Free UK festivals & carnivals
Region-by-region guide to 50+ events
Festival season is back for 2026! Whether you want to listen to pop, house, rock or jazz music, or carnivals or parades are more your scene, there are free UK festivals and carnivals for all tastes – and most are suitable for families. We've rounded them up by area of the UK...
Alternatively, it's also possible to get into some big paid-for festivals for free, including Reading and Leeds Festival, in return for working there – see the volunteering and working at festivals guide below.
Choose which region of the UK you want to look at
It's worth noting that some festivals are spread across different venues and may have concerts that cost extra, so always check with the organisers before you go.
London
West End Live
Where: Trafalgar Square
Dates: Saturday 20 June - Sunday 21 June
Description: Live performances of a variety of West End hit musicals and theatre shows.
Pride in London
Where: Central London
Dates: Saturday 4 July
Description: Celebrating London's LGBTQ+ diversity with a huge parade that runs through central London.
The Cally Festival
Where: Caledonian Road, London
Dates: Sunday 5 July
Description: A street festival with music, performances, art and stalls.
Notting Hill Carnival
Where: Notting Hill, London
Dates: Saturday 29 August - Monday 31 August
Description: A huge community-led street festival with floats, costumed performers, music and food stalls – celebrating Caribbean culture and traditions, and a diverse and vibrant London.
Happened. Dulwich Festival
https://dulwichfestival.co.uk/event-type/free/
Where: Various locations around Dulwich, South London
Dates: Friday 8 May - Sunday 17 May
Description: 10 days of music, dance, literature, art, walks, talks, performances and fairs.
Happened. The Great Exhibition Road Festival
https://www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk/
Where: Various locations South Kensington, London
Dates: Saturday 6 June - Sunday 7 June
Description: Science and arts-based festival with various events across the two days.
Northern Ireland
Belfast Pride Festival
Where: Belfast
Dates: Friday 17 July - Sunday 26 July
Description: Celebrating Belfast's LGBTQ+ diversity with a week-long celebration including a huge parade.
Happened. Festival of Fools
https://www.foolsfestival.com/
Where: Belfast
Dates: Saturday 2 May - Monday 4 May
Description: A festival celebrating circus, featuring comedy, circus and outdoor arts.
Scotland
Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival
https://ejbf.co.uk/
Where: Edinburgh
Dates: Friday 17 July - Sunday 26 July
Description: Established in 1978, the Edinburgh Jazz Festival has two free events – Mardi Gras on Saturday 18 July, and the Edinburgh Festival Carnival on Sunday 19 July.
Pride Glasgow
Where: Glasgow Green
Dates: Saturday 18 July
Description: A celebration of Scotland's LGBTQ+ diversity. It includes a huge parade going through the city centre, with thousands of people taking part. Entry to the music festival requires a paid ticket.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Where: Edinburgh
Dates: Friday 7 August - Monday 31 August
Description: A huge arts festival with thousands of performances packed into hundreds of venues across the city. Many free events and shows to suit all ages including comedy.
North East England
Festival of Thrift
https://www.festivalofthrift.co.uk/
Where: Redcar
Dates: Saturday 4 July - Sunday 5 July
Description: A weekend dedicated to celebrating creativity and sustainability through workshops, performances, talks and more.
Ouseburn Festival
https://ouseburntrust.org.uk/events/ouseburn-festival/
Where: Newcastle
Dates: Saturday 4 July - Sunday 5 July
Description: A free festival of the art, music & attractions of Ouseburn Valley
Stockton International Riverside Festival
Where: Stockton
Dates: Friday 31 July - Sunday 2 August
Description: Lots of free family events, including street theatre, circus, music and dance.
Newcastle Mela
Where: Newcastle
Dates: Sunday 30 August - Monday 31 August
Description: A two-day celebration of South Asian cultures, with live music, performances and much more.
Wales
Caerphilly Cheese Festival
www.caerphillycheesefestival.co.uk
Where: Caerphilly Town Centre
Dates: Saturday 29 August - Sunday 30 August
Description: A festival including local and headline musicians along with food and drink stalls and craft sessions.
Talgarth Festival
https://talgarthfestival.co.uk/
Where: Talgarth, near Brecon
Dates: Saturday 29 August - Sunday 30 August
Description: Includes live music, stalls, and a famous duck race.
East England
First Light Festival
https://firstlightlowestoft.com/
Where: Lowestoft
Dates: Saturday 20 June - Sunday 21 June
Description: A free beachfront festival with performing arts, music and workshops. Certain events require a paid ticket.
Leigh Folk Festival
Where: Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Dates: Thursday 25 June - Sunday 28 June
Description: A celebration of music, arts, culture and community across multiple venues in Leigh‑on‑Sea.
Festival Too
Where: King's Lynn
Dates: Saturday 27 June - Saturday 11 July
Description: Music and entertainment festival. Acts for 2026 include Ella Eyre, The Proclaimers, The Hoosiers and cover acts Do It Like Dua and Ed Nearan.
Ipswich Music Day
www.ipswichentertains.co.uk/ipswichmusicday/
Where: Christchurch Park, Ipswich
Dates: Sunday 5 July
Description: The largest free one-day music festival in the UK. Six stages of live entertainment plus fairground rides and street food.
Bedford River Festival
https://riverfestival.bedford.gov.uk/
Where: Bedford
Dates: Saturday 18 July - Sunday 19 July
Description: Multiple live music and performance stages, arts, crafts and sports and family entertainment.
Norwich Pride
Where: Norwich city centre
Dates: Saturday 25 July
Description: Norwich's Pride festival with a march and lots of different stages.
Aldeburgh Carnival
Where: Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Dates: Saturday 15 August - Monday 17 August
Description: A seaside street festival with floats, swimming races, music, and fireworks.
Happened. Strawberry Fair
Where: Cambridge
Dates: Saturday 6 June
Description: A one day music and arts festival that is run by the community and for the community of Cambridge. Expect to see plenty of performances, as well as craft and food stalls.
Happened. Stowfest
Where: Stowmarket
Dates: Saturday 23 May - Sunday 24 May
Description: Two-day music festival showcasing some of the best talent from East Anglia and further afield.
Happened. Out There Festival
Where: Great Yarmouth
Dates: Thursday 28 May - Saturday 30 May
Description: A circus and street arts festival the whole family will enjoy.
South West England
eat: festival (various locations in the South West)
Where: Somerset, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall.
Dates: 11 April - 13 December (depending on location)
Description: eat: hosts festivals across the South West covering Somerset, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall. A celebration of local and fresh produce.
Exmouth Festival
Where: Exmouth, Devon
Dates: Thursday 9 July - Sunday 12 July
Description: A festival of music and the arts. Certain events require a paid ticket.
Tewkesbury Medieval Festival
https://www.tewkesburymedievalfestival.co.uk/
Where: Tewkesbury
Dates: Saturday 11 July - Sunday 12 July
Description: Free Medieval festival featuring crafts, music, battle re-enactment, historical displays, and markets.
Upfest
Where: Bristol
Dates: Friday 15 - Sunday 31 July
Description: A huge street art festival with music and live painting.
Bristol Harbour Festival
www.bristolharbourfestival.co.uk
Where: Bristol
Dates: Friday 17 July - Sunday 19 July
Description: A showcase of dance, music and arts with some maritime magic.
Stompin' on the Quomps
Where: Christchurch
Dates: Saturday 1 August
Description: A day of smooth jazz and food/drink stalls.
Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk
Where: Bristol
Dates: Friday 7 August - Sunday 9 August
Description: A huge hot-air balloon event with over 100 hot-air balloons.
Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival
Where: Bridgwater, Somerset
Dates: Saturday 7 November
Description: An evening procession of illuminated floats.
Happened. Wessex Folk Festival
Where: Wessex
Dates: Saturday 30 May - Sunday 31 May
Description: Free folk festival featuring live music, a ceilidh, workshops and Morris dancing on the quayside and in a host of local pubs
Happened. English Riviera Air Show
www.englishrivieraairshow.co.uk
Where: Torbay
Dates: Friday 29 May - Sunday 31 May
Description: The annual English Riviera Air Show will return to Devon with air displays over the bay’s stunning natural amphitheatre. Expect world-class food, family-friendly activities and a two-day programme of stunts, displays and flypasts.
West Midlands
Upton Blues Festival
Where: Worcester
Dates: Wednesday 15 July - Sunday 19 July
Description: A music festival featuring a wide range of blues. This is a free festival, but there is a charge to buy camping tickets.
Birmingham, Solihull & Sandwell Jazz Festival
www.birminghamjazzfestival.com
Where: Birmingham
Dates: Friday 24 July - Sunday 2 August
Description: 10 days of jazz, blues, swing, bebop, big band and more.
Art in the Park Leamington
Where: Leamington Spa
Dates: Saturday 1 August - Sunday 2 August
Description: A festival with art, performance, music and workshops.
Worcester Music Festival
www.worcestermusicfestival.co.uk
Where: Worcester
Dates: Friday 11 September - Sunday 13 September
Description: Live, local and original music staged in pubs, clubs, cafes, and historic buildings around or near the city centre.
East Midlands
Chesterfield Children's Festival
https://junctionarts.org/whats-on/chesterfield-childrens-festival/
Where: Chesterfield
Dates: Saturday 18 July - Sunday 19 July
Description: An arts and culture festival for children with live music, theatre, storytelling and more.
Nottinghamshire Pride
Where: Nottingham
Dates: Saturday 25 July
Description: Nottingham's Pride festival with a march, and performances ranging from spoken word poets to drag artists.
Happened. So Festival
Where: Skegness and Mablethorpe
Dates: Friday 12 June - Sunday 14 June
Description: A festival with lots of free events, including participatory art, music from unsigned and local bands, stunts, street theatre and installations.
Yorkshire and Humber
Bradford Dragonboat Festival
www.bradforddragonboatfestival.co.uk
Where: Bradford
Dates: Friday 3 July - Sunday 5 July
Description: Dragon boat racing on the river Aire, with landside entertainment including food and drink stalls.
Freedom Festival
Where: Hull
Dates: Friday 4 September - Sunday 6 September
Description: A celebration of arts, culture, and community, inspired by Hull's historic connection to anti‑slavery campaigner William Wilberforce.
Pontefract Liquorice Festival
https://experiencewakefield.co.uk/event/liquorice-festival/
Where: Pontefract
Dates: Sunday 12 July
Description: A family friendly celebration of the town's historic links to liquorice.
Saltaire Festival
Where: Bradford
Dates: Saturday 12 September - Sunday 20 September
Description: Annual event celebrating the heritage of Saltaire Victorian model village through the arts.
Clarence Park Music Festival
https://www.themusiccollective.co.uk/clarence-park-festival
Where: Wakefield
Dates: Saturday 25 July - Sunday 26 July
Description: Features a host of bands and DJs, plus craft stalls and food/drink concessions.
North West England
GóbéFest
Where: Cathedral Gardens in Manchester
Dates: Friday 19 June - Sunday 21 June
Description: This festival celebrates traditions from across Europe and beyond. Expect music, arts and crafts workshops. All tickets are free or pay what you feel.
1261 Festival
https://www.macclesfield-tc.gov.uk/events/1261-festival-and-parade-day
Where: Macclesfield
Dates: Saturday 20 June
Description: A celebration of Macclesfield's creativity and community. There's live music, workshops, art and more.
The Manchester Festival of Nature
https://www.lancswt.org.uk/events/manchester-festival-of-nature
Where: Heaton Park
Dates: Sunday 28 June
Description: A celebration of wildlife through arts, craft and musical activities.
Bickerstock
Where: Bickerstaffe, Lancashire
Dates: Saturday 8 August - Sunday 9 August
Description: A music festival with stalls and creative workshops for children.
South East England
Chipping Norton Festival
Where: Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
Dates: Sunday 28 June
Description: Two stages of music, local stalls, and food/drink.
Riverside Festival
Where: Charlbury, Oxfordshire
Dates: Saturday 18 July - Sunday 19 July
Description: A free music festival, run by volunteers in the community.
Herne Bay Festival
Where: Herne Bay, Kent
Dates: Friday 24 July - Sunday 16 August
Description: Live music, performances, workshops, and more.
Hastings Old Town Carnival Week
Where: Hastings, East Sussex
Dates: Saturday 1 August - Sunday 9 August
Description: Carnival, music, walking tours, a pram race and more.
Ryde Carnival
Where: Ryde, Isle of Wight
Dates: Children’s Carnival Day: Saturday 29 August, Main Carnival: Thursday 3 September, Illuminated Carnival: Saturday 5 September
Description: Dating back to 1888, Ryde Carnival is a joyous parade of colour and light marking the end of summer.
BunkFest
Where: Wallingford, South Oxfordshire
Dates: Friday 4 September - Saturday 5 September
Description: A community festival with dance artists, workshops, and Ceilidhs.
Faversham Hop Festival
Where: Faversham, Kent
Dates: Saturday 5 September - Sunday 6 September
Description: Celebrating tradition with live music across five stages, dance, circus acts and more.
Reading Pride
Where: Reading
Dates: Saturday 5 September
Description: Reading's Pride festival with a parade and lots of different stages.
Have we missed any? If you know of any great free festivals in your area that we've not included, we'd love to hear about them. Let us know in our Forum.
Paid festivals for free
As well as the free UK festivals listed above, there are a few ways to get into sold-out festivals for nothing.
Volunteering through charities
Some big charities like the Samaritans and Oxfam look for volunteers to help at big festivals. Don't volunteer if you're in it just for the free ticket – approach a charity you really believe in and do the work properly.
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Festival Samaritans provides volunteers for big festivals. It recruits between October and December, and anyone is welcome to apply, whether or not they have been a member of the Samaritans before. You can register your interest now for next year's festivals.
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Oxfam provides stewards and campaigners who have to work between three and five shifts over the duration of big festivals. Head to the application page to sign up. Includes many paid-for festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds and Download.
Odd jobs like litter-picking & car park attending
It's not easy to make a festival run smoothly, and extra help is always required with anything from car park assistance and tent pitching to litter-picking. Organisers usually use firms which provide staff specifically for festivals.
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DC Services provide safety stewards, traffic marshals, recycling and litter teams to the likes of Leeds and Boardmasters (check its events calendar). Apply online to work as volunteer staff.
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Hotbox provides volunteers for anything from assisting festivalgoers with directions to helping them pitch their tents. You can apply online.
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Festaff supplies volunteers for stewarding, wristbanding, bar work and other general duties at festivals including BST Hyde Park, Kendal Calling, Isle of Wight and Boomtown. You can apply online, plus you may be required to attend training.
Volunteering for festivals independently
Another option is to check with festival organisers directly to see if they're looking for volunteers. They usually have a dedicated area on their website for this.
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