Whilst it’s pouring with rain outside, what could be better than to remember last summer’s festival antics and start planning to do it all again? Weren’t lucky enough to get Glastonbury tickets? Still deciding whether to stay in the UK or seek sun, sea and sand alongside the music? ‘Tis the season for line-up reveals, so here’s a handy guide to the acts announced so far for our favourite festivals, as well as the dates and where to buy tickets.
UK festivals
Staying in the UK is always a popular choice with us poor students. Whether you’re considering Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds and Bestival, or bucking the trend and going to Latitude, Download or Wireless, here is a quick summary of the first acts that you can expect if you’re willing to risk the weather and pitch your tent into British soil.
Reading & Leeds: 22nd-24th August
Headliners so far: Arctic Monkeys and Blink 182.
Best of the rest: Warpaint, SBTRKT, Royal Blood, Disclosure (live) and Metronomy.
The rest: The 1975, Jake Bugg, Courteeners, You Me at Six, Of Mice and Men, Wilkinson, I Am Legion, Netsky, Annie Mac, Architects, Pusha T, Krept and Konan and Hozier.
With dozens more acts and a third headliner yet to be announced, Reading and Leeds is a classic festival choice which leans towards indie and rock acts. The organisers have so far secured a mixture of big, stadium acts and up-and-comers like Royal Blood and Architects.
Buy tickets here.
Glastonbury, Somerset: 25th-29th June
Headliners so far: Arcade Fire.
Rumoured acts: Kasabian, Elbow, Depeche Mode, Foo Fighters and Daft Punk.
Eternally secretive, very little has been announced for Glastonbury, and as always, speculation is rife. Favourites to play Fleetwood Mac have since said they won’t be at the festival, but all is not lost – Arcade Fire have been confirmed as one of the three headliners following their stunning fourth album Reflektor, released last year.
The most oversubscribed UK festival, those who didn’t get tickets will have another chance in April when the resale is held.
Isle of Wight: 12th-15th June
Headliners: Biffy Clyro, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kings of Leon.
Best of the rest: The Specials, Duke Dumont, Chloe Howl, The Horrors and Calvin Harris.
The rest: Dappy, Clean Bandit, Deap Valley, From the Jam, Gorgon City, John Newman, Jury Talk, Lawson, Neon Jungle, Nina Nesbitt, Peace, Passenger, Rudimental, Swim Deep, The 1975, The Move, The Polyphonic Spree, The Selecter, The Strypes, The Vamps, The Waterboys and Travis.
The Isle of Wight festival welcomes back Biffy Clyro as a headliner alongside Kings of Leon and the hugely popular Red Hot Chili Peppers. Solid headliners are complemented by an odd mix of acts so far, including Dappy, Neon Jungle and Travis. This festival isn’t too far from Bestival, but takes place at the beginning of the summer.
Buy tickets here.
Bestival, the Isle Of Wight: 4th-7th September
Headliners so far: Beck, Outkast and Foals.
Best of the rest: London Grammar, Major Lazer, Caribou, Disclosure and Chvrches.
The rest: Sam Smith, Wild Beasts, Clean Bandit and Laura Mvula.
When the summer is coming to an end, there’s still Bestival to look forward to! The organisers really know how to assemble a crowd-pleasing line-up, with an eclectic mix of tried-and-tested acts such as Foals, and relative newcomers Sam Smith and Chvrches added to the bill so far. Beck’s presence is an important one; a much anticipated twelfth album is released at the end of February. This year’s theme is ‘Desert Island Disco’.
Buy tickets here.
Latitude, Suffolk: 17th-20th July
Headliners so far: Damon Albarn and Two Door Cinema Club.
Best of the rest: Tame Impala, Bombay Bicycle Club, Willis Earl Beal, First Aid Kit and Hall & Oats.
The rest: Slowdive, Agnes Obel, Jungle, Damien Jurado, Julia Holter, Valerie June, Koreless, Kwabs, East India Youth, Eagulls, Fat White Family, Royksopp and Robyn, Booker T. Jones, Phosphorescent, Nils Frahm, Goat, Cass McCombs, San Fermin, Son Lux, Josephine Foster, Anna Calvi, Billy Bragg, Haim and Marika Hackman.
Latitude has an interesting line-up this year, with an unusual headliner in Damon Albarn. Popular acts such as Tame Impala and Bombay Bicycle Club are joined by an excellent selection of smaller acts such as First Aid Kit, Willis Earl Beal and Marika Hackman.
Buy tickets here.
Wireless, London and Birmingham: 4th-6th July
Headliners: Kanye West, Drake and Bruno Mars.
Best of the rest: Pharrell Williams, Ella Eyre, Azealia Banks, Chance the Rapper and Iggy Azalea.
The rest: Earl Sweatshirt, Basement Jaxx, Angel Haze, Rudimental, Wiz Khalifa, Pretty Lights, ASAP Ferg, Outkast, Ellie Goulding, John Newman, Clean Bandit, Salt N Pepa and Neon Jungle.
Don’t want to live in a field? This year’s Wireless Festival boasts an incredible line-up for fans of urban music, with many more artists still to be announced. Big American acts are the order of the day, with the eternally-popular Kanye West joined by Pharrell Williams and Drake.
Buy tickets here.
Download, Leicestershire: 13th-15thJune
Headliners: Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park and Aersomith.
The best of the rest: Steel Panther, Rob Zombie, Dillinger Escape Plan, Trivium and Fall Out Boy.
The rest: The Offspring, Status Quo, Alter Bridge, Bowling for Soup, Killswitch Engage, Skindred, Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Arcane Roots, Opeth, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Used and Huntress (plus many more).
The festival for fans of rock and metal in all their glorious forms, this year’s Download line-up so far is a rather interesting one, with old rockers Status Quo and Aerosmith jostling for space with nostalgia-evokers The Offspring and spoof band Steel Panther.
Buy tickets here.
Europe and beyond
There are obvious advantages to looking further afield for your festival choice this summer. Festivals in Spain and Croatia will – almost- guarantee a sunny experience, and the tickets are often cheaper. You’ll find your money goes a long way in Hungary and Croatia. Why not have the best of both worlds and go on holiday to a music festival?
Outlook Festival, Croatia: 3rd-7th September
Headliners so far: Busta Rhymes
Best of the rest: Barrington Levy, Goldie, Kaytranada, Skeptical and Hannah Wants.
The rest: DJ Premier, Andy C, Jah Shaka, Moodymann, Michael Prophet, Friction, DJ Marky, Zinc, Floating Points, Loefah, Ranking Joe, MJ Cole, Iration Steppas, Calibre, Onra, Bishop Nehru, Youngsta and Pinch (plus many more).
The annual pilgramage for those who like it bassy, Fort Punto in Pula, Croatia once again hosts Outlook Festival. Old favourite Busta Rhymes will be sharing the bill with a host of young acts, the presence of which have really come to define the genre.
Buy tickets here.
Primavera Sound, Barcelona: 28th-31st May
Headliners: Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, The National, Pixies, Nine Inch Nails and Kendrick Lamar.
Best of the rest: Disclosure, Foals, Blood Orange, St. Vincent and Pond.
The rest: Neutral Milk Hotel, Metronomy, Chvrches, Slowdive, Darkside, Haim, John Grant, Shellac, Midlake, Warpaint, Sun Ra Arkestra, Moderat, Jamie xx, SBTRKT, Jagwar Ma, The War on Drugs, Volcano Choir, Caetano Veloso, Cut Copy, Mogwai, Superchunk, Kronos Quartet and Black Lips (plus many more).
Perhaps boasting the most incredible line-up so far for summer 2014, Primavera Sound is worth getting on a plane for. Boasting five strong headliners (Nine Inch Nails letting the side down slightly), this is a must for those wanting to catch Kendrick Lamar, QOTSA and The National at the same festival. More modest talents such as Pond and Blood Orange complete the current line-up.
Buy tickets here.
Coachella, California: 11th-13th and 18th-20th April
Headliners: Oukast, Muse and Arcade Fire.
The best of the rest: The Knife, Bonobo, Beck, Lana Del Rey and Fatboy Slim.
The rest: Ellie Goulding, Chromeo, Haim, AFI, Martin Garrix, Bryan Ferry, Bastille, Flume, QOTSA, Skrillex, Pharrell Williams, Lorde, Foster the People, Pet Shop Boys, MGMT, Empire of the Sun, Nas, Kid Cudi, Sleigh Bells, Cage the Elephant, Chvrches, Calvin Harris, Disclosure, Motorhead, Beady Eye and The 1975 (plus many more).
Coachella is one of the only complete line-ups so far announced, so if you can get to California this April, (I’m going to bet you can’t) you won’t be in for any more surprises if you buy a ticket now. An example of a truly ecclectic line-up, where else can you see Motorhead, Bryan Ferry and Nas in the same weekend?
Buy tickets here.
Sziget, Budapest: 11th-18th August
Headliners: Not specified.
The best of the rest: Queens of the Stone Age, Calvin Harris, Placebo, Klaxons and Imagine Dragons.
The rest: Bastille, Stromae, Laidback Luke, Starlight Girls.
With the vast majority of its acts still to be announced, the line-up for Hungarian festival Sziget is already set to be rather international. Queens of the Stone Age play yet another festival, where choices such as Placebo and Klaxons are more unusual. The location – Budapest – makes this a unique festival.
Buy tickets here.
N.B. Pukkelpop in Belgium and Benicassim in Spain have not been included as they are yet to announce any acts.
