UK/Euro Festivals: ‘Picture Perfect’ Boardmasters, Sziget’s 11 Millionth Visitor, Untold Raises Cancer Awareness, ‘Monumental’ Reggae Land

Boardmasters (UK)

Boardmasters 2025 wrapped Aug. 10 after five days of live music and epic surf action, set against the picture-perfect backdrop of the Cornish coast.

RAYE, Central Cee, and The Prodigy headlined a lineup that also featured Kaiser Chiefs, Natasha Bedingfield, Rizzle Kicks, KEO, The Wombats, Myles Smith, London Grammar, and many more.

Surfers enjoyed the great weather at Fistral Beach, before heading to the music program at Watergate Bay. The Boardmasters Open official World Surf League (WSL) surf competition was also held as part of the festival.

Beyond the waves, the site featured a skate ramp, beach bar, and several venues aside from the main stage, offering a diverse program that included talks, film screenings, Q&As, panels, and more.

Boardmasters CEO Andrew Topham commented after this year’s festival: “The last five days have been a true celebration of creativity, community, collaboration and culture. I’m very proud of the festival that the team have produced which is testament to their hard work and year-round planning. From the waves at Fistral Beach, to the stages and incredible performances at Watergate Bay, the improvements made and renewed focus on our cultural heritage have been obvious and hugely welcomed. Fistral Beach felt like it did in years gone by. We appreciate the positive feedback we’ve received on many of the improvements, including this year’s traffic management plan.”

Early-bird tickets for Boardmasters 2026, which will take place Aug. 5-9, are on sale, starting at £254 ($344) for a five-day camping ticket.

Reggae Land (UK)

Also in the UK, Reggae Land wrapped up another monumental weekend at the iconic Milton Keynes National Bowl, welcoming 95,000 attendees across two days, Aug. 2-3.

This year’s line-up that brought together legends and rising stars of reggae, dancehall, and roots music, including Chronixx, Capleton, Mavado, Dexta Daps, Gyptian, YG Marley, Spragga Benz, Alpha Blondy, Israel Vibration, and more.

A world record was also broken at Reggae Land 2025, for the largest rum punch ever made. A 1,000-litre Caribbean cocktail was produced with Duppy Share, using their signature Duppy Rum.

The festival will return to the Milton Keynes National Bowl for its 2026 edition on 1st & 2nd August. Tickets are already flying. Early Birds, First, Second, Third Release and all VIP tickets are sold out. A limited number of Fourth Release tickets remain, available exclusively via Skiddle.

Sziget (Hungary)

Sziget Festival counted a total 416,000 visitors coming through its gates Aug. 6-11, including its 11 millionth guests since launching in 1993. The 14-year old visitor was given a festival pass granting her lifelong access to the event.

This year’s lineup included Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party, Nelly Furtado, Post Malone, Shawn Mendes, Kid Cudi, FKA Twigs, Chappell Roan, and many more. But Sziget 2025 also boasted a lot of new additions and changes to the festival intended to enhance the visitor experience.

As Sziget CEO Tamás Kádár told Pollstar in a 2023 interview, how the festival has made great strides in terms of of hygiene and general infrastructure of the festival, completely overhauling campsites, showers, and toilets.

Sziget 2025 also boasted new, genre-specific districts, such as Szoho, a multicultural center for music and street culture, or Paradox, which focuses on performance art, visual productions, and illusions.

A new nightlife district called Delta, a home for all forms of electronic music, led to a 40–50% increase in night ticket sales compared to the previous year – referring to a special ticket category that can be purchased on the spot after 11 p.m.

Each night, the ZENIT Aerial Ballet thrilled Sziget visitors with a spectacular show right next to the Revolut Stage, where Justice, Caribou, Empire of the Sun, Zaho de Sagazan, and others performed. “The daily shows at Magic Mirror and Cirque du Sziget were also big crowd-pullers, regularly playing to sold-out crowds,” according to a press release sent out after this year’s edition.

Registration for Sziget 2026 tickets is now open.

‘Whenever It Gets Tough, It’s An Opportunity’: Q’s With Sziget CEO Tamás Kádár

Untold Festival (Romania)

Untold Festival, which takes place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, has partnered with Youth Cancer Europe since its inception in 2015.

This year, for the festival’s 10th anniversary, headline acts including Armin Van Buuren, Martin Garrix, DJ Bliss, Tujamo, Alok, Irina Rimes, and INNA met with a group of young people living with cancer backstage.

This year’s YCE delegation to the festival included 20 participants from across Europe, each bringing their own story of resilience and hope. “It was a meaningful opportunity for connection, visibility, and representation, highlighting the need to centre the voices and lived experiences of young cancer survivors in all areas of public life, including culture,” according to a press release.

YCE’s presence at Untold also raised awareness about YARN (the European Youth Cancer Network), a new initiative co-funded by the European Union under the EU4Health programme. YCE coordinates this multi-stakeholder project, which spans 25 EU member states and three eligible neighbouring countries. It is “the largest lived experience-driven effort of its kind in Europe, focused on improving the quality of life for young people affected by cancer,” according to a press release.

Untold Festival took place Aug. 7-10, welcoming some 110,000 fans from over 100 countries. The mainstage hosted exclusive performances, including a world-premiere show from Don Diablo, who brought his own lights and visuals.

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