London festivals to catch this summer: 2019 edition

Notting Hill Carnival, Notting Hill

For a couple of days every summer, the leafy, distinguished quiet of west London's ice-cream-coloured squares gets blown apart. Over the August bank holiday weekend, Carnival comes to Notting Hill, bringing with it goat curry, steel drums, rum punch, coconuts, jerk chicken and a whole lot of joy.

Lambeth Country Show, Brockwell Park

Now in its 45th year, the show has all the attractions of a traditional country fair plus much more. The stand-out event of the weekend promises to be the Dog and Sheep Show, where sheep dogs show off their herding skills. The Adrenaline Tour is the act to catch if you want to see some daredevil motorcycle stunts.

A team from Dulwich Picture Gallery are also on site, offering postcard-making workshops themed around the gallery's summer Colour Palace. A true family festival, there's plenty for little ones too, from face-painting to animal-petting, bouncy castles to fairground rides.

Summer Series 2019, Somerset House

Somerset House's annual Summer Series is definitely the bell of the ball in the UK festival scene, inviting music lovers to experience world class gigs with a spectacular backdrop. This July, 11 acts will perform in a week of refined raving with genre-mashing sounds ranging from avant-jazz to futuristic flamenco. Among the list of confirmed artists are Nao, Jacob Banks and Los Angeles band The Internet.

How The Light Gets In Festival, Kenwood House

HowTheLightGetsIn gives a cerebral twist to the traditional format of events and live performances. Brace yourself for some big thinking as philosophers, musicians and comedians come together in London. Based in Hampstead's grand Kenwood House, the festival hosts an intellectually stimulating programme of debates, talks and concerts this year. With 100 events packed into two days there's plenty to choose from, including over 50 debates and talks, and 40 bands and comedy acts.

Highlights include International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, who debates the future of politics after his surprise shake-up of the Conservative leadership race. Another comes by way of philosopher, sociologist and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek (screenwriter and presenter of The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema and The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology) who is speaking at HowTheLightGetsIn via a video link.

Underbelly Festival 2019, Southbank

Returning to London's Southbank for the 11th consecutive year, the Underbelly Festival has established itself as one of the city's most vibrant cultural celebrations, promoting the best new British performance art alongside seasoned world-class entertainers.

British Summer Time Festival 2019, Hyde Park

Stevie Wonder is the latest musical sensation to join the all-star line-up of Barclaycard British Summer Time – a festival held over two weekends in Hyde Park. The almighty Barbara Streisand is also among those headlining.

Meanwhile, our hearts will go on (and on, and on) as queen of power ballads Celine Dion plays her only European gig at the first weekend of the festival. The second weekend balances a Saturday of swinging pop from headliner Robbie Williams, a support set from similarly-uplifting Black Eyed Peas and a Sunday of soulful folk from Florence and The Machine.

Citadel Festival 2019, Gunnersbury Park

Despite only launching in 2015, Citadel has quickly established itself as a mainstay of London's summer festival scene. Last summer, the family-friendly festival moved from its home in east London's Victoria Park to west London's Gunnersbury Park, where it's returning to this year.

Bastille, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Friendly Fires are confirmed as headliners, while folk-rock band Bear's Dean, Australian singer-songwriter (and dreamboat) Matt Corby, and Scottish indie rock singer Honeyblood are also among those playing.

All Points East 2019, Victoria Park

All Points East will once again be a 10-day extravaganza running from the 24 May to 2 June. It is split into two weekends, kicking off with three big days of music, spanning Electro-rock, synth-pop and indie folk. You can book separately for each stand alone day on either weekend.

Electronic duo The Chemical Brothers are headlining the opening night of weekend one (Friday 24 May). The Strokes are headlining the following day, taking to the stage for their first U.K. performance in four years. Then, on Sunday 26 May, synth-pop star Christine and the Queens takes centre stage with her avant-garde dance moves. American indie folk band Bon Iver are headlining the final night (Sunday 3 June).

Mighty Hoopla Festival, Brockwell Park

Once again, more than 20,000 festival-goers are expected to descend on Brockwell Park for 'the ultimate celebration of all things pop, sparky and fun'.

Keep an eye out for the 70s Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan, as well as R&B-tinged pop groups All Saints and Liberty X. They'll be joined by a plethora of female pop gems including Jamelia, Kate Nash and Tove Lo, and a glorious spectrum of dance-centred acts from 80s heroes Bananarama to Australian electro-pop band Confidence Man.

The Great Exhibition Road Festival, South Kensington

The Great Exhibition Road Festival celebrates the arts and sciences in the spirit of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and takes place at fabulous venues in the neighbourhood such as the Royal Albert Hall, Science Museum, V&A, Natural History Museum, Imperial College London and on Exhibition Road itself. Play chess with robots, take a trip with VR, see symphony orchestras in action and listen to talks on a variety of current issues, like how to end the plastic crisis in our oceans.

Field Day Festival, Meridian Water

Field Day is taking place in the new location of Meridian Water this year. Acclaimed British rapper Skepta is headlining on the Friday. Then on Saturday, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jorja Smith is headlining, with rapper Pusha T and DJs Diplo, J Todd Terje and Seth Troxler also scheduled to perform, making dance a central focus of Field Day 2019.

Wireless Festival 2019, Finsbury Park

Urban music festival Wireless returns to Finsbury Park for the seventh year running this July. The festival has well and truly shrugged off its original image as an indie and pop festival, and is now etched in the festival calendar as a prominent urban music festival specialising in rap, grime and R’n’B. Headline acts include Migos, Cardi B, Travis Scott, and A$AP Rocky.

Hampton Court Palace Festival 2019, Richmond upon Thames

Hampton Court Palace Festival returns to Kent this summer for the 27th year, bringing with it a stellar line-up of headliners including Kylie Minogue, The Jacksons, Busted, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe.

Jam on the Rye, Peckham Rye Park

Peckham’s day-long, family-orientated music festival Jam on the Rye returns for a second year on Monday 27 May, with R’n’B veteran Kelis to headline. The American singer-songwriter shot to fame both sides of the pond with hit single ‘Milkshake’ in 2003. Kelis is being joined by British DJ Jazzie B, a founding member 80s band Soul II Soul, and British soul singer and songwriter Omar, a former collaborator of Stevie Wonder.