We’ve got your Bank Holiday plans sorted - get yourself to Greenbelt Festival

Not sure what to do this Bank Holiday weekend? Then get yourself to Greenbelt! Come for the full weekend or just the day, there are weekend and day tickets still available. Day tickets are £76 for adults, concessions at £40, under 18s £20, and under 5s go free, they are available online until midnight on Wednesday 21 August, and then on the day.

You can expect world-famous music artists; groundbreaking theatre; side-splitting comedy; sequin-encrusted drag shows; poetry, rap and spoken word; family and kids shows; DJ sets; a dedicated teen venue; fringe and grassroots music; workshops; ideas and activism, AND much more! Check out the full line-up here.

Highlights include…Grammy Award winner Corinne Bailey Rae; new jazz/soul musical Chisholm for President!; UK's leading bubbleologist Samsam Bubbleman; drag legend Flamy Grant; grime hip-hop duo Bob Vylan; international circus entertainer Circus Kaos; up-and-coming future star Nectar Woode; epic 14-strong big band Dutty Moonshine Big Band; London’s brand new LGBTQIA+ comedy night Laugh Out Proud; and the magnificent Gandini Juggling to name but a few!

Wanna know more? Here’s some of our festival faves!

Main Stage - The Glade

A definite-don’t-miss is Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Corrine Bailey Rae. She’ll be headlining the main stage, performing (in its entirety) her utterly astonishing new critically-acclaimed album, Black Rainbows.

It’s Duke Ellington meets UK garage. It’s 12-bar blues given the drum-and-bass treatment. It’s the very magnificent Dutty Moonshine Big Band! An epic 14-strong big band infusing jazz with UK garage. You’re going to love it.

The formidable grime, punk rock, and hip hop duo, Bob Vylan. Full of contradictions; they love a mosh pit but start their gigs with yoga. They want to channel your anger with the world but also head into the crowd at the end of their gig to give out hugs. Chaos and peace.

The exhilarating and joyous sound of House Gospel Choir as they magically fuse some of the biggest house, gospel and garage tunes into the ultimate empowering, inclusive, and uplifting set full of serotonin highs.

A must-see is Samsam Bubbleman. The UK's leading bubbleologist with 12 Guinness World Records under his belt. He wowed the likes of Lady Gaga and royal families around the world, his fans include actor Sir Michael Caine and Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley, and he’s worked his bubble magic on Tim Burton’s Dumbo and at Danny Boyle’s 2012 Olypmic opening ceremony. This is going to be one helluva show!

One for all the family is definitely Matt Pang’s show LOADED. Award-winning street performer Matt combines hand-crafted contraptions with circus and physical comedy to create one-of-a-kind performances and installations for all ages. Hold on to the seat of your pants as he brings his latest projectile-blasting, air-powered extravaganza out of the workshop and into the public.

You can try out juggling, stilt walking, and trick bikes with Circus Kaos. Prepare to be wowed by international circus entertainer and circus skills instructor, Steve Kaos, as he juggles knives, machetes, fire, and rubber chickens. Yes, rubber chickens!

There’s loads of family-friendly workshops and activities running throughout the weekend too.

Check out the skate ramp and get the kids some skateboarding lessons (all free of charge!), or head to the Greenbelt’s very own arts and craft venue and join in with the brilliant Make and Create sessions. There’s also drumming with Glamba Drumming, ukele with The Pop-Tarts, and Bhangra and Indian dance with Sohan Kailey. The games arena runs daily games of spikeball, rounders, football, target practice, and volleyball, as well as the ever-popular Joust with Andy Robertson; the tactical theatrical PlayStation game except you play in a field, not on a screen.

Slaying it at this year’s festival is drag legend Flamy Grant. 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!

Welcoming Laugh Out Proud to the stage - London’s brand new LGBTQIA+ comedy night featuring the best in established and upcoming acts from the community on the UK comedy circuit. Laugh Out Proud at Greenbelt will feature the utterly fabulous Mark Cram and Dane Buckley headlined by comedy-great Bethany Black!

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.

Rapper, composer and playwright Testament is bringing his new musical, Chisholm for President, to Greenbelt. It’s 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.

Introducing future-star-in-the-making, Nectar Woode. Her latest EP ‘Nothing to Lose’ summons up the alt-soul sound of contemporaries like Cleo Sol, along with her formative influences like Erykah Badu and D’Angelo, all wrapped up in a soulfully pure voice and beautifully honest lyrics.

Feisty, fun, groove-infused punk trio, Alien Chicks, mix jazz, rap, bossa nova and math rock. Their lyrics offer a surreal social commentary that packs a punch. Billed several times as ‘Ones to Watch for 2023’ they serve up a magnetic, addictively energetic live show. Catch them on their way up!

Lady Nade stands as one of the UK’s most distinctive voices, she blends Folk, Americana, Soul, Jazz, Blues, and Roots into a captivating tapestry. An award-winning songstress of extraordinary calibre, this is one act you don’t want to miss.

Check out Greenbelt’s full line-up here, there’s so many more cracking names, artists, activists, musicians, thinkers and performers to discover.

How do I get a ticket?

Greenbelt’s radical and inclusive pay-what-you-can ticketing pricing structure is here 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 from Adult £76 I Concession £40 I Under 18s £20 I Under 5s free, they are available online until midnight on Wednesday 21 August, and then on the day.