Our roundup of the best music festivals in London in 2025, from the start of spring till the last rays of September sunshine. Indie, dance, jazz, pop, hip-hop, flamenco — it's all here and much more besides. Here's how to have it large without leaving the capital.
ROUNDHOUSE THREE SIXTY: A month-long torrent of music, spoken word, theatre, visual arts, podcasts and club nights are promised for the brand new Roundhouse Three Sixty festival. Corinne Bailey Ray performs her acclaimed 2023 album Black Rainbows in full and Big Boys writer Jack Rooke curates a cabaret-club-comedy night, Show Hole — among a mother lode of other happenings. 1-30 April
LA LINEA: Ushering Latin colour into the mizzly London springtime, La Linea features top acts — including Asturian/Spanish-folk-with-beats performer Rodrigo Cuevas and genre-blending outfit Francisco, el Hombre, at venues including the Jazz Cafe, Islington Assembly Hall and Barbican. 22 April-5 May
BRICK LANE JAZZ FESTIVAL: Rich Mix hosts three days of fresh jazz featuring Ragz Originale, Adi Oasis, Laraaji and dozens more. If you're so inclined, you can also get stuck into an afterparty at Village Underground on the Saturday. 25-27 April
POLYGON: Inviting you to forget everything you know about festivals, while boarding their '360º spaceship' Polygon Live London invades Crystal Palace Park at the start of May, with performances from Arooj Aftab, Gold Panda and Nitin Sawhney. The idea is that you feel the music 'above, under, and through' you. You may be vibrating for the rest of the summer. 2-4 May
INCINERATION: Bands with names like Decapitated and Blood Incantation signal the kind of ear drum-popping commotion you can expect at this Roundhouse one-day festival, which is, after all, called Incineration. 3 May
BRIXTON DISCO FESTIVAL: A disco festival gyrating away in the venues around Brixton's Windrush Square (inc. the Ritzy, Electric and Brixton Jamm)? Tbh we're already sold, and a juicy lineup featuring Norman Jay, Melvo Baptiste and Dimitri from Paris certainly doesn't hurt either. 3 May
QUEEN'S YARD SUMMER PARTY: Over 20 hip Hackney Wick venues come alive with house, techno and disco — pumped out by crews inc. Emergency Room, Ransom Note and Spicy Juliet. Throw in ticker tape explosions and canal-side drinking, and you've got yourself a time of it. 3 May
DESERTFEST: Zeal & Ardor, Amenra, Pallbearer and Conan are on the docket at the Roundhouse's 12th incarnation of Desertfest, a musical orgy of stoner rock, doom and psych. 16-18 May
WIDE AWAKE: Wide Awake festival is a joyous cacophony of left-fielders from the worlds of indie, post-punk and techno. 2025 headliners at this hip Brockwell Park gathering include CMAT (maybe you saw her on Jools Holand's last Hootenanny?), Kneecap (maybe you've heard about them in the news lately), and English Teacher, whose album This Could Be Texas was one of the most celebrated of 2024. 23 May
GALA: Dance away the second May bank holiday at GALA in Peckham Rye Park, an al fresco beano featuring house, techno, jungle, drum 'n' bass, jazz, disco... it goes on. At time of writing, this year's artists are yet to be announced. 23-25 May
SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL: The UK's biggest independent rock festival, Slam Dunk returns to Hatfield Park (just outside London, but we'll allow it). Don ankle-length shorts and mosh to a stacked lineup feat. Alkaline Trio, Less Than Jake and A Day To Remember. 24 May
FIELD DAY: 2025 sees a new home for Field Day — namely Brockwell Park — for a buffet of rizzy acts including Chickie, Girls Don't Sync and Skream & Benga. 24 May
CROSS THE TRACKS: Hot on the heels of Field Day, Cross The Tracks takes up the Brockwell Park baton — a bangarang of funk, jazz and classic soul with 2025's headliners including Michael Kiwanuka and Jordan Rakei. 25 May
CITY SPLASH: You've probably spotted a theme emerging. City Splash comes to, yup, Brockwell Park the day after Cross the Tracks, embracing reggae, dancehall and Afrobeat by jampacking 60+ artists across seven stages. Tarrus Riley, Spice and Valiant are among the first of the biggies confirmed. 26 May
FLAMENCO FESTIVAL: Transport yourself to the balmy climes of Andalusia, with Sadler's Wells' Flamenco Festival, a veritable feast of acoustic guitars and lightning-fast footwork, played out in Sadler's Wells' three London theatres, plus a smattering of other venues. Sara Baras, 'Queen of Flamenco' no less, is on the bill. 27 May-8 June
PUB IN THE PARK: What do you get if you mix Glastonbury Latitude with Saturday Kitchen? Pub in the Park of course — the roving culinary/music fest pitching up in Gunnersbury Park (among various other Home Counties parks). Mainstream artists — this year including Soul II Soul and Jack Savoretti — provide the soundtrack, and there are talks/live cookery demos from chefs you'll know from TV. 30 May-1 June
MIGHTY HOOPLA: Yes, yes, it's Brockwell Park again, this time for the poptastic Mighty Hoopla, an unabashedly glittery blowout that's catchy as it is camp. For two days, pop pickers can feast on sunshiney performances from Jade, Pixie Lott and — well this is a blast from the past — Daphne and Celeste! 31 May-1 June
LAMBETH COUNTRY SHOW: Not a music festival per se, the free entry Lambeth Country Show (again Brockwell Park) does feature a heck of a lot of live music (gospel choirs, brass bands, orchestras, soul outfits and roots) with 2025's main stage headliners including Loose Ends, YolanDa Brown and Steam Down (Sat) and Aswad and Johnny Osbourne (Sun). There's also a vegetable sculpture competition for those interested. 7-8 June
HAMPTON COURT PALACE FESTIVAL: Want a taste of pop royalty? Hampton Court Palace Festival's two-week shindig is back this June (it's individual shows rather than a festival), ready to welcome you with a flute of champagne and space for a picnic, before performances from Chaka Khan, Elbow or Bananarama — sounds like a cool, cool summer... 11-21 June
MELTDOWN: Speaking of Chaka Khan... she curated the Southbank Centre's 2024 Meltdown Festival. This year, it's the turn of Little Simz to pick the line-up, which includes The Streets, Jon Batiste and Mahalia. 12-22 June
BST HYDE PARK: On the eclectic line up for 2025's BST Hyde Park are Olivia Rodrigo (27 June) and Sabrina Carpenter (5 July) among others. Some other artists have already sold out, although the organisers haven't done announcing everyone yet. Bad news for Hugh Jackman fans though; his BST show has been spiked. From 27 June
SPITALFIELDS MUSIC FESTIVAL: An imaginative take on Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood courtesy of Ninfea Crutwell-Reade, and Litha Efthymiou's exploration of womanhood and identity, Cover Her, are among the performances on the docket at the highbrow Spitalfields Music Festival. 1-9 July
KEW THE MUSIC: BYOP (bring your own picnic) for Kew The Music, featuring a series of gigs in the grounds of Kew Gardens. These evenings are on the laid back side (think bread sticks not glow sticks), this year's acts including Craig David, Alison Moyet and UB40. 8-13 July
SOMERSET HOUSE: North London star Freya Ridings, hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks and singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun are among those who'll play in the courtyard at Somerset House Summer Series. Minimum mud/maximum transport links — lovely stuff. 10-20 July
WIRELESS: Three-day Wireless Festival swaggers into Finsbury Park once again, hitting you left, right and centre with on-fleek rap and hip-hop stars. It's just that, at time of writing, we don't know which stars. 11-13 July
KALEIDOSCOPE FESTIVAL: The grounds of Ally Pally explode into life with the sounds of Faithless, Goldie and Beatles Dub Club at this year's Kaleidoscope Festival. The comedy offering is tasty too, including Shaparak Khorsandi and Andrew Maxwell. 12 July
PROMS: If you count the BBC Proms as a music festival, then it's surely the swishest of the lot. It sees nigh-on two full months of live performances at the Royal Albert Hall and a few other participating venues. Though the focus is on classical music, there's an increasing number of shows celebrating modern and contemporary sounds. Read our dedicated guide. 18 July-13 September
FOLK BY THE OAK: Travel a few miles outside London to find yourself at the sylvan Folk by the Oak festival in Hatfield Park. Embrace music from Bear's Den, Kate Rusby and Fisherman's Friends— and participate in knitting workshops. In short: a proper chill one. 20 July
JUNCTION 2: Many dance music festivals grace London this summer, but Junction 2 in Boston Manor Park is the only London festival we're aware of where you party beneath a flyover. Acts this year include Charlotte De Witte and Job Jobse. 25-27 July
KISSTORY ON BLACKHEATH: DJ AG, Oxide & Neutrino, DJ Luck & MC Neat, Baby D, and Lisa Maffia & MC Romeo are on the bill of this old skool one-dayer. 26 July
SOUTH FACING FESTIVAL: Crystal Palace Park's 'rusty laptop' flips open to host what is essentially a run of one-off shows throughout August. Basement Jaxx are among the acts this year (and have added a date after the first sold out), with Mogwai, Busta Rhymes and Tinlicker also due to appear. 8-24 August
LABYRINTH: UPDATE: THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL HAS NOW SOLD OUT FOR 2025! A newbie on the circuit for 2025, and quite the setting, too! Labyrinth on the Thames borrows the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College for two weekends of musical performances, light shows and more. It's early days line-up wise, but South Africa's Black Coffee is set to appear on 1 August, becoming the first DJ ever to officially headline the venue. First two weekends of August
51ST STATE: Party in the USA but make it London, as transatlantic festival 51st State returns to Barnet's Copthall Playing Fields this summer — embracing house, garage, R'n'B, disco and soul. Not much info right now though, soz. 2 August
KING'S CROSS SUMMER SOUNDS: A free music, dance and performance festival at Coal Drops Yard, King's Cross Summer Sounds is a heady brew of jazz, classical, dance, indie... it goes on. Highlights include a turn from world-renowned flamenco guitarist Paco Peña, and an evening of show songs, as performed by West End stars. 7-17 August
ALL POINTS EAST: All Points East returns with three days of curated music this August, headed by Chase and Status, RAYE and The Maccabees. It's really three mini festivals tacked together, but if you fancy going to all three, then who are we to stop you. 22-24 August
RALLY: "Come together for a common purpose" is the theme of 2025's Rally festival in Southwark Park, where artists include Floating Points and CASISDEAD, and attendees are encouraged to immerse themselves in collaborative art installations, interactive workshops and dedicated spaces for dialogue. 23 August
SOUL TOWN: The mighty Dionne Warwick, Lisa Stansfield and Shalamar top the bill at this laid-back one-dayer in Beckenham. Genuinely, the thought of Dionne Warwick at Croydon Road Recreation Ground is blowing our mind a bit. 6 September
BRASSWORKS: A one-day blowout (blowout being the operative word), Brassworks celebrates the brassier side of music, with a 'Carnival of Horns' parade, and live performances throughout the day in and around Woolwich Works. As well as appearances from the likes of Bollywood Brass Band and Chineke! there's a community call-out, where all and sundry are invited to dust off their old instruments, and join in the carnival. 6 September.
WATERWORKS: Gunnersbury Park plays host to dance music beano Waterworks, with various stages — Water Tower, Orbit, Cedar — showcasing SGT Pokes, Mad Professor (both Croydonian legends) and many more presumably not from Croydon. 13 September
Any big ones we've missed? Tell us the comments below or email [email protected]. We'll update this article as more events are announced.
