The best music festivals in London

Get your hotpants on – this one-day festival in Brixton will take you back to the disco era with a spin of the glitterball. It takes place over four Brixton venues: the Ritzy, the Black Cultural Archives, the Prince of Wales and Electric Brixton. Plus there’s an actual roller disco on Windrush Square and disco legend Evelyn 'Champagne' King performing all her classics including 'Love Come Down' and 'Shame'. Oh, and keep an eye out for two huge headliners being announced in early 2019. 

The rave behemoth known as Arcadia returns to London for a huge two-day outdoor party. Having become a fixture at Glastonbury in recent years, its iconic spider structure (pictured) will be appearing exclusively at this bash in the capital in 2019. Music acts will be announced at a later date, but for a taster of how things go down at Arcadia, check out the highlights video embedded.

Over the last six years We Are FSTVL has established itself as one of the seriously big guns among the new generation of dance festivals. Okay, it’s technically in Essex, not London, but it’s still a firm favourite with Londoners, seeing as you can get there on the tube. Big-name dance behemoths and equally big production values are key to the WAF experience. House and techno of all shapes and sizes are the main ingredients here, but you’ll also find, grime, garage and bassier flavours too. The 2019 line-up hasn't been announced yet, but it's highly unlikely to disappoint.

This May gathering has a big focus on street food and craft beer alongside the DJ-driven artists line-up – beats and eats, as it were. For 2019 it’s returning for the second consecutive year to Peckham Rye Park. The musical roster is still under wraps, but expect well-regarded big names from the worlds of house, disco and electronica.

Croydon's brand new urban music festival doesn't lack ambition: Lloyd Park will welcome 15,000 music lovers a day from Friday through Sunday, and Nas, Damian Marley and Wizkid have been booked as headliners. With many more acts still to be announced, it's still early days, but The Ends is definitely off to a strong start.  

Returning for a second year after its successful 2018 launch, All Points East is an eclectic 10-day festival that takes over Victoria Park in late May and early June. The opening and closing three-day weekends are given over to music, with 2019 headliners including Christine and the Queens, The Chemical Brothers, Bon Iver and Bring Me the Horizon. In between there are four days of community-driven entertainment on the site, with comedy, film screenings, street food and much more. Those four days are free to enter, with some ticketed events inside. All in all then, a pretty epic event. 

Over the last decade Field Day has slowly become one of London’s very best music festivals, with a consistently excellent booking policy covering the world’s finest alternative acts. This year marks another big change for the event; after last year’s move from east London’s Victoria Park to Brixton’s Brockwell Park, it's relocating again – this time to four huge warehouses in Enfield. The line-up is typically on-point, though, with Skepta and Jorja Smith headlining a bill that also includes Diplo, Earl Sweatshirt and Pusha T. 

Calling all techno heads: in 2019, this bangin' festival is spreading out over two days for the first time. Junction 2 is a meeting of some pretty serious minds (London Warehouse Events and Adam Beyer’s Drumcode label) and takes place in Boston Manor Park in Zone 4, which has never been used for a festival before this one. Once again, the line-up is stacked with top DJ talent, and if you get technoed out at any point, there’s actually a bit of nature to explore amongst the towering industrial backdrop.

Friday line-up includes Ben UFO, Bicep, Call Super, Craig Richards, Daniel Avery, Daphni, Jeremy Underground, Job Jobse, Mr G [selectors DJ set], Motor City Drum Ensemble, Peach, rRoxymore, Shanti Celeste, Umfang

Saturday line-up includes Adam Beyer, Apollonia, Craig Richards, Dax J, Etapp Kyle, Ida Engberg, Imogen, Joseph Capriati, Maceo Plex, Nicolas Lutz, Richie Hawtin, San Proper, Sonja Moonear, tINI, Voigtmann 

For the seventh year running Hyde Park plays host to some of the planet’s biggest musical stars, with an upmarket festival vibe that takes in small stages, theatre and comedy, food and drink and a posh VIP area. The first 2019 headliners to be announced are London's own alt-rock queen Florence and the Machine, and – taking a break from his Vegas residency – Robbie Williams. Oh, and a little artist called Celine Dion is headlining too... Line-up includes:  Fri Jul 5: Celine Dion Sat Jul 13: Florence and the Machine, The National, Lykke Li, Khruangbin, Nadine Shah Sun Jul 14: Robbie Williams  BUY TICKETS TO BRITISH SUMMER TIME HERE

The UK's biggest urban festival takes over Finsbury Park for three days every summer. Expect a busy, unpretentious atmosphere and superstar headliners from both sides of the Atlantic. 

Consistently one of the finest festivals in London, catering for cool kids and party monsters alike, Lovebox generally packs as much fun into two days as many festivals manage in three. This year will be its second in west London's Gunnersbury Park, but the vibe hasn't changed since its many years out east. The music policy will no doubt remain the same eclectic, enticing mix of, well, everything really – from DJs to arty bands to feelgood pop to indie, plus the usual mix of kooky entertainment and activities alongside.  

If we’re being honest, Sundays at a festival are usually a bit of a damp squib. After days of abuse, both your inflatable mattress and soul are dangerously deflated. Going to a festival on a Sunday all fresh and rested, on the other hand, sounds a lot more appealing, especially if it’s tailor-made for the day of rest – which is where Citadel comes in. Returning to Gunnersbury Park once again as the calmer post-Lovebox antidote, Citadel has more of a chilled vibe to it, but still boasts some top musical acts, plus all manner of other pursuits, including comedy, arts, talks, workshops and lots of top food and drink. 

Last year, ever-inventive DJ Artwork took his Art’s House party – which began in his own home, a good few years ago – to the next level by making a whole darn one-day festival out of it. Returning in 2019 to the same, oasis-like venue between Bow and Stratford, Art's House smartly bucks the festival trend of simply heaving name DJs on to a bill. For this one-dayer, Artwork is joined by just one guest who, at the time of writing, has yet to be announced. Both will be playing all day on this fab little slice of (relative) London isolation, plus there's street food, good booze and various entertainments galore. If anyone knows how to throw a party, it’s Artwork.

Clapham Common’s bank holiday dance music explosion returns for another weekend of big drops, club anthems and arms in the air. If you’re longing for superstar DJs but can’t afford Ibiza and are loath to spend the last days of summer in a dark room, head to SW4 for your fix of big-room house, EDM, electro, techno and trance, as well as other genres creeping in from all angles. The 2019 line-up is typically bangin', boasting The Prodigy, Martin Garrix, Tinie Tempah, Craig David, Mabel and more.