List of music festivals in the United Kingdom

There are many notable music festivals in the United Kingdom, covering a wide variety of genres, which are usually run from late May to early September. Some are world-renowned and have been held for many years, including the world's largest greenfield festival, Glastonbury, which has been held since the 1970s.

Glastonbury Festival, England, 2016

History edit

 
Isle of Wight Festival 1969

Large-scale modern music festivals began in the 1960s with festivals such as the Isle of Wight Festival and following the success of Woodstock in the United States[citation needed] and free festivals. Some began as jazz festivals such as the Reading Festival which began as the National Jazz and Blues Festival in the 1960s and the first Glastonbury Festival was the 1970 Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival.

In the 21st century the number of festivals has grown significantly,

Events edit

Bluegrass edit

Classical and opera edit

Country edit

Dance and Electronic edit

Ethnic edit

Folk edit

 
The stage at Fairport's Cropredy Convention festival, Oxfordshire, in August 2009.

Jazz edit

Metal edit

Pop edit

Punk edit

Rock edit

 
The Main Stage at the 2006 Reading Festival.

Tribute act festivals edit

Cross-genre edit

See also edit

References edit

Bibliography edit

  • Andrew Blake (1997). The Land Without Music: Music, Culture and Society in Twentieth Century Britain. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719042997.
  • George McKay (2000). Glastonbury: A Very English Fair, inc. chapter one "Histories of festival culture", also "Timeline of British pop festival culture". London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-06807-8.
  • George McKay (2005). Circular Breathing: The Cultural Politics of Jazz in Britain, chapter one "New Orleans jazz, protest (Aldermaston) and carnival (Beaulieu [Jazz Festival 1956–60])". Durham NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3573-5.

External links edit