The Great Escape, Brighton
Spread across over 30 venues in Brighton and featuring 450 emerging artists, this year’s Great Escape boasts a Brighton Palace Pier takeover featuring Slaves, R&B singer Ray BLK and Mancunian post-punks Cabbage, a club night programmed by the sound of young London, New Gen, and in what has in the past three years become the festival’s late-night grime slot, a Kano takeover with Little Simz, Ghetts, Kojo Funds, DJ Maximum and DJs Elijah and Skilliam.
- 18-20 May, day ticket £42, weekend £65, greatescapefestival.com
Sunfall, London
After a successful 2016 debut, the “festival of two halves” returns. The day event is followed by a series of all-night parties across the capital. This year’s lineup features Rush Hour’s Antal, one of techno’s founding fathers Derrick May and electric rapper Princess Nokia. Party on at nights run by Numbers, Rhythm Section, Horse Meat Disco and more.
- 12 August, tickets from £55, sunfall.co.uk
Baltic Weekender, Liverpool
The result of a union between two ambitious Liverpool nightlife brands, 24 Kitchen Street and Abandon Silence, the weekender is a celebration taking place in the city’s Baltic Triangle development. The debut event takes place across five locations and features Goldie, label founder Moxie, Studio Barnhus’s Axel Boman and Berghain resident DVS1.
- 2-4 June, day ticket £15, weekend from £30, facebook.com/balticweekender
Demon Dayz, Margate
Named after their second studio album, Demon Dayz marks the return of everyone’s favourite alt-animated trip-hop fusion concept band, Gorillaz. The band, who released their fifth album, Humanz, at the end of April, headline, with some nifty visuals, while the rest of the lineup will be curated by IRL band members Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett and announced soon.
- 10 June, from £60, demondayzfestival.com
Afropunk, London
A powerful event celebrating black culture, Afropunk returns to London for another weekend of cutting edge music, this year featuring none other than teen idol Willow Smith alongside grime star JME, leftfield rapper Danny Brown, pop-soul from Lianne La Havas, poet Saul Williams and bass virtuoso Thundercat.
- 22-23 July, day ticket £50, weekend £90, afropunkfest.com/london
Love Saves The Day, Bristol
Everyone knows Brizzle likes a good skank in the sunshine. Whack Kiwi dub bandits and backpacker favourites Fat Freddy’s Drop on the bill and its clear this festival is on to a winner. They’ll be playing alongside Kate Tempest, Little Dragon and Mura Masa along with plenty of acts to get people raving, from Shy FX and Zed Bias to Kano and Heatwave.
- 27-28 May, day ticket from £45, weekend from £75, lovesavestheday.org
Edinburgh international festival
The music lineup has recently been announced for the annual Edinburgh festival, which transforms the city every summer. PJ Harvey will be performing, as will Benjamin Clementine, who went from busking in Paris to winning the Mercury prize, but as usual the programme is vast and impressive, with plenty of classical and opera, too.
- 4-28 August, free–£60, eif.co.uk
Manchester international festival
MiF takes place over 18 days and spans a huge range of arts, performances and events. On the music front it has a strong selection of boundary pushing acts, including deep-thinking producer and sound artist Holly Herndon and south-London’s latest star Sampha alongside electronic dons New Order.
- 29 June-16 July, £12–£49.50, mif.co.uk
Tramlines, Sheffield
Celebrating the city’s thriving music scene, Tramlines takes place across multiple venues and outdoor stages. The lineup this year is a diverse bunch, including pop-soul favourites All Saints and ska legends Toots and the Maytals along with newer acts Goat Girl, Jerry Williams and Jalen N’Gonda.
- 21-23 July, weekend tickets from £49.50, tramlines.org.uk
Wild Life, Brighton
Wild Life is curated by Disclosure and Rudimental and the lineup reflects their club-focused tastes, with grime’s finest Stormzy, JME, Wiley and Dizzee, Fatboy Slim and Eric Prydz, plus Damian Marley, Jess Glynne and Chaka Khan.
- 9-10 June, day ticket from £65, weekend from £116, wildlifefestival.com
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