckham-born singer songwriter Katy B.
May 24, Brockwell Park
GALA
South London is fighting to snatch the day festival crown this summer with a plethora of impressive events across the summer. One of these is the independent, community-driven dance festival Gala, which returns for its ninth year in 2024. It runs across three days on bank holiday weekend this May with a variation of hosts, such as NTS radio and Adonis, the queer club night aficionados. The highlight has got to be Friday, which features Joy Orbison, DJ EZ, Novelist and Sherelle.
May 24-26, Peckham Rye Park
Wide Awake
For the indie-heads out there, London’s biggest day festival is likely Wide Awake, which returns on the May bank holiday weekend with a bumper lineup including King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Young Fathers and Slowdive. Though indie leads the way, Wide Awake also has plenty on offer besides; dance music fans can expect performances from acclaimed DJs such as Ben UFO and Helena Hauff, as well as cult PC music artist Hannah Diamond.
May 25, Brockwell Park
Cross the Tracks
Also in Brockwell Park is Cross the Tracks festival, which takes place two days after from Project 6, closing out the big May bank holiday weekend. Last year’s offering saw the first of the English summer sun setting across Brixton as US rap star Anderson .Paak took to the stage with NxWorries, his DJ pairing with producer Knxwledge. This year should be equally majestic, with living legend Erykah Badu set to headline, as well as a host of other big names from jazz, funk, soul and hip-hop.
This is no quickly-cobbled together festival made up of burger vans and cider cans either; with over 50 food and drink traders and a craft beer fair, Cross the Tracks is an elevated festival experience. And an ethical one: the festival maintains “proud minimum” of 50 per cent female-led acts on its line-ups.
May 26, Brockwell Park
City Splash
A south London celebration of African and Caribbean culture in the UK, this one-dayer labels itself as “London’s biggest celebration of reggae, dancehall and Afrobeats music”. Alongside headliners Beenie Man, Capleton, Shenseea and Busy Signal, there are plenty of gems to be found here, including jungle and drum’n’bass veteran Shy FX, London amapiano collective Dankie Sounds, Queen of the R&B edit Jordss, and rising name in pop Libianca.
May 27, Brockwell Park
Mighty Hoopla
Nelly Furtado, headlining a festival… have we all accidentally fallen asleep in a TARDIS and ended up back in 2006 or something?! Alas, Millennial hallucinations are not to blame, and bringing back plenty of Noughties pop gems alongside thumping, present-day dance-pop, queer collectives, drag acts, and a revolving-door cast of women who regularly appear on the Love of Huns Instagram account is sort of Mighty Hoopla’s USP. There really isn’t another festival like it: where else on earth can you catch Bananarama, The X Factor’s Cher Lloyd, Steps’ Claire Richards, Hercules and Love Affair, Slayyyter and….er, Gok Wan, all on the same day? There’s still a handful of Sunday tickets remaining, too.
June 1-2, Brockwell Park
Hampton Court Palace Festival
Time to party like it’s 1529 ‒ Henry VIII’s old gaff, the grade I listed Hampton Court Palace, is hosting a seasonal series of summer concerts in its regal Tudor court. Most punters opt for a picnic in the sprawling grounds ahead of the evening’s entertainment, but if you’re feeling a little bit extra, the King’s VIP Dining Experience features a stately, 3-course banquet beforehand in the palace itself. The perfect warm-up for Paloma Faith, Jessie J, Sam Ryder, Sheryl Crow, ABBA tribute extraordinaires Björn Again, and the rest of the bill.
June 11-21, Hampton Court Palace
Chaka Khan’s Meltdown
Every year, Meltdown hands over the reins to a different musical icon, and asks them to curate their dream festival at Southbank Centre. In the past, everyone from David Bowie and Grace Jones, to Yoko Ono and The Cure’s Robert Smith has had a go. This year, it’s the turn of the Queen of Funk Chaka Khan, and she’s invited Big Joanie, Sipho, Emeli Sandé, Mica Paris, Master Peace, and many many more along for the party.
June 14-23, Southbank Centre
The Recipe
Most of the time festival cuisine serves just one purpose: pure sustenance. While we’re certainly not above paying £7 for a flimsy paper box half-filled with lukewarm cheesy chips in principle (this fine dish has fuelled me through at least three Glastonburys) brand new festival The Recipe is trying something a little different on the food and drink front, and touts itself as an ‘all-inclusive’ festival. Alongside music from Jazmine Sullivan, SiR, Alex Isley, Destin Conrad, Tone Stith, Ambre and Shae Universe and more, the ticket price includes unlimited food from the likes of Breddos Tacos and Sweet Dee’s Jerk, and bottomless booze (within reason: they won’t carry on serving you if you’re too hammered) from the bar. Not bad at all for just over £150.
July 6, Gunnersbury Park
Big Smoke
Move over Michael Eavis; Skepta’s trying his hand as a festival boss, and putting on an all-dayer in Crystal Palace park. Naturally, he’s headlining, but has also invited heaps of other artists along for the ride: The Streets, Mahalia, JME, Uncle Waffles, and his Más Tiempo label co-founder Jammer among them.
July 6, Crystal Palace Park
Somerset House Summer Series
Central London’s stately Somerset House has been putting on courtyard gigs now for the past 20 years, and this year they’ve scored a doozy with a very special show from the legendary punk poet Patti Smith. Elsewhere, you’ll find shows from the likes of ridiculously fun four-piece The Big Moon, amapiano DJ and producer DBN Gogo, and Corinne Bailey Rae with her latest album Black Rainbows; so good, The Standard gave it the full five star treatment.
July 11-21, Somerset House
Wireless
Wireless always delivers on bringing hip-hop’s biggest names to London, and this year, the Finsbury Park fest has Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, J Hus and Doja Cat lined up as headliners. There’s plenty of newer talent to pick from, too: rising rapper Sexyy Red, recent Met Gala show-stealer Tyla, and Ice Spice among the first wave of acts.
July 12-14, Finsbury Park
South Facing
Sort of a series of mini-festivals, this concert series takes over Crystal Palace for a run of open air shows. Once an iconic venue that played host to everyone from Pink Floyd, Elton John and Lou Reed to The Cure, Sex Pistols, and The Beach Boys, the park’s Bowl has fallen out of use in more recent years, but South Facing is doing its best to bring it back. This year, they’ve enlisted Grace Jones, Yussef Dayes, Future Islands, Major League DJz, Ghetts, Damian Marley, and many many more.
July 26 - August 10, Crystal Palace Bowl
Hospitality in the Woods
Turning to drum and bass for those who like to skank and skank to their hearts’ content, there’s Hospitality in the Woods festival in south-east London this August. Returning to the picturesque Beckenham Palace Park after a sold out event last year, DnB fans can expect to party with alongside the park’s serene lake, grand mansion, and within its ancient woodlands. It might feel slightly incongruous when set to a soundtrack of Pendulum, but that’s how the genre is enjoyed best, after all.
August 17, Beckenham Palace Park
Rally
After a soggy inaugural event last summer, this Southwark Park celebration of alternative music is back for round two. As part of its ethos, tickets are priced up affordably (they’re under £50, and though they’ve all been snapped up this year, the early birds are even cheaper) and given that the line-up features left-field favourites like Actress, Mount Kimbie, Sorry, Bar Italia, and Nilüfer Yanya, it feels like quite the steal.
August 24, Southwark Park
Body Movements
Though it has long been a Hackney Wick mainstay, queer dance party Body Movement is switching allegiances and heading south of the river. There’s plenty of limb-flailing to get stuck into on the dance-heavy billing, but Peach, TAAHLIAH, Saoirse, COBRAH, Confidence Man and Lewis G. Burton are just a few of the standouts, alongside DJs from nights like Adonis, Big Dyke Energy, PXSSY PALACE, and Queer House Party.
August 25, Southwark Park
AMAFEST
In case you haven’t got the memo yet, the South African house offshoot of amapiano is rapidly going global, with its distinctive log drums influencing everywhere from the top of the charts to the depths of basement dancefloors. Though AMAFEST are keeping things secretive around their 2024 edition (they’re still to reveal the location and line-up) last year’s featured Focalistic, Mr JazziQ, Sho Madjozi, and Mellow & Sleazy.
Maiden Voyage
This underground dance festival is perfect for anyone also tempted by the offerings of Junction 2 or Gala. Held in Camberwell’s Burgess Park, this is one of London’s best value festivals, with first release tickets costing around £20. The festival site used to be all the way out in Lee Valley, but dance and electronic fans can now rejoice at its far more central location. It’s also on the later end of the summer festival timetable, so for anyone in search of one last boogie, this is your place.
