Biggest Pop and Rock Music Festivals in the UK
Dates, Locations & Line-ups of the UK's Major Summer Music Festivals
Mar 23, 2009
Glastonbury Festival: Line-up and Details
What: The daddy of them all, the Glastonbury Festival Of Contemporary Performing Arts (or Glasto for short) has become a British institution since its free-festival hippy roots in the early 1970s. Now a modern marvel of planning, logistics and sophisticated security arrangements, it has far more to offer than just bands, with a full complement of cinemas, performance artists, new age areas, dance-tents and, often, impromptu mud-slides on display.
When: 24th-28th June
Where: Worthy Farm, near Glastonbury, Somerset
Headliners: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Blur, Neil Young
Best of the rest: Franz Ferdinand, Fleet Foxes and Major Major, with many more still to be announced.
Reading and Leeds Festivals: Line-up and Details
What: Known as The Carling Weekend between 1998 and 2007, this dual-site festival has parted company with its former sponsor and has now officially reverted to its time-honoured title for the legendary Reading Festival and the Leeds Festival for its decade-old younger sibling. The full line-ups play both sites on different days.
When: 28th-30th August
Where: Richfield Avenue, Reading and Bramham Park, Leeds.
Headliners: To be announced
Best of the rest: Rise Against, Anti-Flag, 36 Crazyfists
The Isle Of Wight Festival: Line-up and Details
What: The 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival went down in history as an event to rival Woodstock, with an estimated attendance of around 600,000 and acts including Jimi Hendrix, The Who and The Doors. Revived in 2002, the scale is now much more modest but then so is that of every other festival these days and The Isle Of Weight continues to attract comparatively large crowds and major mainstream and mainstream-alternative acts.
When: 12th-14th June
Where: Seaclose Park, Newport, The Isle Of Wight
Headliners: The Prodigy, Stereophonics, Neil Young
Best of the rest: Basement Jaxx, Pendulum, The Ting Tings, Razorlight, The Pixies, Maximo Park, The Zombies, The Charlatans, Ultravox, White Lies, The View, The Australian Pink Floyd Show
V Festival / V2009: Line-up and Details
What: Often seen as the most mainstream of the UK's major festivals, the Virgin Group-sponsored V Festival is a compact two-day only event with a twin-site format similar to that of the Reading and Leeds festivals.
When: 22nd-23rd August
Where: Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire
Headliners: The Killers, Oasis
Best of the rest: The Saturdays, Razorlight, The Specials, Lily Allen, Fatboy Slim, Pendulum, The Ting Tings, Happy Mondays, Pete Doherty, Snow Patrol, Elbow, James, Biffy Clyro, Keane, Paulo Nutini, Dizzee Rascal, MGMT, Lady Gaga, The Streets
T In The Park: Line-up and Details
What: Scotland's largest festival, T In The Park takes its name from brewery and main sponsors Tennents and for the past few years has shared its line-up with the concurrent Oxegen Festival in Ireland, although the two events are not officially twinned.
When: 11th-13th July
Where: Balado, Kinross-shire
Headliners: Kings Of Leon, The Killers, Blur
Best of the rest: Franz Ferdinand, Maximo Park, Razorlight, The Specials, James, Snow Patrol, Elbow, Bloc Party, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Mars Volta, Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, Keane, Pendulum, Manic Street Preachers, Glasvegas, Pet Shop Boys, Mogwai, Pete Doherty
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