The best music festivals in London

The annual K-Music Festival serves as a showcase of some of the most exciting contemporary music to come out of South Korea, highlighting boundary-pushing Korean artists and intriguing genre fusions. For its 11th edition in 2024, the festival put together an eclectic line-up featuring everything from a production of “Lear” to talented acts such as Black String, Heemoon Lee, and No-Noise, a new project by Lee Il-woo of Jambinai.

Psychobilly Freakout is a weekend gathering of fans of psychobilly, rockabilly, and associated genres, held at the New Cross Inn in South London. Lace up your Doc Martens, pull on your leather jacket, and head on over for three days of concerts, drinking, tongue-in-cheek horror, and general merrymaking with the likes of The Koffin Kats and The Caravan.

Starting in 2021, hipster bible Pitchfork has been bringing an eclectic selection of some of the buzziest names in forward-thinking rock, pop, electronic and urban music to acclaimed venues such as Village Underground. Expect multiple days of indoor gigs and good vibes when the festival returns in 2024, with Tierra Whack and Arooj Aftab among the main acts.

Held annually in November, London Jazz Festival is the biggest pan-city music festival and has been bringing some of the most brilliant jazz minds in the world to the capital for more than three decades. The festival is held across a range of venues, from renowned jazz clubs such as Ronnie Scott's to grand venues such as the Barbican, catering to fans of both classical jazz and its various spin-offs. The 2024 edition features names such as ANOHNI, Jamie Cullum, and more.

The First Fifty serves as an introduction or better yet, a teaser, for The Great Escape, an acclaimed showcase festival that's held in Brighton the following spring. In autumn each year, The Great Escape brings the first fifty acts to be announced for its line-up to East London for one day, playing a host of shows across various venues in the area. Due to the timings, it's impossible to catch all of the acts, but if you're looking for some exciting new tunes and a shot of summer festival vibes during the gloomy season, The First Fifty is a great choice.

Reality Unfolds is London's premier festival for hardcore, screamo, extreme metal, and other such hard-hitting, loud, and heavy genres. It takes place at the New Cross Inn across three days, from Friday to Sunday. The 2025 line-up features Ringworm, Wristmeetrazor, and Stormo as headliners, along with a host of other acts.

An annual seven-day celebration of independent music and arts venues that takes place across all of the UK, Independent Venue Week is an important part of the live music landscape in London as well. During this week, local communities come together to celebrate the venues with thousands of artists playing hundreds of shows. IVW is championed by a different ambassador every year, including the likes of Colin Greenwood (Radiohead) and Arlo Parks.

La Linea is an annual Latin music festival that's held in various venues across central London every April. Established in 2001, the festival showcases the finest and most current contemporary Latin music of the 21st century. Acts for the 2025 edition – the festival's 25th anniversary – include Eliades Ochoa, Rodrigo Cuevas, Muerdo, Villano Antillano, and more.

C2C: Country to Country is a music festival for all who enjoy good old American country music. The multi-day event, held at The O2, has been running for over a decade and has received an award from the Country Music Association in recognition of its contributions to developing country music outside of the US. The festival regularly draws some of the biggest country stars, with the 2025 bill headlined by Lainey Wilson, Dierks Bentley, and Cody Johnson.

The Brick Lane Jazz Festival celebrates the diverse and boundary-breaking artists that make up the London jazz scene, offering a one-of-a-kind annual experience to explore the latest culturally vibrant sounds from the capital. The festival's venues are conveniently located within a minute's walking distance of each other, inviting you to discover new music and connect with a diverse community while enjoying the iconic Truman Brewery site in Brick Lane.

Incineration Festival bills itself as the UK's most extreme metal festival based in London, and their line-ups back that claim up and then some. With the likes of Anaal Nathrakh, Conan, and Winterfylleth on the bill, this one isn't for the faint of heart. The festival takes place across multiple well-known venues in Camden Town.

With sibling editions in Berlin, Antwerp and New York, Desertfest is a globally recognised pilgrimage for fans of heavy riffs and musical psychedelia. In London, the weekend festival takes place across multiple venues in Camden, including iconic spots such as The Roundhouse and The Black Heart, with the ticket ensuring access to all (until max capacity is reached). In 2025, Amenra, Elder, Zeal & Ardor, and many others will play the festival.

Project 6 launches the spring bank holiday festivities in Brockwell Park with a hefty dose of the finest drum & bass, hip hop, techno and related genres during the day, then continues the party late into the night at select venues around the city. In 2024, the daytime programme was headlined by Nines, Pusha T, Eliza Rose, Katy B, SBTRKT, and Shy FX, along with 40+ food vendors, a craft beer market, workshops, site art, and more.

Held across several stages in Brixton's Brockwell Park, Wide Awake is a celebration of inquisitive independent music, highlighting international up-and-coming bands that are on the cusp of headlining major stages around the world. The team behind the festival includes veteran local promotor Bad Vibrations, the people behind MOTH Club and The Shacklewell Arms, and others. The 2025 edition will feature Kneecap, CMAT, and English Teacher as headliners, along with Daniel Avery, Sprints, Mannequin Pussy, and many more.

Held over the spring bank holiday, Gala Festival is an independent South London festival in Peckham Rye Park. The community-driven festival puts on three days of some of the most tantalising, promising electronic music acts, kickstarting the summer festival season with all-day party vibes and a joyous atmosphere. The 2024 line-up included names such as Princess Julia, Girls Don't Sync, Nat Wendell, and many more.

For the past several years, Field Day took place in Victoria Park as part of All Points East, but its heading back south for its 2025 edition. Now part of the Brockwell Live Bank Holiday Weekender, the event continues its mission of serving up an electic line-up of from across the broad spectrum of electronic music, ranging from household DJ names to boundary-pushing creatives. The Field Day 2025 line-up includes Peggy Gou, Folamour, Skream & Benga, Mall Grab, and others.

In 2023, for its biggest edition up to then, Portals Festival moved to the EartH venue in Hackney, and it has stayed there since. With 35 artists across three stages and two days, it's one of the largest events exploring alternative, experimental, math, prog, and post rock music in Europe. The 2025 line-up includes acts such as Mouse on the Keys, Brontide, and The None.

Cross The Tracks brings together fans of contemporary jazz, funk and soul for a day of concerts, workshops, activities and all sorts of other merriment in Brockwell Park. A variety of independent food and drink traders is on hand, along with a craft beer market, site art installations and more. The 2025 line-up is headlined by Michael Kiwanuka, with Jordan Rakei, Cymande, Gilles Peterson, and many others performing as well.

South London's City Splash is a day-long celebration of the UK's Caribbean and African heritage, bringing carnival vibes to Brockwell Park over the May bank holiday. The line-up at this vibrant party features some of the biggest names in reggae, dancehall, and Afrobeats music, ranging from established stars to up-and-coming youngsters.

Taking place in a bespoke canopied auditorium in Holland Park over three months, the Opera Holland Park festival puts on critically acclaimed opera performances in a beautiful, leafy setting. Talented performers put on classic works by the likes of Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Engelbert Humperdinck in the warm summer air. Opera Holland Park also acts as a charity and a talent incubator throughout the year.

The 1990s and 2000s come back into the spotlight at this inclusive, fun-loving festival that caters to those with a fondness for the pop stylings of the previous decades. Period-appropriate fancy dress is encouraged, and the line-up always features names that have lodged themselves firmly on your playlist with bangers upon bangers. The 2025 acts include, among others, Kesha, Ciara, Vengaboys, Loreen, and many more.

Taking over the DIY warren of The Cause, an indoor and outdoor clubbing venue with multiple areas, Outro Festival caters to bass junkies. Covering a wide spectrum from Bass, Garage, and Grime to House music, the festival features the likes of Conducta, Introspekt, Dr Dubplate, and DJ Fuckoff. The massive party starts at noon on Saturday and lasts until the early morning the next day.

The Proms at St Jude's festival takes place in Hampstead and includes an assortment of musical performances, comedy, literature events, heritage walks and more. The 2024 concert programme featured classical and Motown shows, as well as renditions of film soundtracks and more. The festival is organised almost entirely by local volunteers and raises funds for the Toynbee Hall charity and the North London Hospice.

Held at the Southbank Centre, Meltdown selects a globally recognised music icon to shape its programme each year, letting them present their creative vision through a series gigs, activities and other events. The festival's 30-year history has included David Bowie, Nile Rodgers, Grace Jones, and Robert Smith as past curators, and in 2024, it was Chaka Khan's turn, celebrating 50 years of a pioneering career.

Lido Festival is a new addition to London's summer festival scene, with the inaugural edition taking place across two weekends in June. Each day of the Victoria Park festival is co-curated by the day's headliner, with the first one of these announced so far being Jamie xx. He'll be bringing Arca, Sampha, Shy One, and many others along for a day-long party.

Featuring bands such as Monkey3, Sons of Arrakis, and Red Sun Atacama, StoomFest is a two-day celebration of doom, stoner and psychedelic music, held at the legendary Highbury venue The Garage, with an afterparty thrown in for good measure. The festival aims to build a community of likeminded artists and fans, providing a fair platform to both established acts and promising new artists in the field of heavy alternative genres.

Kew the Music is a an iconic outdoor music series taking place in the lush setting of Kew Gardens in Richmond. Equal parts picnic and concert, the event encourages you to bring your own food and drinks to enjoy in the family-friendly ambiance, though on-site vendors are provided too. The 2025 edition of the week-long festival features UB40, DJ Spooky, and Nicolas Reyes among the headliners.

BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts, talks, workshops, and family events held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It features a diverse range of classical music, including symphonic and chamber music, opera, choral music, and contemporary works. The festival was founded in 1895 and is the largest classical music festival in the world, with a wide audience of music enthusiasts and newcomers. It culminates in the famous Last Night of the Proms, a boisterous celebration featuring popular classical music and flag-waving.

Featuring a who's who of contemporary electronic music, from superstar producers such as Adam Beyer, Amelie Lens, and The Blessed Madonna, to rising talent such as Sama' Abdulhadi, Ahmed Spins, and Dee Diggss, the Junction 2 festival turns Boston Manor Park into an open-air club across two summer days. Exploring techno, bass, house, minimal and more through one-off B2B pair-ups as well as solo sets, the festival is a must for ravers from all walks of life.

51st Festival pays homage to the origins of house music, bringing together the various elements of this profoundly influential sound. The program features classic house, tech house, afro house, garage, disco, soul, dancehall and more. The festival's line-up reflects a truly transatlantic vibe, connecting the dots between the US, the UK, Europe, and the Caribbean with acts such as Derrick Carter, Jocelyn Brown, and Todd Terry.

South Facing Festival brings the festival atmosphere to Crystal Palace Park with its acclaimed open-air concert series encompassing a range of musical trailblazers and genres. The festival is held at the Crystal Palace Bowl, a historic music venue that goes back more than 150 years, with the likes of Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Bob Marley, and The Cure all playing there. In 2025, the festival headliners include Barrington Levy, Burning Spear, and Basement Jaxx.

It's not exactly in London, but with the Elizabeth line now in operation, Reading Festival is closer than ever. One of the most iconic British festivals after Glastonbury, the festival packs a punchy line-up of some of the biggest global pop, rock, electronic and hip hop stars into a weekend of camping, legendary moments, crowd singalongs, and wild abandon. Headline acts for 2024 included Blink 182, Fred Again.., Lana Del Rey, Liam Gallagher, and The Prodigy.

Rally is a brand new festival launched by the Birds on the Wire concert promotor and by the team behind Gala Festival. The festival aims to celebrate the city's music and arts communities, create opportunities for grassroots culture, promote new sounds, diversity and sustainability, and raise funds for local causes. The collaboration has delivered an exciting and varied line-up featuring acts such as Actress, Armand Hammer, Sorry, Sam Akpro, Mount Kimbie, and more.

Over the August bank holiday weekend, Battersea Park hosts open-air picnic concerts celebrating classical music, West End musicals, and soul and jazz. Among others, the 2024 edition featured the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and guest vocalists performing sounds from some of the most popular West End musicals, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra, and more.

All Points East takes over Victoria Park for ten days in summer, holding daylong concert programmes on the weekend. Each day is curated around a specific artist or brand, with the 2025 edition including Raye, Barry Can't Swim, and The Maccabees as headliners. During the week, when there are no concerts, the festival organises free events and activities for the local community.

More than just a couple of stages thrown together, Elrow Town provides is an immersive experience within a themed festival town that pops up around the world, including London. The festival is organised by Spanish promotors that rose to prominence on Ibiza, so expect plenty of electronic beats, party vibes, theatrical shows, and wild dancing. The festival set pieces are memorable, starting with the stunning main stage, and it all makes for a fun, colourful day out. The 2024 line-up included Eats Everything, Chromeo, and Goldie.

Waterworks Festival is a day-long celebration of independent electronic music, held in Gunnersbury Park in West London and organised in collaboration with Percolate Music. A wide range of artists and sounds are featured across multiple stages, guaranteeing a day of dancing and fun. The 2024 edition featured the likes of Amaliah, Shanti Celeste, Batu, Objekt, and more.

Queen's Yard Summer Party is a day festival at various venues in Hackney Wick, exploring all kinds of electronic and urban music with the help of dozens of crews. More than 150 DJs and producers perform throughout the day, turning the entire neighbourhood into a massive street party and ushering in the summer season.

For a couple of weeks each summer, Hampton Court Palace, the impressive former residence of Henry VIII, hosts a selection of iconic musical acts in its beautiful grounds. You can pick up a picnic hamper to relax during the day, book a fountain-side gazebo for friends and family, or even indulge in the King's VIP Dining Experience, then enjoy gigs by the likes of Nile Rodgers & Chic, Paloma Faith, Sam Ryder, and Sheryl Crow.

At the Pub in The Park festival, the headliners are chefs – though the music programme features big names as well. Launched by Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge, Pub in The Park was the biggest food and music festival tour in the UK, celebrating British pub culture with delicious food by award-winning chefs and restaurants, music stars, and a drinks offer to match it all. In 2024, it changed the format, focusing on four fixed-location events instead of regional tours. The Chiswick edition featured Busted, Scouting for Girls, and Jools Holland, among others.

Across multiple weekends each summer, BST Hyde Park brings some of the biggest icons in the world to the famous London park for massive all-day events in front of thousands of devoted fans. The 2025 line-up includes Jeff Lynne's ELO and Zach Bryan as headliners. The programme is padded out with a host of support acts, ranging from established stars in their own right to promising local talent.

Somerset House is a prominent arts centre in a grand Georgian-era building, home to various organisations and professionals in the fields of arts and social innovation. Each summer, they put on a series of memorable gigs in their spectacular courtyard. The 2024 edition featured headliners such as Corinne Bailey Rae, The Amazons, Cory Henry, and Hania Rani.

Though it started out as a rock and pop festival, Wireless Festival focused on rap and other urban styles in recent years, turning Finsbury Park into a hip-hop mecca for one weekend each summer. The biggest acts in the world have taken to its stage, including Drake, Rihanna, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and countless others, many often showing up as unannounced secret acts or flying in for UK-exclusive gigs. Local artists are well represented too. The 2024 line-up was headed by Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, J Hus, and Doja Cat.

Taking full advantage of its incredible setting in Alexandra Palace Park, Kaleidoscope is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque festivals in the city, combining panoramic views of London with a grand building and vast parkland. Celebrating the best of London's summertime culture with lively festivities, the festival has invited the likes of The Go! Team, Erol Alkan, Artful Dodger, and many other musical acts to perform, along with a whole host of stand-up comics, family-friendly activities, and much more.

Maiden Voyage Festival brings together promotors from some of London's most thrilling electronic music venues, for example Phonox and Fold, as well as Berlin institution Hör. The line-up is a reflection of their values, with a number of rising underground stars tapped to keep the bank holiday dance floor moving. The 2024 edition of Maiden Voyage Festival was held in Burgess Park and featured Arca, Erika de Casier, Mall Grab, Young Marco, and many others.

Legendary London venue The Jazz Cafe, known for hosting diverse music acts for nearly four decades, launched its first music festival in 2024. Set in Southwark's Burgess Park, the festival featured four unique stages, including a grand arena for headliners, a 360-degree DJ stage, a tropical chill-out area, and a mysterious secret stage. The 2024 line-up featured beloved Jazz Cafe artists such as Nils Frahm, Earl Sweatshirt, and Omar Souleyman.