The excitement began only a few months ago when Radio 1 announced that their annual Big Weekend would be taking place at Stockwood Park in Luton. Since then, they have announced numerous huge names, leading to tickets selling like hotcakes. Unfortunately, all tickets are now sold out, however if you are a keen listener to BBC Radio 1 then you might find yourself approached with the chance to win tickets their competitions, or alternatively, you can look for resale tickets on Ticketmaster.

The highly anticipated festival is taking place May 24th-26th, and is set to be one of the biggest festivals this year, with some of the biggest names in the music industry appearing. The headliners are as follow: Chase and Status on Friday, Raye on Saturday, and Coldplay and Vampire Weekend on Sunday. Appearing alongside these names are other incredibly talented artists such as Olly Alexander, the UK’s Eurovision contestant this year, The Last Dinner Party, who have performed huge slots at Coachella this year already, and, arguably the most famous dance pop singer at the moment, Becky Hill.

Attendees of Radio 1’s Big Weekend are no strangers to the huge performances, as in previous years there have been sets from: The 1975, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran and Billie Eilish. This makes this year’s line-up no different from the rest, especially as the majority of tickets sold out in days. However, this does not beat 2022, when Saturday tickets sold out within an hour.

Nonetheless it is shaping up to be an extremely exciting weekend, and not just for those attending. If you didn’t manage to grab tickets in time, then don’t worry! BBC iPlayer will have all of the weekend’s events, completely free and available for you to watch as the weekend unfolds, additionally, BBC Radio 1 will be discussing events, gossip and performances live with your favourite presenters or, if you’re busy across the whole weekend, you can watch the festival on demand.

Meshuggah will be supported by artists including Animals As Leaders, And So I Watch You From Afar and Three Trapped Tigers. Festival-goers will also be treated to performances by Textures, Curse These Metal Hands, Plini and many, many more.

The festival celebrates all forms of rock music, becoming labelled as “three days of expansive exhilaration” and “a haven of progressive music across the spectrum of all things heavy.”

2024 will mark the festival’s 10th anniversary, with a special 30% off deal on tickets available until the end of 2023, or until tickets sell out. To celebrate the anniversary, festival organisers took to social media to christen the show as “Arc10Gent.”

// Were you waiting for the icing on the cake after last week’s first 2024 announcement? Arc10Gent comes but once in a lifetime so we’re pulling out all the stops…

Headlining the Friday of #ATG10 is the mighty @meshuggah, alongside the amazing @AnimalsAsLeader! pic.twitter.com/WvhXShSMzf

— ArcTanGent (@ATGFestival) November 16, 2023

Organisers also put together a YouTube playlist for metal fans to enjoy ahead of time, “featuring the greatest hits of all the newly announced bands” for the 2024 lineup.  

// Did you catch the big news yesterday? Happy goddamn birthday to us. Follow our YouTube playlist featuring the greatest hits of all of the newly announced bands for #ATG10. https://t.co/QSOFSO0o9x pic.twitter.com/woq14n8S2C — ArcTanGent (@ATGFestival) November 17, 2023

ArcTanGent organiser James Scarlett shared more on the plans for the 10th anniversary of the festival, saying, “To celebrate our 10th birthday we wanted to invite back some of our all-time favourite bands from over the years. We drew up a list of all the bands that have ever played ATG that we’d like back and, as it was probably the best thing I’ve ever seen at ATG, naturally Meshuggah was top of that list.”

Scarlett continued, “Animals As Leaders last played way back in 2016 so they weren’t far behind! We’re stoked to be welcoming both bands back in even bigger fashion than last time, to celebrate 10 years of ATG.”

ArcTanGent will be the only UK show that Meshuggah will play in 2024, as well as being the only European show for Animals As Leaders.

// Fans take note – this is a UK exclusive. It will be the only UK show Meshuggah play in 2024, and the only European show of 2024 for Animals As Leaders.

— ArcTanGent (@ATGFestival) November 16, 2023

More acts are set to be announced as excitement for the ArcTanGent 10th anniversary builds. Tickets are available to purchase here.

Taking place in various venues across Camden between 17th-19th May, the festival promises to lay on an unforgettable few days. Following the success of the 2023 instalment, Desertfest will be returning with a bang as they prepare to host over 25 explosive acts.

Reflecting on 2023’s shows, the Desertfest team took to Facebook to share their gratitude, writing “The official Desertfest London 2023 recap is here & has us missing y’all so damn much already! As many of you know, Desertfest is a fully independent venture and your support of the event is the only reason we are still able to bring you a festival of this magnitude in a city like London. Thank you so much for continuing to buy tickets, merch, beers & everything inbetween.”

They continued, “We had so many amazing performances this year and the energy shared between the bands and you is what makes the festival so unique. Of course an extra special shout out to our amazing crew & venues, who not only put so much hardwork into make everything run flawlessy, but keep that extra special DF atmosphere alive.“

The enthusiasm for next year has already begun, as the Desertfest team announced their headlining act, Masters Of Reality who will play their first UK show in almost a decade. As expressed in a press release, “their combination of hard-rock blues with a progressive tinge makes no apologies for not sticking within the stylised box listeners would expect, yet simultaneously provides the perfect lesson in the musical ethos and story-telling of the Palm Desert scene.”

The lineup also includes heavy hitters such as industrial band Godflesh, California stoner-metal band Acid King and Italian experimentalists, Ufomammut.

Multiple other bands from the extensive lineup have taken to social media to share their excitement, including Maserati, Sergeant Thunderhoof and Sugar Horse.

Very excited to announce that we’ll be playing @DesertFest London in May 2024! @TempResLtd @voulezvouscie pic.twitter.com/eZp1OelYFX

— MASERATI (@MASERATI_BAND) November 10, 2023

A cold day in hell is upon us! The stars have finally aligned and we are delighted to announce we’ll be making our debut at Desertfest London in May 2024. We hope to see lots of you there to share some beers and riffs.

Tickets: https://t.co/77fZNU0fri #desertfestlondon pic.twitter.com/UnMnqSB5gb

— Sergeant Thunderhoof (@SgtThunderhoof) November 8, 2023

Hugely excited to announce we’ll be playing @DesertFest in London Town next May. TICKETS:https://t.co/aViazC5JwB pic.twitter.com/qSNEyF4NnK — Sugar Horse (@sugarhorse666) November 8, 2023

Tickets are available to purchase here.

The organisers spoke of the new acts on the Instagram post below, saying “SO excited to welcome The Lathums, Sea Girls, Mystery Jets, Pigeon Detectives, Heather Small, Yonaka, Caity Baser, Thomas Headon, CMAT, late night DJs Hannah Wants & Faithless, comedy headliners Dom Joly & Angelos Epithemou, the return of Barrioke + LOADS LOADS MORE to the Peaks this summer. It’s going to be the biggest one yet.”

There are plenty of acts for fans and festival goers to be excited for.

The rock duo Royal Blood are headlining after the surprise release of a new single “Honeybrains” in March, and with rumours circulating of a new album. They are playing in between other festivals, supporting Muse on select dates for their world tour, and their own tour dates. They tweeted about their headline slot:

They keep on coming. We’ll be headlining @ynotfestival in July. It’s time to roll with the rockers so we can rock with the rollers. https://t.co/u90sdSXlLH pic.twitter.com/vZFrfSGshc

— Royal Blood (@royalblooduk) February 2, 2023

Alongside them are rock band Kasabian, playing the festival after the success of their seventh album The Alchemist’s Euphoria last year. The band sold out their last UK tour in the winter, with fellow YNOT-performers The Lathums as support.

Liverpudlian indie rock band The Wombats will also be returning to headline the festival. The band formed in 2003, and achieved their first UK number one album last year, with Fix Yourself, Not The World. The festival announced their return on Instagram below, saying “In a few months’ time we’ll be chilling in the fields listening to The Wombats boys do what they do best. Who’s excited for this one??”

Pop sensation Maisie Peters is also set to perform after a gigantic fews years supporting Ed Sheeran on his world tour, performing her own sold out tour over the past few months, and after the release of her second album The Good Witch, which will be out on June 16th 2023.

It is the festivals 16th year, since its creation in 2005. Their website says “Starting life as a house party in 2005, our party spilt over into a festival in some of the most stunning countryside around. Some 14 years on, we still have the same ethos at heart – Enjoy amazing music, great food and carefree fun in the heart of the beautiful Peak District.”

The offical YNOT 2023 playlist can be streamed below, featuring all of the festivals’ top acts for fans to prepare for the epic weekend.

The festival takes place between 28th and 30th of July in Pikehall, Derbyshire.

You can buy tickets from Gigantic here.