In here we share with you 10 fun festivals in England. The popular festivals celebrated in England truly reflect the culture and heritage of this region. They are widely popular and are celebrated with full glory. Make your trip to the English land a memorable affair without missing one during the time of your visit. The England festivals’ list provided below will help you plan your trip at the right time!
Table of Contents
- 01. JORVIK Viking Festival
- 02. Neverworld
- 03. Diwali In Leicester
- 04. Shambala Festival
- 05. Lost Village
- 06. Sidmouth Folk Festival
- 07. Guy Fawkes Day
- 08. Glastonbury Festival
- 09. Camp Wildfire
- 10. Boomtown
01. JORVIK Viking Festival
The JORVIK Viking Festival is Europe’s largest celebration of Norse heritage. Visitors get the chance to explore the walled city of York throughout the week-long event, attending free and ticketed events as the festival progresses.
There’s plenty to see and do throughout the JORVIK Viking Festival, from grabbing a drink in the traditional festival bar to sword fighting and kids’ Viking Crafting, you might just find yourselves spoilt for choice!
Meet some Vikings at the Viking Encampment and learn about their lives and trades. The Viking Encampment is great for kids and provides plenty of opportunities for selfies with the historical heroes.
This year, visitors can feast at the Banquet of the Voyagers, a ticketed event set to take place in the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall. Raise your glass to an evening you’ll never forget!
There are some exciting hands-on activities taking place throughout the week too, from mystical rune stone making to tablet weaving and mead tasting, there’s something for everyone.
02. Neverworld
Neverworld, formerly known as LeeFest, is a music festival that takes place each Summer in Kent, England. The festival began in founder Lee Denny’s garden when his parents went away on holiday in 2006. Despite the festival’s small scale in its first two years, by 2011 LeeFest grew into a two-day event with enough capacity for 2,000 people. The festival’s capacity has since expanded to 5,000, moving to a new site in 2016. Around 200 volunteers help out during the festival.
The festival has won two awards and been nominated for several more. Awards include: ‘Best Independent Festival’ at AIM Independent Music Awards, 2012 and ‘Best Grass Roots Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards 2009.
Denny was awarded the Spirit of London Awards ‘Achievement in The Arts in December 2012. In the same year he was also placed in Time Out UK 2012: 100 Culture List in the UK’s Time Out magazine, considering him “One of the inspiring 100 people in the UK who have made others lives better”.
03. Diwali In Leicester
Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is one of the most significant festivals in Indian culture and is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains every autumn between mid-October and mid-November. It signifies new beginnings, the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.
It has a rich social and cultural heritage of legends and customs that include religious ceremonies, decoration of homes and temples, time with family and friends, feasting and exchanging gifts.
Diwali in Leicester is a huge, cultural celebration enjoyed by people who have come from far and wide to see the thousands of decorative Diwali lights along the city’s “Golden Mile”, enjoy spectacular firework displays and see homes, temples and gurdwaras all illuminated.
Diwali celebrations in Leicester however had very humble origins and it took a lot of determination over many decades to achieve the remarkable festivities we enjoy today.
04. Shambala Festival
The Shambala Festival is a four-day contemporary performing arts festival that takes place in Northamptonshire, England. In addition to contemporary music, the festival hosts rock, pop, folk, world music, and other arts. Leading pop and rock artists have headlined, alongside hundreds of others appearing on smaller stages and performance areas. Between 2010 and 2019 attendance at Shambala remained constant at about 15,000 people.
It features a variety of music, including rock, pop, folk and world music. There are also independent films, workshops, talks and debates, comedy, a fresh organic market, fair trade coffee, practical demonstrations, a speakers’ corner, site art (a new art trail and a range of get-involved sculpture) and “music with a mission”. Permaculturists from across the UK create a welcoming garden/ workshop space incorporating art, crafts and sounds.
05. Lost Village
At Lost Village Festival you get lost in a forest and find yourself in a 3 day event that includes music, global food, art, comedy and talks, discover magical areas and stages with imaginative names like the Abandoned Chapel, Lost Theatre, Lake of Tranquillity and Bureau of Lost.
What the festival organizers say:
“Lost Village is a UK dance music festival in Lincolnshire. Located in an abandoned forest, Lost Village is more than just a music festival, it is a world of experiences, making sure you will not be short of things to do.
Since their first festival in 2015, Lost Village has expanded into a unique and surreal world, complete with surprise performances, comedy and much more.
Alongside the music and comedy, there will also be live talks, interviews, debates, and lessons scattered throughout the weekend. “
06. Sidmouth Folk Festival
There has been a folk festival in the coastal town of Sidmouth in South West England in the first week of August every year since 1955, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to over 700 diverse events.
Sidmouth Folk Festival offers a wide range of activities including major folk concerts, pub sessions, workshops and master classes, social dances and colourful dance displays, family entertainment and many children’s musical and craft activities.
The town’s streets and venues come alive with festive atmosphere as holidaymakers and festival goers join together in a music-based holiday to remember, The popular Late Night Extra feature is also run at Bulverton on the edge of Sidmouth next to the main campsite.
07. Guy Fawkes Day
Observed in the United Kingdom every year on November 5, Guy Fawkes Day—also called Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night—commemorates a failed assassination attempt from over 400 years ago. On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes and a group of radical English Catholics tried to assassinate King James I by blowing up Parliament’s House of Lords.
The plot went awry and all of the conspirators were executed. Soon after, Britons began to celebrate Fawkes’ demise and the survival of their king by burning effigies, lighting bonfires and setting off fireworks—a tradition which has continued to this day.
08. Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival aims to encourage and stimulate youth culture from around the world in all its forms, including pop music, dance music, jazz, folk music, fringe theatre, drama, mime, circus, cinema, poetry and all the creative forms of art and design, including painting, sculpture and textile art.
A large area of the Festival (the “green” area) is set aside for complementary and alternative medicine, demonstrations and displays of environmentally-friendly technologies and techniques, various forms of religious expression, and a forum for debating environmental, social and moral issues.
The Festival organises market places, selling an enormous range of wares, and which place particular emphasis on offering high quality prepared food and hand-made goods, including clothes and jewellery. The company makes films and recordings of the event, which are sold all over the world.
In addition to all of this, the company actively pursues the objective of making a profit. And in so doing is able not only to make improvements to the site, but also to distribute large amounts of money to Greenpeace, Oxfam, Water Aid and other humanitarian causes which enhance the fabric of our society. In the running of the event the Festival deliberately employs the services of these organisations, increasing the amounts they can raise towards their objectives.
09. Camp Wildfire
It is unique even to remember by travellers. This eccentric festival can be a fun long weekend plan for you. Going over and above your usual drink, camp, and dance combination, this festival in England promises a time full of exciting activities for unlimited fun and entertainment you would love to indulge yourself in.
10. Boomtown
Boomtown (also known as Boomtown Fair) is a British music festival held annually on the Matterley Estate in South Downs National Park, near Winchester, Hampshire. It was first held in 2009 and has been held at its current site since 2011.
Its diverse line-up of bands, DJs and speakers perform on many different stages each a part of a district with its own individual theme. Each yearly event is known as a Chapter and expands on the story line from the previous year, told through the sets, live actors and many forms of alternate reality games.
The festival site is split into several districts, and the narrative is reflected in the design of the districts, streets and venues, which are populated by hundreds of actors to play the role of inhabitants. The large scale of the sets and infrastructure require six weeks of construction, and a month of disassembly.