Leeds Festival has announced the first round of acts for their 2025 festival.
Over 40 leading acts have just been announced for Reading and Leeds Festival 2025, and one thing's for sure it's going to be an unmissable weekend.
Headlining the weekend are (drumroll please)...Chappell Roan, Travis Scott, Bring Me The Horizon and Hozier.
Alongside the likes of AJ Tracey, Becky Hill, Sammy Viriji, Trippie Redd, Amyl and The Sniffers, Conan Gray, The Kooks, The Dare, Bloc Party, Enter Shikari, Wallows, Sea Girls, Mannequin Pussy, SOFT PLAY, Lambrini Girls, DJ EZ and many more announced today.
Images: Supplied
A 2025 English headline exclusive, Chappell Roan has taken the planet by storm with her debut album ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess' and we're in no doubt her headline performance is set to be one for the memory books.
Travis Scott will be heading to Leeds with a European Exclusive performance, from his breakout album ‘Rodeo’to his latest masterpiece ‘Utopia’, this rapper-turned-visionary has one of the most astronomical back catalogues of the last decade.
Bring Me The Horizon’s anticipated return is a moment fans have been eagerly awaiting and next summer as a UK Festival Exclusive, Bring Me The Horizon are set to prove why they sit as one of the biggest and most influential bands of the 21st century.
Image: Supplied
Headlining a UK Festival for the very first time, Hozier will bring his beautifully powerful voice to Bramham Park and we absolutely cannot wait.
Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic said: “Right now, we’re witnessing an exciting wave of inspiring voices breaking through in pop culture, and this line-up captures that energy perfectly. This is one of the youngest average ages for headliners in years, and that’s very exciting in itself.
"We are delighted to welcome Chappell Roan’s debut, an inspiring new pop star poised to define a generation, sitting alongside one of our favourite modern songwriters, Hozier. We are also proud to welcome back Bring Me The Horizon, a band who have grown with us over the years to become the UK’s biggest alternative act.
Image: Supplied
"Add to that the massive European exclusive appearance of Travis Scott and an unrivalled selection of dance music’s biggest names, and you’ve got something truly special. It will be a genuine privilege to witness these moments, from iconic headliners to extraordinary emerging artists alike.
"Bringing together these worlds and delivering a standout weekend every summer is ultimately what makes Reading & Leeds the UK’s biggest, best and most unmissable music festival”
The full list of artists announced today is as follows:
Chappell Roan, Hozier, Bring Me The Horizon, Travis Scott
AJ Tracey, Becky Hill, Sammy Virji, Enter Shikari, The Kooks, Bloc Party, Trippie Redd, Conan Gray, Amyl and The Sniffers, Wunderhorse, Royel Otis, Del Water Gap, Balming Tiger, Alessi Rose, DJ EZ, Rudim3ntal, High Vis, Bilmuri, Blanco, Issey Cross, Antony Szmierek, Mannequin Pussy, Girls Don't Sync, Good Kid, Nieve Ella, Lancey Foux, The Dare, Suki Waterhouse, Sofia Isella, Lambrini Girls, Snow Strippers, Soft Play, Luvcat, Sea Girls, Pale Waves, Songer, The Chats, Wallows, Lola Young, The Linda Lindas, South Arcade
Leeds Festival will take place on Thursday 21 - Sunday 24 August 2025 at Bramham Park.
Festival presale starts at 12pm on Saturday 7 December with general Weekend and Day tickets on sale from 12pm on Monday 9 December, and you can grab yours HERE.
One of Britain's best performed to a pack-out crowd at Leeds' historic Kirkstall Abbey.
If there was ever a venue designed to make you feel like you've accidentally wandered into the coolest history lesson of your life, it's Kirkstall Abbey.
Ancient ruins, blazing sunshine, pints in plastic cups and thousands of people flocking for the one and only Loyle Carner? Not a bad way to spend a Saturday we think.
And it wasn't just Loyle who we were treated to either, the entire day as part of Above All Else Festival saw a bill of groove-fuelled acts take to the stage.
Bricknasty, Kofi Stone, Kokoroko and Jordan Rakei delivered fabulous sets and warmed us up very nicely indeed for the man himself.
Fresh from the release of Hopefully!, Carner arrived to deafening cheers, wasting little time before settling into the laid-back confidence that has become his trademark.
And he didn't waste time getting into his catalogue of hits either as he seamlessly transitioned from one banger to the next.
It really felt like a celebration of his work, and he himself welled up at the sea of people singing his songs back to him over and over again.
Of course, highlights included Loose Ends and Ottolenghi but dedicating Hate to Nigel Farage was nothing short of iconic.
This is a rapper that has executed the delivery between syncopation and rhythm perfectly, but it's his lyrics that keep you going back for more.
Of course Kirkstall Abbey itself deserves plenty of credit, as the sun went down the abbey was lit up and created probably the most cinematic backdrop for a gig you can imagine.
What stood out most, though, was the atmosphere. There was a proper sense of community throughout the evening, with strangers dancing together and friends rapping every word arm in arm.
Loyle Carner has long been regarded as one of Britain's most thoughtful voices in hip-hop, but nights like this show why his appeal stretches far beyond the genre.
What's next for Loyle Carner? We're not sure, but we feel very lucky to have shared this moment with him, and you could tell he did too.
The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey – musical reunion of the decade?
Daisy Jackson
When bands reunite, it's usually pretty easy to guess what the motive is. A looming tax bill, an incoming divorce, a tanking solo career, for example.
But with The Maccabees, those scenarios feel a long way removed.
This is a band that called it a day at the top of their game - and then have returned even stronger, and seemingly because they just missed being on stage together.
Addressing the near-decade apart while on stage at Kirkstall Abbey, The Maccabees frontman Orlando Weeks sums it up simply: "For a long time we were a band, and then we weren't a band for a bit, and now we're a band again."
He's as softly-spoken a frontman as they come, but then The Maccabees never have leaned entirely on their frontman for their live energy - not when he's flanked by the White brothers.
Felix White spends half the gig sporting an ear-splitting grin, and the other half screaming words of encouragement at the audience like a crazed Top of the Pops presenter. The organised-fun patter might grate if he weren't so phenomenal the moment the music starts again.
Then brother Hugo is a brooding, powerful figure, usually standing with his legs so wide apart I'm surprised he doesn't split his trousers. His stage presence is so cool, so confident, it's hard to take your eyes off him.
Orlando's otherworldly voice is really allowed to shine through with songs like Spit It Out, when the stage reduces to a single spotlight and the other band members actually squat down to minimise the distractions.
The tempo shifts of Marks to Prove It, the urgency of X-Ray and the layered beauty of Wall of Arms all underline just how tightly the band play together.
There will be new music on the way, eventually, and they give us a glimpse into that with The Ballad of So Long, a swooping epic that suggests they still have somewhere new to go.
It's hard to complain that they don't have much more to show us yet - not when the alternative is a greatest hits, belt-every-word live show.
By the end of the night, as The Maccabees wrap up their show at Kirkstall Abbey, there's a quiet confidence about them. They know this comeback works, and we'll be lapping it up for as long as they'll stick around.
Judging by the reaction inside Kirkstall Abbey, everyone else does too.
Clementine Hall -
5th December 2024 
