Music

The best UK music festivals for under £100

Culture doesn’t have to break the bank

Cheap festival - Hidden Door

S!nk in the Pianodrome at Hidden Door 2022. Image: Chris Scott

There is no such thing as a free lunch – but we’re here to tell you that there is such a thing as a cheap festival. These are the best UK festivals that offer a real bang for your buck. Enjoy.

Sea Change Weekender

May 26-28
Totnes
£59.99

Sea Change Weekender 2022
Sea Change Weekender 2022

For the 2023 edition, Sea Change made the bold move of reducing their weekend ticket price by 33%, in an attempt to ensure as many people can be involved as possible. Conceived and run by Totnes’s Drift Record Shop, Sea Change presents music, conversation and films on the Friday and Saturday, as well as an all-new lazy Sunday, focussing on the food and drink producers that make Totnes and its surrounding areas desirable destinations for food lovers. Artist Jeremy Deller will be in conversation with Heavenly’s Robin Turner about his Art Is Magic book. Music comes from English singer-songwriter Bill Ryder-Jones and Manchester synth explorer Lonelady.
seachangepresents.co.uk

Slam Dunk North

May 28
Temple Newsam, Leeds
£89

Taking place in the old Leeds Festival grounds, Slam Dunk admirably keeps its rock roots alive with a stacked line-up of rock, pop-punk and emo. Relive your teen angst with sets from The Offspring, Bowling for Soup, Flogging Molly and Underoath – if not for the presence of PVRIS and Creeper, you could be convinced it’s 2003 again. The festival goes on tour to France and Italy later in the summer, if you feel like moshing in a fancier setting.
slamdunkfestival.com

Hidden Door

May 31-June 4
The Complex, Edinburgh
From £25

In a city not exactly lacking in festivals, Hidden Door does something genuinely different – bringing a new forgotten space back to life each year with a programme of music, visual art and spoken word. This year, a former office complex is transformed into a series of installations and immersive environments, which play host to a different line-up of performers each night – highlights include Glasgow party-starters Free Love, Irish indie darlings Pillow Queens and London alt-pop collective Nine8.
hiddendoorarts.org

Kubix

July 15 and 22
Herrington Park, Sunderland
From £33

Across two Saturdays, Kubix provides a nostalgic party atmosphere at a very reasonable price point – ideal for getting a big group of friends together. The first day boasts pop and dance favourites from the 1980s onwards, including Sugababes, N-Trance, Betty Boo and Blue. Squeeze, Marc Almond, Heaven 17 and Inspiral Carpets are among the line-up for the second rock-leaning day.
kubixfestival.com

Get the latest news and insight into how the Big Issue magazine is made by signing up for the Inside Big Issue newsletter

Wide Awake

May 27
Brockwell Park, London
From £69.50

There’s tonnes of London park festivals to choose from this year, but Wide Awake may just be the best, catering to the most curious of electronic and underground music mavens. Boasting the only UK festival date for Caroline Polachek, the line up also features Tirzah, Alex G, Gilla Band and Oneohtrix Point Never, with DJs from Rough Trade, Third Man Records, Hackney’s Moth Club and many more.
wideawakelondon.co.uk

Down at the Abbey

September 8-9
Reading Abbey Ruins, Berkshire
£45.15

As far as we know, this bargain two-day festival is the only one in the UK to be held in the ruins of a 12th century abbey – correct us if we’re wrong. The line-up includes American songwriter BC Camplight, London rock grrls Los Bitchos and electronic jazz trio The Comet Is Coming, with more to be announced. Previous line-ups have ranged from The Wave Pictures to Lonelady, so expect an eclectic weekend.
downattheabbey.co.uk

Read our full 2023 festivals guide here.

Support the Big Issue

For over 30 years, the Big Issue has been committed to ending poverty in the UK. In 2024, our work is needed more than ever. Find out how you can support the Big Issue today.
Vendor martin Hawes

Recommended for you

View all
Yungblud on 'ignorant' politicians, his own affordable festival and how music can change the world
Music

Yungblud on 'ignorant' politicians, his own affordable festival and how music can change the world

How the world finally caught up with music pioneer Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Music

How the world finally caught up with music pioneer Alice Coltrane

How a swanky London townhouse links composer Handel with Jimi Hendrix
Handel’s bedroom in Brook Street, London
Music

How a swanky London townhouse links composer Handel with Jimi Hendrix

Kool & the Gang's Robert Bell on music, politics and the secret to a happy marriage
Letter to my younger self

Kool & the Gang's Robert Bell on music, politics and the secret to a happy marriage

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know