Scotland's festival season is underway: a look at the best upcoming festivals

Check out the best upcoming festivals in Scotland from family-friendly bashes to raving madness.

Skiddle Staff

Date published: 1st May 2024

Now the legendary Terminal V has come to a close (find early bird 2025 tickets), Scotland has officially kicked off festival season 2024.

There are some truly stunning summer festivals in Scotland including family gatherings, throwback parties, hardcore raves, and more. Find some of the best festivals in Scotland below and get planning for a belting year. And if your wallet’s a bit stretched, remember PayPal Pay in 3 can be used on any event over £30!

Going in chronological order, we’ll be looking at festivals from May to September, starting with festivals that are going down this weekend…

May

Pavilion-Festival

Photo: Pavilion Festival / Facebook.com

Beluga Lagoon, a band who sold out Barrowlands in minutes earlier this year, headline the first day of Live In Loch Goil, a folk festival in the most stunning location surrounded by the Arrochar Alps. Traditional, folk, and acoustic Scottish music will be spread across two stages with Valtos and Torridon headlining Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Ewan McVicar’s Pavilion Festival returns to the DJ's hometown this weekend for its second. Treating ravers in the quiet town of Ayr to some of the best names in electronic music including Patrick Topping, Special Request, Eclair Fifi, Derrick Carter, and more, it’s sure to be a highlight of the year as it was last year. On the Sunday, Pavilion’s STREETrave with a range of artists including David Morales, 808 State, Heather Small, Fabio & Grooverider, Altern 8, K-Klass, and more.

Melting-Pot

Photo: Melting Pot / Instagram.com

Welcoming a mixed group of ravers, Stereofunk returns to Chatelherault Country Park with throwback faves including Vengaboys, Snap!, Flip N Fill, Wanda Dee (The KLF), Dave Pearce, and more. Following the passing of Ultra-Sonic’s Mallorca Lee, there’ll be a stage in his memory plus a tribute to Ultra-Sonic ft. Oceano Lee.

Continuing with events this weekend, Melting Pot & Optimo’s Queen's Park Spring Weekender returns to the southside of Glasgow, bringing ESG, The Blessed Madonna, Optimo (Espacio), Joy Orbison, DJ Paulette, and more to a wide range of music fans. As always, it’s going to be boss.

DDE-closing-party

The legendary DDE will conclude with a belting closing party with local lads KIMMIC leading the 4,000-strong rave spread across six arenas. With a main room plus arenas dedicated to tech house/techno, house, trance, vinyl classics, and multiple genres, you can stay near the music you love most or have a wander. Tickets are running low so secure yours to ensure your place at this huge afters with 30 DJs.

On the 18th, FLY’s Summer of Love '92 pays homage to the 90s rave scene with sets from Mall Grab B2B Effy, horsegiirL, Salute, Conducta, LB aka Labat, and more at a venue that once hosted warehouse parties. Covering an array of genres just outside Edinburgh's city centre, as with anything FLY touches, it’ll be boss.

Knockengorroch

Photo: Knockengorroch / Facebook.com

Moving to the spring bank holiday weekend, Knockengorroch is an independent family-run festival and is one of Scotland’s longest-running greenfield festivals. Focusing on folk, dub, Celtic, electronic, and world music, the fest has been going for over 25 years and offers tonnes of workshops in yoga, crafts, and more, held at a gorgeous mountain riverside meadow.

Riverside Festival is back that same weekend in Glasgow with Alignment, Eliza Rose, DIJA, Charlie Sparks, Celeste, BIIA, and more for a weekend of dazzling techno with some house. Going down at Riverside Museum, and usually sun-drenched, it’s sure to be another belter.

June

Riverside-Festival-Glasgow

Photo: Riverside Festival Glasgow / Facebook.com

Hard techno heaven (with splashes of trance) PRTY Festival is back on the 22nd of June and, we’re warning you, it will definitely sell out. PRTY, which smashes everything it touches, brings blk., 999999999, Funk Tribu, Lee Ann Roberts, Sikoti, Parfait, CADZOW, I Hate Models, Fantasm, Black Traffic, and more to Braehead Arena for one heavy day of raving.

On the final weekend of June, Frazi.er’s PLTFRM FSTVL Summer Edition sees the man himself performing plus Faster Horses, Dominique, DJ Suzie, Chlar, Narciss, Optimistic Soul, and more. Priding itself on being as affordable as possible, it’s set to blow minds over on Glasgow's West Street West Street at its summer edition.

July

Kelburn-Garden-Party

Photo: Kelburn Garden Party / Facebook.com

The first weekend of July welcomes the family-friendly Kelburn Garden Party. Artsy and just 30 minutes from Glasgow, the festival will welcome Erol Alkan, DJ Marky & MC Rage, DJ Storm & Blackeye MC, Prosumer, Nubiyan Twist, and more, spanning electronic, folk, techno, funk, and world music. Bring the kids for music, games, The Waterfall Pool and a brilliant party! Easily one of the best summer festivals in Scotland, you’ll have a ball.

August

Coloursfest

Photo: Coloursfest / Facebook.com

Beloved event brand Colours returns with Coloursfest Ben Nicky, Billy Gillies, John O'Callaghan, Radical Redemption, Judge Jules, Oakzy B, and many more make up the lineup spanning trance, hardstyle, and hard dance on the 3rd and 4th. Almost 40 DJs spread across five arenas at Braehead Arena will bring a huge party to you and 7,999 ravers.

The team behind Stereofunk brings BOOZéBRUNCH The Festival to Hamilton on the 10th of August. Boasting style and glamour with uplifting tunes featuring live sax and brunch, it's going to be unreal.

STREETrave

Photo: STREETrave / Facebook.com

STREETrave Summer All Dayer comes to the legendary SWG3, taking over the full complex and terrace, on the 24th. From 2pm until midnight, house will be booming through the venue from Graeme Park, Darren Emerson, Mr C, Irvine Welsh, CJ Mackintosh, and more. Tickets go on sale tomorrow!

The brand new Banff Castle Rocks Festival closes the month on Saturday the 31st. Bringing The Bay City Rollers, Kenny Lee Roberts Soul Band, and quality tributes to Oasis, Sterephonics, and ABBA, the fest is set to close the summer with lots of sunshine (hopefully) and great music at Banff Castle in Aberdeenshire.

September

Cultivate

Photo: Cultivate. / Facebook.com

The veteran promoters at Cultivate: Beach Links Festival bring Ben Hemsley, KETTAMA, Partiboi69, Franck, KIMMIC, Van Damn, Daire, and more (including a secret headliner) to Aberdeen’s Beach Links on the September bank holiday weekend. The full lineup will be out very, very soon, so keep an eye out for that! If you want to dance your head off to dance, techno, house, and trance, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Still looking for dreamy upcoming festivals in Scotland? No worries. Check out more of the country’s very best or search Skiddle’s festival guide to find your perfect fest.

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.