Why is everyone talking about…festival lineups?

Festivals tend to offer an accurate snapshot of the music industry, spotlighting emerging genres, trends and attitudes through lineups that are increasingly pivotal to their success. Yet building hype around a bill is no easy task for bookers and curators, whether securing exclusives in a crowded market or negotiating frenzied speculation across social media and betting markets. In 2023, bookies pegged Dua Lipa as favourite to take over Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage long before the official lineup was released, meanwhile Swifites were left disappointed when new dates added to the Eras Tour shutdown reports that the US icon would perform at the festival.

Today, securing big-hitting artists poses new challenges for bookers, with stadiums rivalling what a festival can offer stars with extravagant shows. Then there’s also rising costs. In 2023, a survey carried out by The Association of Independent Festival’s showed that supply chain costs are up 30 per cent since 2019. This increase has had a knock-on effect on ticket prices with Coachella tickets up 50 USD since 2022 and Glastonbury tickets up more than 100 GBP since 2019. While top festivals such as Glastonbury, Coachella or Rabbits Eat Lettuce in Queensland might have a cult following who will happily snap up pricey tickets before lineups are disclosed, for many festivals, survival is dependent on ticket sales, so nailing a cutting-edge, talked-about lineup and timing of announcements is crucial.

“We always try to get some hype, drop some hints, in order to get the social media game going which is fun,” says Marta Pallarès, head of communications at Primavera Sound, a forward-thinking music festival in Barcelona and Porto known for a 50/50 gender split across its line-ups. “We take pride in programming artists who are not touring that often, who come just to our festival, or create reunions – like Pavement in 2022. We strongly believe in lineups that show a character, that are meaningful and not interchangeable.”.

As more events start to drop their lineups, we take a look behind the scenes look at the announcements.

Why it’s hot

Tickets for many of the world’s biggest music festivals in 2025 are on sale. The first batch of Glastonbury tickets are expected to sell out in under an hour, while Roskilde, Primavera Sound, Coachella and Dekmantel have a few tickets remaining following their recent launch. There’s a handful of new festivals worth bookmarking both for their fresh ideas and for a stronger chance of securing tickets. Among them, Dua Lipa’s Sunny Hill Festival is putting Albania on the festival map; Wildlands in Brisbane is bringing the best dance, electronic and hip-hop artists Down Under; Fool in Love Festival in Los Angeles is celebrating legendary pop, soul and R&B. New on London’s festival circuit for 2025 is Lido London, which comes from the same team behind All Points East – think sustainable practices, community-first activities and thrilling performances from the likes of Jamie XX.

What to expect

In 2025, festival-goers can expect increasingly diverse lineups that balance gender, genre and a mix of rising star and heritage acts. Primavera Sound has turned heads for its all-female headliners with Charlie XCX, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter named as its 2025 stars. “This is something to be celebrated, to be proud of, and to look forward to,” says Pallarès. This boundary-breaking lineup marks a monumental moment for women in the music industry. And it’s about time, a 2023 report by Rostr and IQ Magazine revealed that, across 50 festivals in Europe, 90 per cent of the headliners were men.

In Denmark, Roskilde is considered the largest festival in the Nordics, drawing more than 130,000 attendees each year. For its 2025 edition, Stormzy, Fontaines D.C. and Arca are among its highlights yet the festival remains a pioneer in spotlighting emerging artists equally. “For us, the most important thing is the full lineup. The combination of almost 200 artists sees some of the biggest names appear alongside rising stars that will be the voices and sounds of tomorrow,” says Thomas Sønderby Jepsen, Roskilde Festival’s head of music.

Don’t miss

Last summer, British trip-hop band Massive Attack launched the world’s first carbon negative music festival – Act 1.5 Climate Action Accelerator – in their hometown of Bristol. The duo are successfully creating a blueprint for sustainable festivals using renewable energy, meat-free vendors and zero waste to landfill as well as recommending attendees to walk, cycle or use public transport where possible. This month, a follow up event sees Nile Rodgers, Idles and Chic headline in Liverpool. To combat emissions from fan transport – one of the biggest environmental impacts that festivals present – presale tickets were available to locals-only, while the event will end at 10pm in order for attendees to use transport networks to get home.

For 2025, we can hope that more large-scale festivals and events follow suit and dig deeper with their sustainable initiatives.