Rebellion Festival 2025

The British punk rock festival that started out as Holidays in the Sun and is now commonly known as the Rebellion Festival commenced in 1996. Since its inception, this one has attracted the attention of some great media outlets such as The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, and Kerrang.

The event was originally held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, and is still based in the venue, though on occasion it has travelled to the great city of Morecambe. Being held in Australia, the USA, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, the Basque region, Ireland, and Austria, among other places, the festival has been held everywhere else around the globe under different guises.

Remaining true to its roots, the festival, still managed by the same family, has kept its flair among the usual Merry Pranksters-like audacity of the hardcore punk subculture. Besides punk, bands of all alternative genres, glam rockers, and cult acts from the 1960s and 1970s take part as well. Featuring two main stages, plus an acoustic stage, a literary stage, and a punk art gallery, the festival runs a series of workshops and provides stalls selling merchandise including clothes and music. Each year, more than 300 acts perform over the course of a long weekend which usually kicks off the first week of August, starting on Thursday and wrapping Sunday. The festival has been praised for having worked alongside Blackpool council and local charities, so keeping a close-knit community attitude.

Nice 'N Sleazy, originally an offshoot of the Wasted Festival in Morecambe, evolved into its own punk festival, initially providing campsite accommodations and an unofficial stage. Even after Wasted returned to Blackpool in 2006, the Morecambe campsite event persisted as a distinct festival.

So, 2017 was the 21st year anniversary of the greatest rock festival, and it coincided with the 40th anniversary of punk genre. The year 2020 was to have a festival; instead, it happened to be in 2021 and online due to COVID. Everything was pushed again to 2022-now HITS 25-a throwback to the 1996 festival-which was the 25th event to celebrate the original Holiday In The Sun festival, an event managed to organize when the guidelines allowed for a fuller outside festival, in 2022.

The complete festival resumed in 2022, featuring an additional outdoor event called R-Fest, held on the seafront at the Comedy Carpet.