Does the Queen like raving? We wouldn’t want to speculate, but her Platinum Jubilee is (more or less) the reason we’ve got three whole days of one of London’s best dance music festivals to look forward to in June.
Spread across the three days of the upcoming bank holiday weekend, Gala is coming back bigger and, seemingly, better than ever, with its most far-reaching line-up since launching in 2016.
It’s always a popular date in London’s festival diary, and unsurprisingly, tickets flew out the gate when they went on sale last year — but a few more have been added in the meantime, which means it’s not too late to secure your spot.
Here’s what you need to know.
When and where is Gala 2022?
The festival will kick off on Thursday June 2 and run until Saturday June 4, taking place in Peckham Rye Park. The music will start at 11.30am on each day, and run until 10.30pm. Last entry is 5pm on all days, unless you’ve bought a resident ticket, or one that requires you to show up by 2pm (more on that below).
Who’s on the Gala line-up?
Thursday is rather more geared towards live music rather than DJ sets, with the likes of jazz favourites Joe Armon-Jones, Binker and Moses, and Nubya Garcia among the acts — you can most certainly still count on them to get the crowd moving, though. There’s a healthy electronic contingent as well, with highlights including dance legend Goldie, jungle up-and-comer Nia Archives, and Peckham local Bradley Zero.
Friday gets a fair bit dancier, with DJ Harvey, who’s gearing up to deliver a three-hour set, veteran party-starters Secretsundaze, Japanese house hero Soichi Terada, Portuguese favourite Mafalda, and London club regular Shanti Celeste all among those in attendance. There’s also a stage takeover from Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM, so expect some fittingly wide-ranging sounds over there.
Saturday is probably the biggest day of all, with some real powerhouses taking to the deck: Jeremy Underground, Roman Flügel, Marcellus Pittman, Palms Trax and more will all be dropping in. Elsewhere, keep an eye out for the likes of Gabrielle Kwarteng, Zakia and Artwork.
How much are Gala tickets?
Weekend passes have all been snapped up, but day tickets are still available. Thursday is currently priced at £60, while Friday and Saturday are £70 each — but both of those tickets for Friday and Saturday require you to turn up before 2pm.
We’d be surprised if these tickets stick around for much longer, so now’s the time to buy if you want to secure your place. Head to the official ticket seller ra.co for more information.
How should I travel to Gala?
The entrance is at the southern end of the park, opposite Colyton Road. The nearest train stations are Peckham Rye and Honor Oak Park, both of which are about a mile away and should take around 20 minutes on foot. A number of bus routes serve the area, too — 12, 37, 63, 78, 197, 343, 363, 484, P12 — with two night buses, N63 and N343.
Underground service in that part of London is non-existent — so overground trains and buses are your best bet.
