2 weeks until Greenbelt Festival 2024: Here's 20 reasons why you can't miss it

Not got your Greenbelt Festival ticket yet? Quick, there’s only two weeks to go! Whether you're planning on coming for the full weekend or just the day, you can get your tickets here. Whatever your vibe, whatever your age, it’s this Summer’s most surprising, most unexpected, most uplifting, and most inclusive ticket.

You can expect world-famous music artists; groundbreaking theatre; side-splitting comedy; sequin-encrusted drag shows; poetry, rap and spoken word; new artists-in-residence venue; family and kids shows; DJ sets; dedicated teen venue; fringe and grassroots music; workshops; arts and crafts; AND ideas, discussion and spirituality. Yep, all of this in just one weekend!

There are hundreds of reasons to come to Greenbelt but we don’t have that kind of time. So here’s just some of the best reasons why Greenbelt is the place to be this August Bank Holiday weekend!

MUSIC & DJs

Don’t miss Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Corrine Bailey Rae. Headlining the main stage, she’ll be performing (in its entirety) her utterly astonishing new critically-acclaimed album, Black Rainbows.

Bringing their exhilarating, joyous gospel sound to the main stage, House Gospel Choir magically fuse some of the biggest house, gospel and garage tunes into an empowering, inclusive, uplifting set full of serotonin highs. The soul-soaring sounds of House Gospel Choir are just formidable!

Let’s give a shout out to the Dutty Moonshine Big Band, an epic 14-strong big band infusing jazz with UK garage. It’s Duke Ellington meets UK garage. It’s 12-bar blues given the drum-and-bass treatment. It’s big band musical virtuosity meets hands-in-the-air dancefloor abandon. You’re going to love it.

Triple MOBO Award-winning artist, rapper, author, broadcaster and social justice activist, Guvna B, will be DJing at the Hot House venue as well as talking about his role as a long-time advocate for young people caught up in crime and violence. For him creativity is everything. It’s how he processes injustice, turning pain into art. He’ll also be MC-ing the festival communion on Sunday morning. Is there nothing this man can’t do?

THEATRE & COMEDY

Let’s hear it for rapper, composer and playwright Testament who is bringing his new musical, Chisholm for President, to Greenbelt. It tells the story of the life and work of civil rights pioneer Shirley Chisholm - the first black woman to be elected to Congress in the US - who went on to make an against-all-odds bid to run for President in 1972. Only being performed at Greenbelt and two other festivals this year, don’t miss it!

Drag legend Flamy Grant is a glorious, shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen and Billboard-charting artist from North Carolina. Her show, ‘Apocalypse Wow!’ is a one-woman cabaret that takes us on a musical journey from her days as the golden child to becoming a heathen with huge hair! Slay!

CODE, created by physical theatre company Justice in Motion, is a thrilling, visceral new show that explores ‘county lines’ crime. It follows the story of a young person groomed by a criminal gang, who becomes caught up in the illegal drugs trade as a mule, delivering to different areas of the country. Theatre like no other, it features trials bike riders, parkour athletes, skateboarders as well as physical theatre and dance performers, all accompanied by a unique live soundtrack. It’s an absolute feast for the senses!

Considered to be one of the world’s greatest contemporary circus acts, the magnificent Gandini Juggling is bringing their show Smashed to Greenbelt! Prepare yourself for a blur of surrealism, dance, choreography, comedy, flights of poetry and more, all expressed through breathtaking virtuosity.

Very splendid stand-up and musical comedian, Jon Long will be performing his show ‘Do Less’ at this year’s festival – a comedy lecture on what we can do to play our part in navigating the climate crisis. Self-confessed “comedian and eco-twat”, Jon has the ability to seamlessly combine biting realism with being utterly delightful and relentlessly cheerful on stage.

IDEAS

Aged three, renowned sociologist and scholar of race, inequality and education, Jason Arday, was diagnosed with a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder, which meant he was unable to speak until he was 11, or read or write until he was 18. He was told he would spend his adult life in assisted living and need lifelong support. Now 37, he’s the youngest Black person ever appointed to a professorship at Cambridge and works raising millions for charities he believes in and striving for racial justice wherever he can. What an inspiration.

Greenbelt is delighted to be welcoming back Reverend Kate Bottley. Vicar, journalist, radio presenter and TV personality, Kate will be talking about the surprising truth of what faith means to her and why it's the key to happiness. Since rising to fame on Channel 4’s Gogglebox, Kate presents BBC Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday, and is a regular on Songs of Praise, The One Show, This Morning, and Sunday Morning Live.

Celebrated chef and author Judi Rose will be serving up her signature summer fruits Strudel as she delves into the world of Jewish food and the stories and symbols behind the rich food tradition at the heart of Jewish life, faith and culture. Don’t miss her demo will be followed by an informal conversation and strudel tasting.

SPOKEN WORD & POETRY

Justice activist Lady Unchained was sentenced to prison aged just 21. She describes her life “ending and beginning” with her sentence. Today, she is a poet, performer, advocate, campaigner, broadcaster and writer. Inspired by her mission to prove there is life after prison, she founded ‘Unchained Poetry’, a platform for artists with experience of the criminal justice system.

Testament is an acclaimed poet, rapper, playwright and beatboxer. As well as performing his new jazz-funk musical, Chisholm for President, at The Glade stage on Sunday afternoon, you’ll be able to catch up with him at a few places over the weekend. Testament will be joining a panel discussion on ‘How do the headlines look if you have experience of living with poverty?’ at The Living Room; showcasing some of the best wordsmiths at the The Woken Spurred session with champion performance poet Harry Baker; and just for the teens, he’ll be running a beatboxing workshop. Can you beat the Guiness World record-holding human beatboxer, Testament? Come and give it a go!

Gecko is a singer-storyteller based in South London. His songs cover the big things in life with wit and warmth. From dogs in space to ignored characters in renaissance paintings, from pig fugitives to guanabana fruit juice. He’s performed at Glastonbury and Latitude; on BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music, the Edinburgh Fringe & at the BAFTA winning Sky Arts show ‘Life & Rhymes’. Anyone with a delightful song about Laika, the first dog in space (“I’m going to the stars tonight”), has our vote.

WORSHIP & SPIRITUALITY

Ooberfuse are loved everywhere from DJ magazine to BBC Introducing. They’ve even made a Christmas record with Snoop Dogg, and the Pope is a fan. Ooberfuse’s unique sound is an eclectic, enigmatic mix of pure, giddy Euro-Pop and cult underground worship band. Cannot wait for this!

Introducing the remarkable singer and multi instrumentalist, Lleuwen Steffan and the Lost Welsh Folk Hymns. Unpublished and unheard Lleuwen came across old recordings of Welsh hymns in the sound archive at St Fagans National History Museum in 2012. These hymns were not in the official hymn book.

Amazed, she dove into further research and found that many were not in the older editions either. Possibly because they delve into the world of addiction, mental illness and the dark side of the psyche. These hymns have been waiting to be heard for decades. She has breathed new life into these poignant, haunting songs with her soulful vocals and guitar. Truly beautiful.

Known for secret gigs in disused and abandoned spaces, Wilderthorn turns forgotten places of history and atmosphere into wild and magical locations. Be sure to seek Wilderthorn out this summer and your soul will thank you for it.

VISUAL ARTS, WORKSHOPS & CRAFT

Icon of the British arts scene, Bobby Baker, has been making work and putting on shows about motherhood, domesticity, feminism and equal rights since the 1980s. This is her first return to Greenbelt in a decade, you can see her works on Sunday at The Residency.

In her career of over 47 years she has, among other things, danced with meringue ladies, made a life-size cake version of her family to be eaten by visitors, and driven around the streets of London strapped to the back of a truck screaming at passers-by through a megaphone to “pull yourselves together”. Whilst her work continues to pack a political punch; it’s also funny, very funny.

Lucy Wright is an artist from Leeds. Her work sits at the intersection of folklore and place, and is primarily concerned with inclusivity and representation in the British folk arts. She is the author of the ‘Folk is a Feminist Issue’ manifesta, and creator of ‘hedge morris dancing’—a 100% invented tradition and participatory performance project for anyone who has ever wanted to dance the sun down! Catch Lucy’s work on Friday at The Residency.

Dr Bharti Parmar is a UK artist and academic, she makes prints, archival installations, sculpture and embroidery. She’ll be speaking about cotton as an agent of social change and the role of homespun cloth in Indian Independence. The illustrated talk will outline themes of her major exhibition 'Khadi' for the British Textile Biennial in 2021 including a film made with award-winning filmmaker Sima Gonsai incorporating archival fragments of Gandhi's visit to Lancashire in 1931. Drawings from this series of works were recently exhibited in Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy of Arts London.

WHO ELSE IS ON?So many amazing artists, activists, thinkers, musicians, speakers and performers! Check out Greenbelt’s full line-up here,

HOW DO I GET A TICKET?Greenbelt Festival is rolling out its radical and inclusive pay-what-you-can ticketing pricing structure for a second year, where those who can pay – do – and those who can’t – have the opportunity to pay what they can. Day tickets are now available from Adult £76 I Concession £40 I Under 18s £20 I Under 5s free.

GREENBELT: 51 YEARS OF TRAILBLAZINGNow in its 51th year Greenbelt has witnessed the birth of future global artists such as Ed Sheeren, Corinne Bailey Rae (back this year!), as well as the mighty U2 who played Greenbelt in 1981 when they had only released their first album. It’s always been a trailblazer, welcoming acts such as Pussy Riot, Sinead O’Connor, Kae Tempest, Gordon Brown, Laura Mvula, Bonnie Greer, Ezra Furman, Brian Eno and Mavis Staples, to name but a few!