2018 UK Music Festivals Guide

Handmade Festival
O2 Academy, Leicester, 5-6 May
Circa Waves, Drenge, The Big Moon, Protomartyr, Future of the Left and Idles lead the musical charge for Handmade Festival’s return to Leicester’s O2 Academy this May. Expect two days jam-packed with carefully curated music, comedy, art, film, performance and photography, along with a Handmade first as they get ready to host their first industry conference. Tickets from £27.50

The Great Escape
Brighton, 17-19 May
The Great Escape is an annual three-day multi-venue music showcase and convention which this year will host over 400 bands across Brighton. TGE is all about discovering new up-and-coming talent, and this year several Scottish acts are set to play including Bossy Love, Happy Meals, LUCIA, The Ninth Wave, The Spook School and The Vegan Leather. Tickets from £30

FLY Open Air
Hopetoun House, Edinburgh, 19 May
Edinburgh’s FLY Club returns to the grand surroundings of Hopetoun House this May for their much-anticipated second FLY Open Air all-dayer at the stately home, with the line-up curated by Glasgow’s Denis Sulta. Seth Troxler, Gerd Janson, Jayda G, Tom Trago, Or:la and Cromby are all set to play, with after parties following at Cabaret Voltaire and The Liquid Room with secret special guests. Tickets from £44.50

Knockengorroch World Ceilidh
Carsphairn hills, Dumfries & Galloway, 24-27 May
2018’s Knockengorroch World Ceilidh festival in the south-west of Scotland takes place by a beautiful river in the Carsphairn hills. Cut Chemist, Transglobal Underground and African supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique are among the international, traditional and dance music acts performing this year with Kobi Onyame, INYAL, MALKA, Awry and SCOPE heading up the Scottish talent. Tickets from £54

All Points East
Victoria Park, London, 25 May-3 Jun
From the team behind Coachella festival, All Points East is welcoming Björk, LCD Soundsystem, The xx, The National and Nick Cave to London’s Victoria Park for its inaugural year. The ticketed music events will take place over the two weekends, and in between APE In the Neighbourhood will offer four days of free events and activities including cinema, theatre and music. Tickets from £39.95

Riverside Festival
Riverside Museum, Glasgow, 26-27 May
“Electrical music for electrical people,” is how Riverside Festival describe their huge May Bank Holiday weekender which this year is set to be bigger than ever. Four Tet, Skream, Leftfield, Green Velvet, Rødhåd, Paula Temple, Nastia, Lindsay Green, Richie Hawtin, IDA and Slam are all set to play against the iconic backdrop of Glasgow’s Riverside Museum. Tickets from £55

Field Day
Brockwell Park, London, 1-2 Jun
2018 will be Field Day’s first outing at its brand new location of Brockwell Park in south London and even though the festival is on the move, their line-up, as ever, doesn’t disappoint. Erykah Badu, Thundercat and Fever Ray lead the charge with Four Tet (live), Loyle Carner, Princess Nokia, IAMDDB, Floating Points and Nils Frahm also set to play. Tickets from £44.50

Parklife
Heaton Park, Manchester, 9-10 Jun
The Warehouse Project-programmed festival in Manchester's Heaton Park is back for 2018 with a line-up that should have something to offer for most music fans. The xx, Skepta, Liam Gallagher, N.E.R.D, Lorde and CHVRCHES are all set to play, while a typically strong DJ line-up includes The Black Madonna, Nina Kraviz, Peggy Gou and Jackmaster. Tickets from £65

Robert Smith’s Meltdown
Southbank Centre, London, 15-24 Jun
We made the same joke last year, but just to reassure you, The Cure’s Robert Smith isn’t having a meltdown, but he is curating this year’s Meltdown festival at London’s Southbank Centre. Celebrating its 25th year, making it the longest running artist-curated festival in the UK, Smith’s line-up features Placebo, My Bloody Valentine, 65daysofstatic, Mogwai, Nine Inch Nails and Kristin Hersh. Prices vary

Solas Festival
The Bield, Blackruthven, Perthshire, 22-24 Jun
Solas Festival is Scotland’s Midsummer arts, music and ideas festival set in Perthshire’s idyllic countryside. This year, the festival is exploring the theme of drift between people and places through performance and discussion and sees Edinburgh’s Song, by Toad celebrate its tenth anniversary with a showcase featuring Siobhan Wilson, Jonnie Common and Adam Stafford. Tickets from £32

Supersonic
Digbeth, Birmingham, 22-24 Jun
Supersonic is an experimental music and arts festival held in Birmingham which launched in 2003 as a one-day event and now takes place over a whole weekend. 2018's line-up features London-based four-piece Housewives, a UK premiere from Brighton composer and producer Gazelle Twin, a kids' gig from prolific Dutch band The Ex and immersive art from Dennis McNett. Tickets from £90

Kelburn Garden Party
Kelburn Castle, Largs, 29 Jun-2 Jul
Situated in the grounds of the 800 year old Kelburn Castle – home of the unique and internationally renowned Graffiti Project – Kelburn Garden Party consists of art installations, carnival entertainment and a multi-genre music programme featuring Ibibio Sound Machine, The 2 Bears and Chali 2na & Krafty Kuts. And, for the first time, there will be a stage curated by The Skinny featuring some exciting up-and-coming local talent. Tickets from £72

TRNSMT
Glasgow Green, Glasgow, 29 Jun-8 Jul
TRNSMT festival returns to Glasgow Green this year for its sophomore outing and it’s already expanding from three days to five across two different weekends in the summer. While headliners The Killers, Liam Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys and QUEEN with Adam Lambert are all set to play, we’re more excited about the billing lower down: CHVRCHES, Interpol, Sigrid, Confidence Man and IAMDDB to name a few. Tickets from £59.50

Farr
Bygrave Woods, Hertfordshire, 5-8 Jul
Farr Festival is an electronic music festival held within an uninhabited forest in Hertfordshire, and from humble beginnings in 2009, the ninth edition of the festival sees Farr venturing deeper into the woods with new stages, daytime experiences and their first ever Sunday line-up. Mount Kimbie, George FitzGerald, Kelly Lee Owens, Daphni, Eclair Fifi and Or:la are all set to play. Tickets from £125

Larmer Tree Festival
Larmer Tree Gardens, Wiltshire, 19-22 Jul
To celebrate the centenary of female suffrage, Larmer Tree's main stage will feature a female-fronted takeover with First Aid Kit, Susanne Sundfør and Let’s Eat Grandma all set to appear. What’s more, Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus is helping guest-curate the line-up and has invited some of her favourite female musicians to play including Ibibio Sound Machine, Miss Eaves and Akua Naru. Tickets from £112

Electric Fields
Drumlanrig Castle, 30 Aug-1 Sep
Electric Fields heads back to the beautiful surroundings of Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries & Galloway this year to celebrate its fifth anniversary. Among the highlights this year are Young Fathers, Ghostpoet, Nightwave, Ezra Furman and Out Lines. We’re also excited to catch hip-hop MC Lady Leshurr, Brooklyn dream-pop trio Sunflower Bean and afro-funk explosion Ibibio Sound Machine. Tickets from £115

End of the Road Festival
Larmer Tree Gardens, Wiltshire, 30 Aug-2 Sep
It's back to the Larmer Tree Gardens for one of the final festivals of the summer, but it's a cracker nonetheless – Vampire Weekend return for their only UK festival of 2018, and they're joined by St Vincent, Feist, Julia Holter and Yo La Tengo. Tickets £195

Skye Live
Portree, Isle of Skye, 21-22 Sep
Since its inception in 2015, Skye Live has become a staple on the Scottish music festival circuit, not to mention an excellent way to get out of the major cities and see some of Scotland’s beautiful countryside. The 2018 line-up features an excellent cross section of acts including Leeds’ Vessels, the Isle of Eigg’s psychedelic resident Pictish Trail and Glasgow DJ extraordinaire Denis Sulta alongside Niteworks and Or:la. Tickets from £79

The best of the rest

Other Music Festival: world music festival in Aberdeen featuring Jackill and Bollywood Brass Band. 19-22 Apr, prices vary

Enter the Kaiju: drum’n’bass festival in Liverpool featuring Fabio & Grooverider, Dillinja and Total Science. 28 Apr, from £18

AVA Festival: leading electronic festival in Belfast featuring Bicep, Helena Hauff and Floorplan. 1-2 Jun, from £70

Inner City Electronic: a celebration of electronic music in Leeds featuring Floating Points and KiNK. 2 Jun, from £32

Festival of Voice: international biennial arts festival in Cardiff featuring Patti Smith and Reykjavíkurdætur. 7-17 Jun, prices vary

Eden Festival: boutique multi-genre festival in Dumfries and Galloway featuring Groove Armada, Submotion Orchestra and Withered Hand. 7-10 Jun, from £119.

Positive Vibrations Festival: two-day festival of dub and reggae in Liverpool featuring Sister Nancy, Mungo’s Hi-Fi and Eva Lazarus. 8-9 Jun, from £25

Africa Oyé: free festival of African music and culture in Liverpool featuring Dr Congo. 16-17 Jun, free entry

KALLIDA: a collision of sound and visual arts in Hereford featuring Daniel Avery and Nilüfer Yanya. 22-24 Jun, from £105

Doune the Rabbit Hole: a family friendly festival in Stirlingshire with an eclectic line-up ranging from Frankie Cosmos to The Beat via Atari Teenage Riot and the Levellers. 13-15 Jul, from £80

Cambridge Folk Festival: a folk festival in Cambridge featuring First Aid Kit and Patti Smith. 2-5 Aug, from £175.50

Boomtown: a theatrical and immersive music festival in Winchester featuring Gorillaz, Die Antwoord and Ho99o9. 9-12 Aug, £236

ArcTanGent: rock festival in Bristol featuring Glassjaw, And So I Watch You From Afar and Shellac. 16-18 Aug, from £60

Green Man: music and arts festival in the Brecon Beacons featuring John Grant and Dirty Projectors. 16-19 Aug, from £60