London Music Festival Guide 2014

Chris Lockie
By Chris Lockie Last edited 118 months ago
London Music Festival Guide 2014

Image from Treesiepopsicles via Flickr.

Time to take a look at the best music festivals dished up to us this summer. For the sake of sanity, we will attempt to balance the ones you're likely to get muddy at with a few warm, dry indoor events. We've also left out the big, all-conquering stuff like Wireless and BST Hyde Park as...well...you already know about them. Here's the best of the bunch.

London FolkFest

The Bedford, Balham, 5-8 June

The fourth outing of the small but lovingly curated folk festival, with a line-up the organisers claim is better than ever, in a venue that hosted early performances from folk stars like Ed Sheeran and Paolo Nutini. There's certainly a fine array of new, established and unsigned artists to sample, from Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo (who were behind the haunting theme to BBC series The Shadow Line, entitled Pause) to the superbly named Galloway, Culbert and Doyle.
Top London Tip: Danny & The Champions of the World
Line-up: www.thelondonfolkfest.com/lineup
Tickets: £12.50 day

Field Day

Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, 7-8 June

If you're keener on the muddy option, it's Field Day in a couple of weeks. Main acts at east London's annual celebration of cool this year are Metronomy, Pixies, SBTRKT, Jamie xx and Warpaint, with London interest in the form of Lovepark and Shy Nature, among others.
Top London Tip: The Bohicas
Line-up: fielddayfestivals.com/line-up/london
Tickets: £38.50 day / £78 weekend

Camden Crawl

Various Camden venues, 20-21 June

We've mentioned Camden Rocks plenty in the past couple of months, but what of the returning hero of Camden festivals? The Crawl's reboot aims for the lesser-known and artier end of indie and rock music, casting admiring glances a couple of miles to the east. Top turns include hotly tipped bands The Crookes and Longfellow, exceptional singer/songwriter Violet Skies, and former Londonist tips Desperate Journalist and CuT.
Top London Tip: Whistlejacket
Line-up: thecamdencrawl.com/line-up
Tickets: £30 day / £50 weekend

Lovebox

Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, 18-19 July

Field Day's slightly more urban cousin, Lovebox this year has a line-up combining a few token-but-notable indie acts like The Horrors with some of the finest in cutting-edge DJs, producers, singers and rappers in the game today. M.I.A., Nas and A$AP Rocky lead the charge, with Visionquest, Hannah Wants and Mirror Signal representing the cream of emerging talent.
Top London Tip: Nihilismus
Line-up: loveboxfestival.com/programme
Tickets: £61 day / £89 weekend (and both nearly sold out)

Ealing Jazz Festival

Walpole Park, Ealing, 23-27 July

Where would we be without Ealing's superb array of summer festivals? The pub, that's where. Saving us from ourselves on this year's jazz bill are Keith Waithe & The Macusi Players, the Gill Cook Quintet, Jon Mapp and a great many more across the festivals two stages.
Top London Tip: Dick Esmond’s Sound of 17 Big Band
Line-up: www.ealingsummerfestivals.com/events/jazz-festival
Tickets: From £4 per day
See also: Ealing Blues Festival (19-20 July)

Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival

Central Saint Martins, 24 July-3 August / Kings Place, 7-10 August

The eighth annual get-together for opera lovers, this year's Tête à Tête moves to two King's Cross venues. From Japanese Noh theatre to 'Adventures in the Wild West', Tête à Tête brings together a remarkable number of themes and styles to push the frontiers of opera.
Top London Tip: The Catfish Conundrum
Line-up: www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/festival-2014
Tickets: From £7.50

Jabberwocky, ExCeL

Royal Victoria Dock, 15-16 August

A brand new addition to the London festival scene, Jabberwocky is brought to you by the people behind the eclectic All Tomorrow's Parties festivals that have been dotted around the world over the last decade. Here, they bring us some of the finest underground acts from across the world, from a rare outing for cult American indie band Neutral Milk Hotel to sets by Caribou, Sun Kil Moon and Cloud Nothings.
Top London Tip: Untold
Line-up: www.atpfestival.com/events/jabberwocky2014/lineup.php
Tickets: £35-£60

South West Four Weekender

Clapham Common, 23-24 August

There are plenty of festivals that claim to represent dance and electronic music this summer, but few are likely to do so with the passion of South West Four's 11th outing over the August Bank Holiday. Among the better knowns are the iconic deadmau5, house music legend Fedde Le Grand and, obviously, Pete Tong, though there are remarkable DJs, solo artists and collectives scattered all about the superb line-up.
Top London Tip: Wilkinson
Line-up: www.southwestfour.com/2014-line-up
Tickets: £55 day / £105 weekend

Last Updated 28 May 2014