The best: Festivals and outdoor gigs around the North this summer

As always, Parklife takes over Heaton Park to dominate the northern festival calendar this June with a customary parade of A-list musical talent, with tickets already in short supply and back garden tents cropping up all over the city.

This year, Calvin Harris is set to bring his trademark festival-ready floor-fillers with a headline set, alongside Sammy Virji, Skepta, Zara Larsson, Chris Stussy and many more.

Featuring Olivia Dean, Niall Horan, Fatboy Slim and Ellie Goulding, Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2026 heads to Sunderland’s picturesque Herrington Country Park to entertain 100,000 revellers with over 100 live acts across three days.

Keep up to date with the latest line-up announcements and ticket details below.

Transforming the May Bank Holiday weekend into a British millennial nostalgia trip starring Richard Ashcroft, Kaiser Chiefs, Blossoms, Example, Razorlight and more, Warrington’s Neighbourhood Weekender relives the halcyon days of noughties indie and pop music in the unsung DMZ between Manchester and Merseyside.

Stretching across five days of throwback abandon, Lytham Festival returns to the Lancashire coast with a staggeringly impressive line-up featuring the likes of Michael Buble, Alanis Morrisette, Lil Jon and Pet Shop Boys, culminating in a bald cap carnival courtesy of Pitbull.

Voted Best New Festival at the 2022 UK Festival Awards, Radar heads back to Victoria Warehouse this July for three full days of mosh-friendly madness.

This year, the stages welcome international talent like Skindred, Thy Art is Murder, Animals as Leaders and more.

From breakbeat, reggae and techno to dubstep, house and drum and bass, the legendary electronic extravaganza takes over Dockber Farm for another instalment of digital dance delight spread across countless stages and spaces, including Sigma, Wilkinson and even Faithless.

This August, the UK’s biggest dance festival invites ravers from across the generations to two-step across the Cheshire countryside with another colossal line-up and returning features from 2025 including a wellness-oriented Downtown district and a 15,000-capacity Teletech arena.

This year’s headliners include Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren and Ibiza legend Carl Cox.

Created by music lovers ‘who felt the fabulous fields of the lake district could be put to better use’, Kendal Calling’s mix of stunning surroundings and consistently incredible lineups has cemented its status as Britain’s most scenic shindig. This year’s lineup is particularly impressive, with Two Door Cinema Club, Biffy Clyro and Wolf Alive topping the bill.

Just a short trip up to t’Yorkshire, Leeds remains a perennial festival behemoth and this year’s billing is a testament to its international pulling power – this year’s typically genre-hopping line-up includes Charli XCX, Chase and Status, Dave, Skepta, Fontaines D.C., Raye, Role Model and many, many more.

Sounds of the City always delivers a hugely special few days at Castlefield Bowl, and the latest lineup suggests 2025 will be no different, with Johnny Marr, The Streets, Sex Pistols and Hacienda Classical all set to appear across seven hazy evenings in the city centre.

Back over the Pennines, Sheffield’s beloved retro party gathers more indie luminaries at Hillsborough Park and brings in a selection of 90s giants for reinforcements, with Fatboy Slim, Courteeners and Wolf Alice performing alongside Blossoms, Wetleg and Rick Astley.

The annual multi-venue celebration of all things psych is set to take over some of the city’s most iconic establishments, including o2 Ritz, Projekts Skatepark, Gorilla, YES and Deaf Institute and more. The Beta Band, Stereolab, Ty Segall and Working Men’s Club are a few of the names appearing this year, with a whole host of other activities like workshops, films and art running throughout the festivities.

Described as a ’boutique festival in a bull field’, Moovin has established itself as one of the region’s best small festivals since its debut in 2016, hosted at the sprawling Whitebottom Farm. For 2026, the boutique bonanza welcomes Groove Armada, 2ManyDJs, Gilles Peterson and countless others for an unforgettable weekend in the countryside.

The much-loved community-focused Green Island is back in its unique three-part format for 2026, taking over Hulme Community Garden Centre with a nature-oriented jamboree on select dates throughout the summer.

Beginning as a 150-person capacity event in 2021 with just two stages, the past five years have seen Green Island evolve to become a staple event in Manchester’s grassroots music scene, cherished for its commitment to celebrating multiculturalism, individualism and music in all its diversity of sounds and forms.

On Thu 27 & Fri 28 Aug, rock royalty The Kooks and urban icons The Streets will be heading to Sheffield Don Valley’s Rock N Roll Circus, backed by impressive day-long billings that include the likes of Milburn, Miles Kane, Babyshambles and CASISDEAD.

On Saturday, Wunderhorse headline a day of music featuring Baxter Dury, English Teacher and Fat Dog, while Sunday’s finale sees Richard Ashcroft, The Fratellis, Embrace and more close out an unforgettable line-up.

Just three years after being unveiled as Manchester’s newest outdoor gig venue, Live from Wythenshawe Park has pulled in another huge trio of gigs for this summer. On Sat 22 Aug, Lewis Capaldi and special guest Loyle Carner head to South Manchester, while the following weekend welcomes Courteeners, The Vaccines and The Coral before The Prodigy, Carl Cox and Andy C deliver a day of dance for the ages on Sunday.

Genuine champions of unearthing the next big thing, Salford’s Sounds from the Other City returns with another day of music spread across various legendary venues around Manchester’s proud neighbouring district.

Boasting another eclectic lineup curated by a diverse group of independent local promoters and selectors, SFTOC will once again feature some of the best emerging artists from across the UK.