Festivals are a chance to really see a city shine, and luckily for us Nottinghamshire has them by the bucketful. Whether it's feasting on fine food, fun days out with the family, tasting a plethora of ales, or dancing in the sunshine, there’s sure to be something to tickle your fancy in this rundown of festivals happening in 2025. This is the time to chill out, tune in and make some amazing memories.

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Music Festivals

Nottinghamshire’s acclaimed music scene has thrived in the past ten years. Along with some mighty fun music festivals taking place across the city's finest venues, you can also check out live music in more unique locations throughout Nottinghamshire.

Splendour Festival has just announced its widely anticipated return on Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th July 2025! The popular two-day festival will be back at its home in Wollaton Hall and Deer Park with a brand-new line-up to appeal across the generations, from long-term regulars to families and youngsters.

Beat the Streets is one of the biggest and most important music festivals in the calendar. The City's official charity festival aims to bring the community together to fight homelessness and raise vital funds for the charity - 'Framework'. Taking place in January each year across various venues in the city, with a stellar line up always promised, you won't want to miss this amazing festival.

The Nottingham Chamber Festival returns each year in June at various venues across Nottingham City Centre. Venues include Theatre Royal, Nottingham Contemporary, The Squire Perfroming Arts Centre, St Peter's Chuch and St Mary's in the Lace Market. Within these hertiage venues, they prepare to welcome musicians and composers of local and national renown to celebrate the joy that is live music. This Year the festival will fall between July 10th – 13th, 2025.

The Woodland Disco has been renamed to the magical Wonderland Festival as It returns to Nottingham in July 2025! Submerjed in the fairy tale setting of a majestic Woodland only 10 minutes from Nottingham City Centre, you can expect a fully immersive festival as they enhance the natural surroundings of Newstead Abbey with a vibrant production and dazzling visuals.

Also returning to Newstead Abbey after its success in 2024 is the 2025 rendition of the Could Be Real Tribute Festival. Music lovers are in for a treat with a star-studded lineup celebrating some of the most iconic names in music history. This year’s festival promises to deliver show-stopping performances, blending rock, indie, pop, and timeless classics into a spectacular summer event of amazing tribute acts

Since starting in Nottingham in 2005 Dot To Dot Festival has established itself as the UK’s hottest festival for unearthing the best new talent around, alongside established acts from all over the globe. The festival takes place in Manchester, Bristol, and Nottingham and has put acts such as The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Mumford & Sons, Florence + The Machine, Ed Sheeran and The XX on the map. This year's festival takes place on Sunday 25th of May 2025 at various venues across the city.

Trance In The Woods brings some incredible music to Elvaston Castle Country Park in June 2025. Trance In The Woods guarantees to transport festival-goers on an unforgettable musical journey.

Returning for their 22nd edition, Download Festival announced headliners, Green Day, Slep Token and Korn as well as more huge names. Download Festival takes place at the hallowed grounds of rock, Donington Park, next to East Midlands Airport. Taking place where the three counties of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire meet, Download Festival has excellent connections by road, rail, bus and plane.

The Foolhardy Folk festival returns to Nottingham Arboretum for its 5th year in a row. This family-friendly, one-day event will take place on Sunday 24th August 2025 and mixes the finest acts from the UK festival circuit with real ales, craft beer, and street food in a truly gorgeous city centre setting. It's open to all ages however under 16's must be accompained by an adult.

Binks Yard host an array of incredible day festival throughout the year. Some Standouts this year include: The 'Rum & Reggae Festival' taking place on Saturday 21st June, The '80's Live Festival taking place on Saturday 24th August and 'Revolve Festival' taking place on Friday 30th May. There's always new festivals being added at Binks Yard so be sure to keep up to date with our 'Whats On' Calander.

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Family Festivals

Gloworm Festival returns to Nottinghamshire at Thoresby Park in August 2025. A wonderful family event set in the beautiful Nottinghamshire countryside, it is a brilliant 2 day festival that has been especially created for grown ups and their little ones. They invite festival goers to come and play in a warm, welcoming and creative place, loose their inhibitions, let their hair down and have some fun.

Nottingham Green Festival takes over Nottingham Arboretum every year in September. This free event is organised by volunteers and local community organisations. This fun-filled family-friendly event also has a serious intent - to share skills and knowledge to tackle the ongoing climate crisis, biodiversity loss and other environmental concerns. You can expect live music, vegan food stalls, craft stalls and online webinars. This year the 2025 festival will take place on Sunday 14th September.

The Robin Hood Festival runs each Summer in Sherwood Forest. Including an outdoor cinema, jousting events, equine displays, a Viking invasion & much more, you don't want to miss it. The programme usually concludes on the Bank Holiday Weekend, with the Nottinghamshire Day Festival soon following. In addition to the main arena shows, there is music, magic, circus skills, historical re-enactments and so much more.

The Boho Festival is a family friendly intimate gathering bringing like minded people together to appreciate sunsets and the magical woodland with the help of music, DJ's and live performances. This year it returns to the Millview Glamping and Camping Site between Friday 25th - Sunday 27th July 2025.

Join the Nottingham University Musuem for the Roman themed Festival of Archaeology to celebrate the opening of the new exhibition, 'The Norton Disney Dodecahedron: its discovery and excavation'. The event will take place on Saturday 26th July 2025 and is completely free and open to drop in at any time. Its suitable for ages 7+ so be sure to bring your children down for a day of fun and learning.

CommuniTree Festival comes to Nottingham on Sunday 8th June 2025. This inclusive community festival brings people of all backgrounds together to enjoy the diverse sounds and cultures that shape this city and the world around us. It's a family friendly event so its a perfect oppertunity to connect and make lasting memories with your children whle also learning and celerating the diverse cultures that call Nottingham there home.

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Food & Drink Festivals

The Nottingham Sausage and Cider Festival is back for 2025 and will take place at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park on the 31st of May. A spectacular day of festival fun which brings together more than 30 flavours of cider and more than 20 different sausages, a number of outstanding tribute acts, as well as entertainment for children. Kick back and relax in the serene surrounds of Nottingham's iconic landmark for one of the region's favourite foodie festivals.

For those who are fond of a tipple from the grapevine, the Nottingham Wine Festival 2025 is a must visit. This is the 5th installment of the festival and will run over the afternoon of Saturday the 15th of February at St. Mary's Church in the city. This festival of independent wine merchants, retailers and more will be showcasing their finest wares to enjoy. This event is for over 18s only.

Foodies Festival, the UK’s biggest food and music festival, is coming to Nottingham for the first time. From Friday 27th to Sunday 29th June, Wollaton Park will be transformed into a 'Gastro Glastonbury' with live cooking from Michelin-starred chefs, MasterChef and Bake Off champions, plus wine, beer, champagne and cocktail masterclasses – all included in your ticket. Enjoy live music from Blue, The Wanted 2.0 and DJ Judge Jules, take on the Chilli Challenge, dance at the silent disco, and explore a world of street food, gourmet treats and artisan flavours. There’s fun for the whole family with kids’ cookery classes, crafting and fairground rides – and dogs are welcome too.

The Festival of Food & Drink takes over Thoresby Park in September 2025. The festival boasts over 170 food and drink traders as well as bars and artisan traders. This family-friendly festival also offers a wide-range of have-a-go activities for visitors to take part in, from wine-tasting sessions and cocktail masterclasses, to a specialist Children’s Cookery School allowing younger visitors to make their very own tasty treats, which in previous years has included pasta, butter, gnocchi and ice cream. 

Nottingham Craft Beer Festival takes place in June each year at Sneinton Market Avenues. The 2025 festival will take place over two days on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 June and will be a celebration and promotion of all of the best craft beers Nottingham has to offer. 

The Arboretum Beer Festival is coming back for a fifth year, bringing the warm and fuzzy summer vibes to Nottingham’s historic green park in the heart of the city. Taking place on Saturday 23rd August 2025, the all-day event will once again showcase dozens of great real ales and craft beers from local breweries and beyond. Located around the park’s Victorian bandstand, the event will blend the tasty food and beer selection with live music and entertainment.

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Arts Festivals

Each summer at heritage sites across Nottinghamshire you can catch live theatre performances and film screenings in the great outdoors. Rally your friends, grab a picnic blanket and some snacks, and enjoy an evening under the stars in stunning locations. From classic Shakespeare and fun-filled children's theatre, to blockbuster movies and singalong musicals, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Click here for more details.

Like things a bit darker? The Mayhem Film Festival comes to Broadway Cinema each October, bringing an intense whirlwind of premieres, previews, special guests and midnight screenings with a horror twist. More information and announcements will be coming soon so be sure to keep an eye on our 'Whats On' schedule.

Nottingham Poetry Festival takes over the city each summer, with a diverse programme of activities, performances and events from the vibrant homegrown poetry community. From word walks and performance masterclasses to urban haiku, writing workshops, open mics and poets against racism, there are many ways to experience the festival. This year the festival will fall across the10 days between 13th - 23rd June 2025. 

The Nottingham Comedy Festival comes to the city each November.Back for its 17th year this 2025, it will feature a wide variety of comedy including stand up, improv, sketch and more. Local, national and international artists will appear at a range of venues across Nottingham. The 10 day festival will fall across Friday 31st October - Sunday 9th October 2025.

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Beeston Film Festival returns for another year on Thursday 24th - Sunday 27th April 2025. Celebrating and championing international films for its 11th year in a row, the festival is a weekend filled with the love and support from a community all coming together to share a connection over visual storytelling.

Returning to make the city sparkle, head to Nottingham city centre to celebrate Pride each July. Along with the colourful parade, street festivities continue throughout the day to celebrate the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) culture. Groovebox hosts a major Pride Party Festival and this year is no different! Following the success of previous years, the party returns on Saturday 26th July for a celebration of all things inclusion, diversity and love down at Binks Yard.

Stay tuned for Nottinghamshire's involvement in the 2025 Heritage Open Days events, which presents a wide range of free tours, events and activities to bring to life local history and culture. Heritage Open Days is England's largest festival of history and culture.

Get a taste of Thailand down at the Forest Recc Ground between Saturday 21 and Sunday 22nd June 2025, with the brand new Magic Of Thailand Festival.

Nottinghamshire Hospice are excited to partner with Nottingham Running Festival for 2025!  There’s something for everyone with a choice of 5k, 10k or Half Marathon distances. Registration is Free so be sure to come on down to the Racecourse at Colewick Park on 3rd August and get involved.

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While the finer details of many of these festivals are yet to be announced, we suggest you stick them in the calendar and keep checking back on our website for information on ticketing, line-ups and dates. There are more festivals throughout the county so have a look at the What’s On guide and don’t forget to share your photos of yourself enjoying Nottinghamshire’s fantastic culture - use the tag #LoveNotts throughout social media!

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