Poole Harbour Festival – Stardust at the ‘Seaside Glastonbury’

The South’s biggest and best loved family live music event, Poole Harbour Festival is pulling out all the stops this year with a stellar line up for its tenth anniversary that has prompted one commentator to dub it the ‘Seaside Glastonbury’!

Alongside headliners Kaiser Chiefs and Groove Armada (DJ set), the bill includes technopop punks Republica, rock-pop legends Scouting For Girls, boy band survivors East 17, soul stylist Heather Small from M People, and indie festival favourites Dodgy and The Fratellis. Add to that a DJ line up with UK garage high fliers Artful Dodger, dance music pace setters like Judge Jules, Dave Pearce and Lisa Lashes, Leeroy from The Prodigy, Phats and Small singer Ben Ofoedu, the pioneering Jaguar Skills, and influential DJ/broadcaster Seb Fontaine, and there’s a lineup that means business.

“We’re a landmark festival now – it’s amazing!” says festival organiser Ben Dyas.

“Thanks to the support of our brilliant audiences and the word of mouth from artists that have played here, we’ve been able to grow Poole Harbour Festival steadily so that it has become a fixture in the summer festival calendar.

“And this year we’ve created a really eclectic lineup that will put a smile on everyone’s faces, whether they’re veteran festival goers in their 60s, students and

clubbers in their teens and twenties, or even kids that have come with their mums and dads.”

From just outside the mainstream, there’s the extraordinary one-man sonic explosion that is Funke and the Two Tone Explosion, legendary wild folk singer Beans On Toast, and skiffle’s self-styled ‘passing fools’ Dr Beatroot. The bill also encompasses local bands and DJs as well as some seriously authentic tributes to the likes of Queen, Guns N’ Roses, REM and Bob Marley.

New for this year, the youngest festive goers are going to love the acrobatic pirate shows and fancy dress hosted by Redbelly Productions – they’re the buccaneering best in the business – and join a programme of daily activities for kids that also features circus skills workshops, the amazing bubble shows and walkabout performances.

Having enjoyed its most successful year to date in 2025, Poole Harbour Festival won Gold in the Event of the Year at the DMB Tourism Awards and Silver in the Tourism Event/Festival of the Year at Dorset Tourism Awards, impressing judges with its consistency and organisation.

With up to 15,000 music fans and families expected to attend over the weekend from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August, it’s going to be big!

Poole Harbour Festival opens at 5pm on Friday, noon on Saturday and Sunday, closing at 11pm on Friday and Saturday and 8pm on Sunday.

Find out more and book tickets at www.pooleharbourfestival.com.