Best UK music festivals in summer 2024

Glastonbury Festival will be held from 26-30 June 2024

(Image credit: Jim Dyson/Redferns/Getty Images)

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Parklife festival
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Victorious Festival, Portsmouth

last updated 29 February 2024

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Festivals are an unmissable part of the British summer calendar. And despite several cancellations caused by the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit and the after-effects of the Covid pandemic this summer sees an impressive line-up of live music in the open air. Here's our pick of the best 2024 music festivals.

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The Isle of Wight Festival "sparked backlash" after announcing all-male headliners for 2024, said Isobel Lewis in The Independent. The Prodigy, Pet Shop Boys and Green Day will all top the bill, but of the 16 acts playing on the main stage "only three are female". Solo artists include Swedish pop star Zara Larsson and soul singer Beverley Knight, while "Eighties rockers Simple Minds have included backing vocalist Sarah Brown and drummer Cherisse Osei since 2017".

Set in the "beautiful" Henham Park, with its "rich woodland and glistening lake", Latitude is "so much more than just a music festival", said Georgia Beech on Best of Suffolk. As well as "plenty of talented musicians to discover", the festival also offers a "diverse range of events, shows, and activities", from theatre and comedy to cabaret, poetry and literature. Kasabian, London Grammar, Keane and Duran Duran have been confirmed as headliners for 2024.

Heading the bill at Lulworth Castle are Pete Tong: Ibiza Classics with the Essential Orchestra, Paloma Faith, McFly and Orbital: an "'out of this world' line-up", said the Bournemouth Echo. An innovation for children at the family-friendly event this year is the Explorer's Passport, which "contains illustrations, maps and information" with "space for children to add their memories, collect stamps, and stickers as they explore the grounds", said the Dorset Echo.

This four-day festival, now in its 13th year, has been described as a "weekend of escapism, high jinks and wholesome hedonism", said the BBC. As well as music – Michael Kiwanuka, Faithless, Bicep present Chroma and Jessie Ware are the headline acts – you can also enjoy "an array of theatre, artisanship, late-night parties, outdoor pursuits and culinary experiences in the Oxfordshire countryside", said The Oxford Magazine.

Taking place simultaneously on the August bank holiday weekend, the twin Reading and Leeds festivals have "transformed to suit an ever-younger audience in bucket hats and zany outfits", said Dave Simpson in The Guardian. They head to Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds for a "post-GCSE blowout" and "traditional rite of passage". Headlining this year are Blink-182, Fred Again, Lana del Rey, Liam Gallagher, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Gerry Cinnamon.

About 170,000 music lovers flocked to Southsea Common in Portsmouth for the "seaside event" in 2023, said the BBC. This year's music headliners include Fatboy Slim and Snow Patrol, Jamie T, Courteeners, Pixies, Biffy Clyro, and from across the water (Isle of Wight), Wet Leg. Topping the comedy bill are Russell Howard, Frankie Boyle and Al Murray. And as well as those "big-name acts" and "top comedians", said Kimberley Barber in the Hampshire Chronicle, the Victorious Festival has "something for all ages", with a large kids' arena full of "free activities like bouncy castles, zip wire, crafts and much more".

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Mike Starling is the digital features editor at The Week, where he writes content and edits the Arts & Life and Sport website sections and the Food & Drink and Travel newsletters. He started his career in 2001 in Gloucestershire as a sports reporter and sub-editor and has held various roles as a writer and editor at news, travel and B2B publications. He has spoken at a number of sports business conferences and also worked as a consultant creating sports travel content for tourism boards. International experience includes spells living and working in Dubai, UAE; Brisbane, Australia; and Beirut, Lebanon.