This is the worst time of year to be a festival fan. 2025’s season is over, and most (but not all) lineups for 2026 won’t be out for a while. Usually we’d be in a period of silence, so it’s exciting that a brand new major festival has just been announced in northern England.
Roundhay Festival is a brand new music festival coming to Leeds next year. It will be held in the city’s Roundhay Park, 700 acres of greenery and gardens which has previously played host to Madonna, Michael Jackson and Ed Sheeran. AEG Presents, which has organised London’s BST Hyde Park and All Points East, is behind the event.
The park has a capacity of 69,999, making it AEG’s biggest venture yet. The promoter has promised huge names, and it certainly has an impressive contacts book – this year Charli XCX, Olivia Rodrigo, Zach Byran were among the headliners at AEG-run festivals. Roundhay’s first artist announcement is set for the coming weeks, although no dates for the event have been fest just yet.
And it’s not just music – there will be free shows and activities held in the space throughout the week to encourage local people to get out and enjoy the park in summertime. Local musicians will have the chance to perform, and music students at the nearby Roundhay School will get the chance to work at the event to gain real experience in the industry.
Local council leader James Lewis said that the crowds this will draw to Leeds will ‘deliver an important boost to the local economy’, increasing business to local cafés, bars, and hotels, and, in tandem with the well established Bramham Park Leeds Festival, cementing the northern city as a hub for live music.
Lewis added that the park is ‘a fabulous setting for concerts’, saying that he was excited to see ‘some of the biggest names in music to Roundhay Park once again.
‘I'm sure music fans, not just in Leeds but across the region and beyond, will agree with me when I say, 'roll on next summer'.
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