The best UK music festivals for under £100

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

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

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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.