A mini guide to what i think are the best festivals over the summer in London this year from germans with flamethrowers, inflatable board games and air guitar competitions to bearded rock gods and legendary dance acts. Get out your tent, dust off your boots and get to the field it’s that time of year again!!
Apple Cart Festival
Date: July 25th
Location: Shoreditch Park
Ticket Price: £33
Summary: This is a brand new family friendly festival with an eclectic mix of music, comedy, art, cinema, magic and spoken word, designed to bring out the kid that’s in us all.
Highlights: St.Etienne are headlining the music front, the magic circle are running the magic side, shappi khorsandi is a highlight in the comedy tent, there’s also inflatable board games and a on site fully functioning screen printing workshop.
Rating: 7/10
iTunes Festival
Date: 1st-31st July
Location: Camden’s Roundhouse
Ticket Price: Given away for free to customers and through competitions
Summary: More than 60 artists performing over 31 consecutive nights. Every show is going to be recorded and subsequently available on itunes to own afterwards.It’s also going to be on ITV and aired on XFM
Highlights: Ozzy Osbourne, Faithless and The XX are personal favorites
Rating: 8/10
High Voltage Festival
Date: 24th-25th July
Location: Victoria Park
Ticket Price: £75 for day ticket or £135 for weekend ticket
Summary: This is the first year for London’s greatest celebration of classic rock, prog and metal over two days on three stages. There’s going to be an air guitar competition a real ale pub, a vinyl exchange, a classic car and motorbike exhibition and a ‘wall of death’ one of only two displays left in the UK where stunts are performed on top of a 20ft high wall.
Highlights: There are so many good bands; ZZ top are the headliners on the saturday supported by Heaven & Hell, Foreigner and Gary Moore and Emmerson Lake & Palmer are the headliners on the sunday on the main stage. Black Label Society and Down are the headliners on the Metal Hammer stage and a highlight on the prog stages are the phenomenal Opeth and headliners Marillion. Get your leather out and get your air guitars.
Rating: 8/10
Sonisphere Festival
Date: 30th July-1st August
Location: Knebworth House
Ticket Price: £157.50
Summary: If you can’t get all the way up north to go to Download this is the closest your going to get to that. This is the 2nd year of the festival, i went last year and it’s going to take some beating when i go again this year. There’s over 100 bands over 4 stages over 3 days. There’s also a comedy tent, a jagermeifter truck and a strongbow tent!!
Highlights: Iron Maiden and Rammstein are the headliners so expect unbelievably large stage shows from both. I’m expecting 30ft zombies and flamethrowers attached to faces. The list is endless in terms of top quality bands but here’s a few; Pendulum, motley crue, slayer, alice cooper, skunk anansie, placebo, iggy and the stooges, the cult, papa roach, alice in chains, anthrax, gallows, sick of it all, therapy?, soulfly, lacuna coil, fear factory, municipal waste, henry rollins spoken word oh and the mighty Tim Minchin in the comedy tent!!
Rating: 10/10
L.E.D Festival
Date: 27th-28th August
Location: Victoria Park
Ticket Price: £37.50 day ticket, £70 weekend ticket
Summary: Another new festival in London that displays some of the best electronic dance music out there. David Guetta headlines the friday with his only performance of the summer, supported by soulwax, audio bully’s and calvin harris. Saturday is headlined by the legendary Leftfield and is there only performance of 2010, supported by Goldfrapp, friendly fires, annie mac and Aphex Twin
Highlights: I am going on the saturday, having grown up listening to ‘Leftism’ it’s an opportunity not to miss these pioneers of dance music, i am also a huge Aphex Twin fan having been a collector of their vinyls so can’t wait to see the twisted freak for the first time
Rating: 9/10
Wireless Festival
Date: 2nd-4th July
Location: Hyde Park
Ticket Price: £47.50 per day
Summary: Jay Z is the headliner on the sunday, Pink is headliner on the friday and LCD soundsystem are headlining the saturday. Other acts include snoop dogg, D12, slash, lilly allen, plan B, Chase & Status, Friendly Fires, DJ shadow, Missy elliott and 2manydjs. There will also be a fairground, an acoustic bandstand, street theatre, performance art, markets and beer gardens
Highlights: Its got to be the motherfuckin D O double G
Rating: 7/10
Hard Rock Calling
Date: 25th-27th June
Location: Hyde park
Ticket Price: £47.50-£62.50 per day
Summary: This established 3 day rock and indie festival is an open air music event in the heart of london, during the peak of the summer. Pearl Jam headline the friday night supported by wolfmother, the hives, ben harper and the gaslight anthem. Stevie Wonder headlines the saturday supported by jamiroquai and james morrison. Headlining the sunday night is Paul McCartney.
Highlights: Seeing Pearl Jam play ‘Jeremy’ would be incredible and Stevie Wonder is a legend and will be truly amazing to watch
Rating: 8/10
South West Four
Date: 28th-29th August
Location: Clapham Common
Ticket Price: £45 for day ticket, £75 for a weekend ticket
Summary: London’s premier dance event returns for its 7th year. Some of the best dance music and dj’s around today. Saturday is headlined by Armin van Buuren supported by sasha, john digweed, paul oakenfold and jusge jules. Fatboy slim headlines the sunday supported by benga, carl cox, vitalic, boys noize and skream.
Highlights: Fatboy Slim always delivers and get’s you going, Although i never experienced the true rave scene of the late 80s and early 90s i would love to see Sasha as he is a true legend of the genre and would be extremley uplifting to have heard his set.
Rating: 9/10
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