List of music festivals in the United Kingdom

Glastonbury Festival, England, 2016

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.

History

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

Bluegrass

Classical and opera

See also: List of opera festivals

Country

Dance and Electronic

See also: List of electronic music festivals

Ethnic

Folk

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

Jazz

Metal

Pop

Punk

Rock

The Main Stage at the 2006 Reading Festival.

Tribute act festivals

Cross-genre

See also

References

Bibliography

  • 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.