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Four of the Best UK Festivals for Discovering New Music

• 7th Apr 2018

Some days it’s hard to believe, we know, but the signs are all indisputably there: spring is on the horizon. Daffodils are springing up beneath every street sign, the snow is finally out of sight, and the sunshine is even managing to push its way through the clouds from time to time.

This means one thing and one thing only – festival season is just around the corner. From Brighton to Liverpool, London to Leeds, there are some great lineups to look forward to this year, with dozens of new and exciting acts just waiting to take their place in the spotlight.
If you want to know where to go to find them, these are the four best festivals to add to your wish list.

Sound City, Liverpool
Scheduled in for May 5 and 6, Sound City is the place to be if you’re open to broadening your musical horizons. Packed to the rafters with a ton of fantastic new talent, it has exciting, up-and-coming indie and rock acts galore. We have so many favourites it’s hard to narrow them down, but our must-see list would have to include Aadae, Billy Lockett, Otzeki, Sea Girls, and Stereo Honey.

2000trees, Gloucestershire
Slated to take place between July 12 to 14, 2000trees is so high octane that when you’re done with it, you’ll need to line up a game of high-stakes poker or a sponsored skydive to keep your adrenaline pumping at the level it’s grown accustomed to! Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Cotswold Hills, this venue is anything but serene. Bringing together the best new and underground music from all across the country, its headliners include Enter Shikari and At The Drive-In, along with plenty of other rock, metal, folk, and indie talent. If you’re not 100 percent sure who to check out, we suggest Arcane Roots, Gender Roles, and Turbowolf all make your final cut.

The Great Escape, Brighton
If you find yourself free between the 17th and 19th May, we have another must-see music festival for you: The Great Escape. Created for the sole purpose of seeking and sourcing the best new talent around, it’s a paradisiacal place to find your new favourite pop singer, and it has fish and chips to boot. If you manage to slot it into your already over-crammed diary, there are a few artists you simply can’t miss, Blanco White, Lady Bird, Poppy Ajudha, and Pitou among them.

Live at Leeds, Leeds
One of the hottest new music events in the north, Live at Leeds is another experience you need to sign up for. Scheduled to take place over the May Day bank holiday, it offers the perfect excuse to party hard and put your every adult responsibility aside. Looking all set to be even bigger and better than last year, it promises to be intense, with the combination of Abi Ocia, Cosmo Pyke, Spring King, and Sorry making this one festival you really don’t want to miss.

Finally, a little cheat…
The four music festivals we shared above offer some great opportunities to discover new acts in an exciting and vibrant atmosphere, but if funds for splashing out on festival tickets are limited, we also have a little cheat for you: the brilliant LiveList. Following in the footsteps of the live online casinos that stream games of roulette in real time, and the theatre companies bringing culture to the masses on the big screen, this brilliant website means that you can experience all of the most exciting line-ups as and when they’re happening. It’s definitely worth checking out for those whose dreams outpace the dollars at their disposal.

So, you tell us: which of these unmissable music events are you booking a place at? Personally, we’re hoping our own answer proves to be a hearty and wholly enthusiastic “all of them”!