Wide Awake Festival Announces First Wave of Acts for 2025 Line-Up
Wide Awake Festival, brought to you by Bad Vibrations, LNZRT, and MOTH Club, has announced an exciting 2025 line-up featuring Irish headliners Kneecap and CMAT, along with Mercury Prize winners English Teacher, punk favourites Mannequin Pussy, electronic producer Daniel Avery, garage-punk band SPRINTS, and many more. Set to take place on 23rd May 2025, this London day festival is already shaping up to be the season’s must-attend event.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of Brockwell Park, Wide Awake Festival has quickly become one of London’s most distinctive and meticulously curated festivals. Today, organisers unveiled the first wave of artists for the 2025 edition, with Irish-language rap pioneers Kneecap confirmed as headliners.
Fresh from the success of their second album Fine Art and the release of their biographical film, Kneecap are poised to bring their dynamic energy from West Belfast to the Wide Awake stage. Comprised of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí, the trio has earned a reputation for high-energy performances and thought-provoking lyrics in both Irish and English, making them an essential act to catch.
Joining Kneecap are a diverse array of artists set to light up the Wide Awake 2025 stage, including Irish singer-songwriter CMAT, esteemed electronic producer Daniel Avery, Mercury Prize winners English Teacher, and garage-punk powerhouse SPRINTS. Philadelphia punk quartet Mannequin Pussy, Australian psych rockers Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Turkish psych-pop talent Gaye Su Akyol, and cult Bristol duo Getdown Services also feature on the bill.
Also appearing are Detroit’s genre-blending rebels HiTech, the legendary Suicide synth wizard Martin Rev, the audio-visual duo Mermaid Chunky, LA-based metal band Patriarchy, Zamrock pioneers WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc), and psych-rockers Wine Lips.
Fans of electronic music can look forward to a special b2b set featuring Erol Alkan and Optimo (Espacio), while New York’s alt-rock trio Hello Mary, Phoebe Bridgers’ label signee jasmine.4.t, and Cambridge-based six-piece Ugly add even more diversity to the already packed line-up.
Celebrated for attracting a community of music enthusiasts with a taste for the unconventional, Wide Awake continues to champion music that defies genres. The festival has made a name for itself by spotlighting emerging talent in leftfield indie, post-punk, electronica, and techno, promising a line-up unmatched elsewhere in London.
Wide Awake is also distinguished by its commitment to gender-balanced line-ups and environmentally conscious practices, guided by its ‘Positive Policy’—an initiative designed to mitigate the environmental impact of live music events. With social, cultural, and environmental awareness at its core, the festival seeks to provide not only unforgettable live music experiences but also a platform for change.
The 2024 edition of Wide Awake, which included performances by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Slowdive, Young Fathers, Alice Glass, Ben UFO, and Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul, set a high bar for the festival’s standards. But with the 2025 line-up already taking shape, it’s clear that Wide Awake is once again ready to kick off the festival season in style.
Wide Awake Festival is produced by Bad Vibrations, LNZRT, and the team behind MOTH Club and The Shacklewell Arms.
Full Line-Up
Headliners
KNEECAP
CMAT || ENGLISH TEACHER
A-Z
DANIEL AVERY || SPRINTS || MANNEQUIN PUSSY || PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS || PUZZLE || SPRINTS
A-Z
EROL ALKAN b2b OPTIMO (ESPACIO) || GAYE SU AKYOL || GETDOWN SERVICES || HELLO MARY || HI-TECH || FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS || jasmine.4.t || MARTIN REV (SUICIDE) || MERMAID CHUNKY || PATRIARCHY || UGLY || WE INTEND TO CAUSE HAVOC || WINE LIPS
