Music lovers in Portsmouth are fortunate to live in a city that hosts one of the best music festivals in the UK. I am, of course, talking about Victorious Festival.
That might be the headline act when it comes to local music festivals, but there are lots of others you should know about too. They all tend to take place in the Summer months, as you might expect given the outdoor nature of these things, so from June through to August Portsmouth feels like the jukebox never stops playing.
Locals can experience the full gamut of music festivals, from absolutely massive events people travel miles to attend, to much more intimate one-day local festivals taking place at venues across the city, that may only attract a small audience at each location.
The Local Music Scene
Here are the music festivals you need to know about taking place in and around Portsmouth.
Victorious Festival
Let’s start with the big one, shall we? Victorious Festival.
Portsmouth’s flagship music event is held on Southsea Common every year over the August bank holiday. It’s a 3 day festival attracting up to 80,000 people per day, not to mention some of the hottest musical acts around.
Previous artists have included:
- Snow Patrol
- Fatboy Slim
- Louis Tomlinson
- Becky Hill
- Kasabian
- Jamiroquai
- Pete Tong
- Sugababes
- Basement Jaxx
- Manic Street Preachers
- Mark Ronson
That’s just a tiny handful. So as you can see, this is a major festival on the UK music calendar.
The festival has been running since 2012, when it launched to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It was originally called Victorious Vintage, was held at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and was free to attend. However it did so well that year, and when they re-ran it the year after, that the location had to be changed from 2014 onwards to accommodate more people. Which is how it ended up on Southsea Common.
Takedown Festival
A two day festival focussing on rock, metal, and hardcore music, showcasing roughly 35 bands.
It’s an interesting music festival containing a mix of tribute bands and original material. So expect to hear brand new tracks from exciting bands as well as bands like Elvana, which is an Elvis fronted Nirvana tribute. Niche.
There are three stages, a café and several bars, as well as an area to get merchandise. And if moshing isn’t your thing, don’t worry. There will be a mosh pit for sure, but with a capacity of more than 2,500 there are also plenty of areas to hang out that aren’t quite so… sweaty.
Takedown isn’t originally a Portsmouth music festival, having taken place at Salisbury City Hall and Southampton University before taking an 8 year hiatus from 2015 to 2023. This is when it relocated to Guildhall in Portsmouth. After a successful first year in Pompey it had to take a break again due to a refurbishment at Guildhall, but it was back for 2025.
Gosport Waterfront Festival
Just across the harbour in Gosport, is Walpole Park, the home of Gosport Waterfront Festival which takes place every July.
It’s a 3 day festival which tends to have a handful of headline acts backed up by local musical talent. Smaller in scale than others perhaps, but with a capacity of 4,999 per day it still has a great festival atmosphere
Being a smaller festival it is a lot more accessible, by which I mean cheaper, than the likes of Victorious, but that’s because not many big famous acts tend to play there. You will see acts you recognise though, Chas and Dave, the Searchers, the Drifters, and Showaddywaddy have all performed in the past. Plus, VIP tickets are affordable and get you into the same bar as the performers, so the chance to mingle with the bands is real here. Again, more accessible.
It has a very family friendly vibe, with fairground rides and market stalls etc., and it is all run by volunteers with the aim of improving the community. The first one was way back in 2001, the the festival is very well established.
Wickham Festival
This one is a bit of a cheat since it takes place in Wickham, as the name suggest, roughly 10 miles out of town. In my book though, that’s more than close enough to count. You can get there in the car in 15 minutes, so it’s hardly a slog.
Wickham Festival is a real gem of a music festival. It’s one of the safest and best family friendly music festivals in the country, with 4 stages of music, walkabout entertainment throughout, spoken word performers, storytelling sessions, comedy, a silent disco, kids zones, and loads more. This is all free once inside. It’s always changing and improving, and they do a lot for charity too.
The festival takes place across 4 days in August each year, and you can go for a day, a weekend, or the whole thing. Camping onsite is available for the real festival experience, but you can equally travel in or stay at a B&B. It’s been going since 2003 (although it was in Eastleigh back then) so the surrounding area is very well equipped to host all of the visitors these days.
Overall it has a relaxed folky vibe but there is pop music, rock music, traditional – all sorts. Previous artistes have included:
- Bellowhead
- Richard Thompson
- James Blunt
- Van Morrison
- Lightning Seeds
- Suzi Quatro
- The Levellers
- Tony Hadley
- Billy Bragg
- The Proclaimers
- Will Young
- Steeleye Span
- Jethro Tull
- Leo Sayer
- The Zutons
That should give you a good idea of the type of festival Wickham is.
The daily capacity is about 7,000, so it feels nice and big without being overwhelming or easy to get lost. A brilliant festival to go to as your first if you have never been to one before.