ABOUT
Bringing together notes from the underground, Wide Awake is an independent festival for music fans looking for something different.
Wide Awake is THE place to kick off your festival season – stay tuned for what 2025 brings…
London has been a vibrant breeding ground for the alternative scene, nurturing its growth and evolution over the past few decades. Iconic venues like The Shacklewell Arms and MOTH Club have become essential spaces where emerging and established artists connect with passionate audiences.
These venues, thoughtfully curated by Wide Awake founder and booker Keith Miller and the team at LNZRT, have played a pivotal role in shaping the city’s cultural landscape. Their success naturally paved the way for the creation of Wide Awake Festival.
Since its inception, Wide Awake has been masterminded from the MOTH Club’s office, affectionately known as “The Moffice,” where it shares creative energy with the legendary promotions company, Bad Vibrations, which continues to bring unforgettable gigs to life
PAST EDITIONS
2025
2025, our most iconic year yet? This was a whirlwind year, which saw pioneers of Irish-language rap, Kneecap, deliver an unforgettable headline set. The trio opened up mosh pits, threw out bangers like ‘H.O.O.D’ and ‘Fenian Cunts’ and denounced the UK and US’s involvement with the genocide against Palestine. We did the butcher, baker, home and family maker with CMAT, shook ass to the Detroit-bred ghettotech trio HiTech, partied with Fcukers, got schooled on the Teaches of Peaches and even listened to the legendary Mr Jeremy Corbyn speak on the importance of music. 2025 marked 5 years of us bringing independent music and counterculture to Brockwell Park, and it was seriously one for the books.
2024
With a booking 10 years in the making, 2024 saw us diving deep into the gizzverse with an unforgettable headline set from Aussie rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. KEXP LEGENDS Cheryl Waters and Larry Mizell, Jr. hosted the main stage, as our eclectic lineup of emerging talent brought underground sounds to the forefront, making 2024 our biggest year yet. From PC music icon Hannah Diamond and fiery punks Lambrini Girls to Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers, shoegaze legends Slowdive, unhinged rising stars Fat Dog, indie sleaze sensation The Dare, and beloved DJs Ben UFO and Helena Hauff, our range knows no bounds. You won’t find a lineup like this anywhere else in London, and we’re not slowing down.
2023
In 2023, we once again pushed the boundaries of genre, showcasing the future of pop with an unforgettable headline slot from avant-pop icon Caroline Polachek. Still showcasing the very best leftfield talent as outrageous Swedish punks Viagra Boys brought their unstoppable energy to the stage and Osees proved why they remain at the forefront of the garage rock and psychedelic scene. Indie rock cult favourite Alex G guided us into the afternoon with his extensive back catalogue, followed by a joyful set from Jockstrap, which brought the party to life. Shygirl energised the crowd with her sultry club-pop anthems and Black Country, New Road dazzled with their ever-evolving raw talent. To close out the day, Caroline Polachek transported us to her island of sonic perfection, captivating us all with her genre-defying sounds.
2022
After a smashing debut, we returned in 2022, bigger and bolder. We took over Brockwell Park for an unbelievable two-day event featuring a carefully curated lineup of the very best emerging talent, unconstrained by genre or convention. Day one dove deep into leftfield electronic sounds, with Caribou and Overmono delivering electrifying performances, and Bicep closing the main stage with a euphoric set. Day two shifted gears, spotlighting the sounds of the Indie, Post-Punk and more. Amyl & The Sniffers and Fat White Family ignited the stage with unstoppable energy, closing with a legendary set from Primal Scream, proving that we’ve got the perfect mix of past, present and future sounds.
2021
Wide Awake exploded onto the scene in 2021, making sure everyone knew we meant business from day one. This wasn’t a warm-up and we don’t half-arse anything, we were here to make a place for ourselves on the scene bringing you the very best cutting-edge sounds across a spectrum of genres. With unforgettable performances from Daniel Avery, Porridge Radio, Self Esteem, Yard Act, Black Country, New Road, Goat Girl, Squid, IDLES and more, we set the bar high in our debut year. This was the beginning of something different and we weren’t holding back.
