As festival season in the UK kicks off, many may be feeling a Glastonbury-shaped hole in their summer plans. To help music lovers decide which festivals to go to this year, outdoor experts at GO Outdoors have analysed the price, popularity, and duration of UK music festivals to reveal the best music festivals to visit in 2026.
Nottingham’s Forbidden Forest Festival ranked sixth on the list of ‘must-visit’ events of the summer.
The full study can be viewed here: https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/blogs/article/best-uk-festivals
The UK’s best music festivals
| Rank | Festival | Instagram Posts | TikTok Posts | Annual Google Searches | Ticket Cost | Festival Duration | Camping Availability | Average Rainfall in Month of Festival (mm) | Family Friendly | Festival Score /10 |
| 1 | Isle of Wight Festival | 68,700 | 5,321 | 940,500 | £320.00 | 4 days | Yes | 52 | Yes | 9.96 |
| 2 | Download Festival | 288,000 | 50,500 | 789,400 | £365.00 | 5 days | Yes | 71 | Yes | 9.87 |
| 3 | BST Hyde Park | 93,600 | 41,500 | 393,400 | £84.95 | 1 day | No | 59 | Yes | 9.80 |
| 4 | Reading Festival | 289,000 | 66,500 | 779,700 | £325.00 | 4 days | Yes | 64 | No | 9.58 |
| 5 | Boardmasters | 122,000 | 14,200 | 432,500 | £331.00 | 5 days | Yes | 75 | Yes | 9.48 |
| 6 | Forbidden Forest | 68,400 | 18,900 | 265,000 | £189.50 | 3 days | Yes | 59 | No | 9.45 |
| 7 | All Points East | 59,000 | 13,300 | 879,000 | £79.95 | 1 day | No | 65 | Yes | 9.29 |
| 8 | Truck Festival | 27,300 | 6,791 | 260,300 | £224.00 | 3 days | Yes | 63 | Yes | 9.10 |
| 9 | Creamfields | 505,000 | 92,100 | 774,400 | £310.00 | 4 days | Yes | 105 | No | 8.94 |
| 10 | Leeds Festival | 151,000 | 47,900 | 579,000 | £325.00 | 4 days | Yes | 76 | No | 8.87 |
Isle of Wight Festival takes the top spot as the UK’s best festival for 2026, scoring 9.96/10. The festival, which recorded 940,500 annual Google searches, takes place from 18th to 21st June and has headliners such as Lewis Capaldi, Calvin Harris, and The Cure.
Camping is available, the event is listed as family-friendly, and the festival month sees an average rainfall of 52 mm, one of the lowest figures in the top 10.
In second place is Download Festival, with a score of 9.87/10. The Derby festival has one of the strongest social footprints in the study, with 288,000 Instagram posts and 50,500 TikTok posts. Visitors are able to see Limp Bizkit on the Friday, Guns N’ Roses on Saturday, and Linkin Park on Sunday. The festival lasts for five days, making it one of the longest events in the top 10.
Rounding off the top three is BST Hyde, scoring 9.80/10. Unlike the Isle of Wight Festival and Download, BST Hyde Park does not offer camping. At £84.95, it has a much lower ticket price than the two festivals above it, making it perfect for music lovers on a budget. The London-based event also has a strong presence on social media, with 93,600 Instagram posts and 41,500 TikTok posts.
The study also revealed:
- The UK’s best outdoor festival is Wilderness Festival, in Oxford. The festival not only has performances by the Scissor Sisters and Carl Cox, but also has areas for yoga, meditation and comedy shows.
- The majority of music festivals in the top 10 are based in the South of England. This highlights the region’s pull for festival-goers, from major city day events to coastal and countryside camping weekends.
Posted on 27 May 2026
