Top Tips for Musicians Performing in Festivals: Our Expert Advice
Published on 16 May 2025
Festival season is upon us and if you’re a musician, you most likely envision yourself performing on stage rather than moshing in the pit within an exuberant crowd (or perhaps both!). I personally know that playing at a music festival can be a career-defining moment for an emerging artist. I was lucky to have my band The Gallowgate Murders selected to perform at Download festival last year (and many other fests too!). So in today’s blog I want to share my experience with you, giving you an insight into the process, along with tips and advice on how to stand out with your application and how to prep for your dream performance once you’re successful. Are you ready to take your band to the next level? Let’s get this party started!
Cover photo & front page photo: The Gallowgate Murders at Download Festival by Alan Swan
Contents
A Brief Overview of the UK Festival Landscape From an Unsigned Artist Perspective
Your Band is Your Brand - Take Yourself Seriously to be Taken Seriously
Your Submission Was Not Successful? Don't Give Up!
Your Submission Was Successful - You’re in!
What to Expect in the Advance Phase
Logistics: Travel & Accommodation
The Prep Time: Setlist, Rehearsals
A Brief Overview of the UK Festival Landscape From an Unsigned Artist Perspective
Many of the mainstream festivals are dominated by superstars and established acts - for a good reason. The organisers need a good few big names to guarantee ticket sales. But there’s also space for trending bands, mid-level artists and finally - us: the unsigned, up-and-coming underdogs emerging from the dark corners of a local scene; working relentlessly towards our dream of following in the footsteps of our idols. The heroes who inspired us to embark on this mad journey.
Trust me, festivals need us just as much as we need them. Most of the festivals will launch their annual hunt for the unsigned stage performers either in the Winter time or in early Spring. So make sure you keep an eye out for their announcements on when the submissions open and the applications’ deadlines.
Photo credit: Fest Pod
I’d recommend following your chosen festivals’ pages on social media: I found out about the Takeover at Download from Facebook! Some festivals (e.g. Bloodstock with their Metal to Masses) run annual competitions at local music venues cross-country in the form of the battle of the bands, with semi-finals and finals, before they make a selection for their lineup.
But is your band ready to take part in such trials? Have you got what it takes to stand out from the oversaturated music scene? Yes you do. Can you make the cut through 600+ other bands? Yes you can. Here’s how.
Your Band is Your Brand - Take Yourself Seriously to be Taken Seriously
I’ll start with a few points that may be obvious but worth keeping in mind, depending on what career stage your band is currently in. It goes without saying that you need to have original material, a few live shows under your belt, be active on social media and basically have all things in place that the bigger bands have but of course on a lower level.
Photo credit: Alan Swan
So if you’ve only just started your first rehearsals, or played that one gig 2 years ago - let’s be honest: this isn’t the right timing. But who says you can’t put in the hard work and be ready to apply next year, right? Whichever place you find yourself in right now, I hope my blog helps you.
Have You Got What it Takes?
I put together a list of what you need to be/have as a band in order to qualify with your potential festival application: (please note this can vary and I’m merely going by my own experience).
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Original material (EP will suffice, but the more recordings you released and can show, the better)
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Your music should be accessible across all platforms (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music etc) as well as released in a traditional format (CD, vinyl) as some festivals may request a hard copy for submission.
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Social media presence: your online followers can be a good indicator what crowd your band can pull so being on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok is not a cringe thing but a must for any serious musician in this day and age. Think of it as your professional portfolio.
(pro tip: you only have a few hundred followers and you see bands with 20k+ are applying? Who cares! Don’t ever underestimate yourself - you never know who is on the jury panel and how your sound fits on the landscape of the general bill for that year’s lineup. I have seen tiny bands beat seemingly established acts simply because they had that unique “something” about them. You never know if this is you until you try.
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Website - it’s certainly a good practice to have one, however I only needed to link our website at one occasion when applying to festivals - I feel soon having a web page may no longer be necessary. Once again, social media is king here.
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Photography: whether it’s a band photoshoot (great fun) or a selection of snaps from your live gig, the jury panel will want to see you. It’s your chance to present your branding, unique aesthetic, show your visual side of the experience you bring along with your music.
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Music video x 2: one official and one live.
This is an important part of the submission process so I’ll allow myself to give you good advice here: in 90% cases you will be asked to upload a professionally made music video to one of your songs as well as a live music video from a show you played.
I can’t stress this enough - when you are asked to show these, make sure you attach exactly what you are asked for! I had the honour of being on a jury panel for a large UK festival looking for emerging bands earlier this year and the amount of incorrect videos sent to us was upsetting. Great bands have failed to show their live performance, adding hours to the jury’s work where we had to dig the Internet far & wide in order to find something we can judge their skills on and help them get through. Please do what you are asked to - don’t show a silly BTS TikTok from a tour van - that is not what the jury wants to see.
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EPK - Electronic Press Kit: the more concise the better, the neater the better. This is a one-sheet place for you to advertise your band - a CV if you will. Make it a page on your website that you can link up to, or have it in pdf format or as jpeg. Needless to say nobody wants to read your doc file with messy fonts that open over a few pages long.
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Bio - a short bio can take you a long way. Sometimes you won’t have the chance to attach an EPK but you’ll have 100 words to type up to sum up who you are as a band. Be ready to sell yourself the best way you can.
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Band’s e-mail / *management contact details - should be an obvious thing but yes, you do need to have an e-mail address. Even if it’s just one of the band member’s personal one if you don’t have a general band account or a manager. Some festivals may contact the winning bands via DM on social media (this was actually the case with Download for me!) but many will opt for a thread of communication in an old school e-mail chain format.
Ok I think this covers most of the basics. You’re with me? Let’s dive further!
Your Submission Was Not Successful? Don't Give Up!
The truth is, more often than not you’ll either never hear back from your application, or you’ll get the sad news that unfortunately you’ve not been successful at this time. We’ve all been there, it’s part of the game. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply again next year or keep trying to get into a different festival. I’d like to share my personal example here. My band applied to play Bloodstock in their Metal 2 the Masses competition in 2022. We didn’t get in. We applied again next year. We didn’t hear back until.. One day we received an e-mail that the organisers actually wanted to offer us a slot on the main lineup on the EMP stage in 2024! This was unexpected and we were thrilled to find out they thought we were fit for a bigger stage than their New Blood one. See? You never know where your application can end up.
Your Submission Was Successful - You’re in!
Next up is the euphoria phase - you have been successful and you’re band’s in! I will never forget the moment when my phone notification went *ping* and I opened our band’s message to learn we have been chosen to play Download at the Takeover stage. A feeling so surreal that you almost forget the hard part is still ahead of you and you just want to meet with your band for celebratory pints! Ha, not yet. This is where the reality kicks in. This is where you realise how much effort and work goes behind the scenes for the successful bands that are always on tour that we’re jealous of. This isn’t 1999 and a Motley Crue party town. This is the modern music scene where diy or die is king unless you’ve got a healthy savings account.
Photo credit: The Gallowgate Murders at Bloodstock Festival by Alan Swan
What to Expect in the Advance Phase
If your band like mine doesn’t have its manager, then one of you best learn quickly how to handle the business, logistics, travel arrangements, etc.
I’ll hint at the fact that in many cases as an emerging act performing a large festival your payment is entry to the full festival for the whole band (coolest thing ever, and itself is worth more than any gig payment we’d made by that point - think full weekend tickets x 5 for free), experience of the “real” music industry world (actually - priceless and will be invaluable going forward) and ah yes, lastly the usual suspect: exposure. Remember you’re at the core of the music industry while at a large festival and often you’ll have the opportunity to socialise with important folk, other bands, do some networking, do interviews for radio, online zins and tv. It’s all the stuff that you should absolutely be ready to do if you’re wanting to get the most out of the whole thing.
I’d recommend looking up the festival code of conduct by the Musician's Union if you’re not sure whether what you’re offered is right.
Logistics: Travel & Accommodation
You’ll also get to bring along a roadie (I highly recommend doing this) and a photographer. Unless you’re the headliner, chances are nobody will take decent photos of you on stage so having a dedicated photographer is a must I’d say.
You’ll be offered a free camping space in the more ‘civilised’ vip area (with showers and toilets nearby, yay!) but you need to bring your tent, sleeping bag, toiletries as if you were a regular festival goer. Most nearby hotels (if by nearby we count a 30 minute walk through fields) will be long booked by the time you find out you’re playing so I wouldn’t bank on a comfy bed.
Do you have a band’s van? If not, you’ll need to rent one. You’ll be needing transport for the band and third parties you’d bring along (roadie, photographer, manager). It will be the cheapest and most convenient to arrive altogether, at the same time, with everything at hand. My band The Gallowgate Murders doesn’t have a van but two of us own cars. We drove in two cars to one festival last year and the costs came close to the cost of renting a van and going together. Apples and pears you say, but bear in mind some festivals may only allow one parking space per band!
All the advancing details will be communicated to your band’s manager. In our case it was myself who handled that. I was the point of contact for the organisers, promoter, artist liaison, head of merchandise and stage manager. Weeks of e-mail exchanges, prep and filling out forms - I think I’d go grey if I had to do this again and also rehearse, be ready for a performance of my lifetime. But oh my, it was so worth it! I learned a lot through the process so if you’re ready to step into the role of the boss, you’ll gain a lot from this experience alone.
The prep time: setlist, rehearsals.
Ok the boring part is behind us. Let’s focus on the actual job of you as a musician.
How does a band prepare to play a festival?
Aside from being one of the main songwriters for my band, I play guitar - my beloved weapon of choice, PRS CE24 (I’m proudly a PRS Pulse Artist), I sing and I play tin whistle in a few songs. My role alone is quite demanding of being able to swap between instruments, adapt from lead to rhythm guitar between songs and sing whilst retaining audience contact. It’s an easy job (joking) once you’ve played your local venue hundreds of times. But it’s a whole new animal if you’re prepping for a festival.
Rehearsals - very important. You’ve got a 30 minute long set. Make it the best set you’ve ever played. Pick the strongest songs you have. No patter in between songs (well yes introduce your band, and let the crowd cheer), just your time to show the world that you were worth this slot.
I booked a 6-hour-long block of rehearsals every weekend, and one 3-hour long mid week, 2 months before our performance at Download Festival. Everyone in my band works a full time job so this was the most we could do to be in top notch form. We practiced stage cues. Instrument changeover timed to a second. We played the same set back to back for the entire practice time. It has become us. I could have played it in my sleep. That’s what you want, always, but particularly when you’re given an opportunity to perform in front of a few thousand people.
The gear: What to Bring?
Now, let’s take a look at your gear. Remember you’re playing one of the biggest festivals in the country, right? So make sure you show up. And by show up I mean you look the part, you play the part, you do what you advertised yourself to do. No shortcuts, no cheating. Bring your A game to the table and you’ll get results.
Your guitar pickup crackles during rehearsal? Strings are buzzing half way up the neck? Take it to the technician! Let a professional set it up for you. My PRS has played 90 % of my band’s gigs so I know I can always rely on it but I also know that every so often it will need a good check over to make sure there are no last minute surprises. Can you believe my strap button came off 2 weeks before Download? I go hard on this guitar thrashing about the stage so I am surprised it lasted this long to be honest. But a quick trip to the technicians and the problem is fixed. I always use strap locks too which I’d highly recommend if you’re feeling funky and want to jump around the several metres long stage.
Oh did I mention that my cable was almost too short? I kid you not. My trusted MXR Pro 20 ft cable was at its full stretch by the point of my pedalboard / mic stand. Speaking of cables, always pack a spare! You can’t be sure what could happen so don’t leave yourself at a loss.
Also, make sure you have your guitar freshly re-strung for optimum performance (I use D’Addario coated NYXL strings and never ever had one string break, ever). Always bring spare packets too, along with at least a string cutter/winder if not a full maintenance kit for any unpleasant accidents. Same with guitar picks. I’m lucky my hands don’t sweat but yet I lose my picks every show we play. I’ll always have 3-point emergency pick areas: my pocket, my pedaboard and my amp. That way I can quickly manage the situation.
It’s showtime!
So, you’re worried about the backline? Fear not. It’s a large stage (most likely), the backline will be provided (no time to set up between short changeover times). So be able to adapt to a different amplifier (most festivals will use Marshall, Orange or Blackstar so you could try each at studios or at your local guitarguitar to familiarise yourself with the control panel).
Photo credit: Alan Swan
At the Takeover at Download we had Marshall stacks so I was very happy and only brought my pedalboard. However - this was one first (and I think the only) hurdle. No other bands from our stage that day actually used analog amps. They all came armed with Neural DSP Quad Cortex or Line 6 Helix and went straight through the desk! This meant that when we got on stage, the amps valves… were not warmed up. It took what seemed like an eternity to get them going.
I wish I had an amp modeller / multi-effects processor not just back then but also at a few other shows we played which required us to bring the full backline. You learn your lesson quickly when you have to carry an Orange cab and a Marshall JCM 800 Studio head up a hill after driving 5 hours. Don’t get me wrong, I love my rig but I could have that sound in my backpack! *checks out comparison demo between HX Stomp and Quad Coretex while she types this*.
I’d also recommend bringing In-ear monitors. You can buy in-ear monitors fairly cheap nowadays and I’d say have them even if you’re not 100% sure you’d use them for any reason. Better safe than sorry.
You did it!
I hope my festival tips for emerging bands help someone out there one day. The modern music industry is changing rapidly in front of our eyes but remember you and I are part of it. Every famous band was once a local group with 10 people in the audience. Put the effort in. Do the work. Dream big. The stage is yours!
