The IOW Festival is a world-famous, multi-award winning festival that regularly draws tens of thousands of revellers. It’s been named “Best Major Festival”, “Best Family Festival”, and “Best Event”, while acts often receive plaudits and awards for their performances.
The fantastic reputation and legacy of the Isle of Wight Festival ensures that it’s able to draw the best and most iconic acts each year from all over the globe. In 2025, around 55,000 people flocked to Seaclose Park to see a stellar line up and in 2026 the Island will yet again be welcoming a number of fantastic acts.
Getting to the festival is made simple by a short ferry ride from the mainland with Wightlink. Once on the Island, the event is well signposted for drivers, while coach companies like Big Green Coach and Southern Vectis offer direct port-to-Festival transport.
The Island opens its doors and provides accommodation of all kinds to suit every taste and budget. For those who want to stay close to the action, the Isle of Wight Festival itself offers plenty of camping options, ranging from the traditional ‘pitch-your-own-tent’ to boutique glamping. Meanwhile, nearby towns and villages have a great selection of B&Bs and hotels if you value a good night’s sleep.
In 2025, the Isle of Wight Festival will be going all out to make it more memorable than ever. Beyond the main stage, there will be a number of alternative areas offering varied entertainment – from a dedicated ‘Kidzone’ for youngsters, to the rather more adult ‘Cirque du Quirk’. So, if you want to give your ears a bit of a break, but don’t want the fun to stop, the IOW festival has you covered.
The Isle of Wight Festival was the first and best festival of the counter-cultural rock’n’roll revolution. It began with a number of events between 1968 and 1970, leading to the IOW Festival being hailed as the British Woodstock.
Line ups in 1970 included Jimi Hendrix (a life-sized statue of whom can be found at Dimbola Lodge overlooking Freshwater Bay), The Who, Joni Mitchell, The Doors, Leonard Cohen, Supertramp, Procul Harum, and many more. Over 600,000 people attended for what was Jimi Hendrix’s last public performance in the UK.
However, with the Island ground to a halt by a rock’n’roll invasion, it was too much to bear for many, including those in authority.
The festival ceased after 1970 after the introduction of the Isle of Wight County Act, preventing overnight open-air assemblies of more than 5,000 people taking place without certain conditions being met to the approval of the local authority.
That was until 2002, when it was brought back – and it is now run by music promoter John Giddings. The revamped event has been a major success, hosting acts such as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Kings Of Leon, Kasabian, Pearl Jam, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, Biffy Clyro and Rod Stewart, among others.
This year promises to uphold the historical tradition of great performances, great atmosphere, and promoting musical excellence. With some of the best acts around and an atmosphere second to none, book now to become part of the history.
