Over the past few years we have taken our holiday’s and headed up north, but rather than relaxing on the beach we have been attending all four days of the UK’s largest independent punk festival, namely ‘Rebellion Festival’. There are links to these reports at the foot of this article.
‘Rebellion Festival’ is once again returning this summer across four days from the 1st to the 4th of August and as always is taking place at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. The organisers have once again pulled together a line-up that runs the full length and breadth of worldwide alternative and punk rock culture. From the four iconic, genre-defining headline artists of The Stranglers, Sham 69, Cock Sparrer and Stiff Little Fingers to the young upstarts kicking up a racket in 2024 like The Chisel, The Meffs, Grade 2, Bar Stool Preachers, HotWax, and Meryl Streek, ‘Rebellion Festival’ displays an ageless and timeless event annually that demonstrates just how big and welcoming our punk rock family continues to grow.
With over three hundred bands and artists playing and performing across the Winter Garden’s multiple stages, ‘Rebellion Festival’ really does supply something for everyone with an interest in alternative culture. From the very roots of the movement with the proto 60s garage punk of Love guitarist Johnny Echols, performing with his version of the psychedelic legends, to 1970s glam stompers The Sweet who were a huge influence on the first waves of punk, ‘Rebellion Festival’ goes from the very start to the wholly contemporary, and everything in between.
A recent and thrilling addition to the line-up this year is the eclectic and theatrical Gogol Bordello from the Lower East side of Manhattan, although they feature members hailing from Ukraine, Ecuador, Russia and Ethiopia for a truly worldwide sound. The band are notorious for their relentless touring, and they have lapped the world many times since their formation in 1999. Rebellion is excited to finally have them hitting the festival in 2024.
All this and so much more, these join many other highlights including Tom Robinson Band, UK Subs, Lydia Lunch, Toyah, Dead Boys, Ruts DC, GBH, Cockney Rejects, The Alarm, and The Men They Couldn’t Hang.
Got to Line Up (rebellionfestivals.com) for the full four-day line-up.
Since its original inception in 1996 as the then named ‘Holidays In The Sun’ festival, ‘Rebellion’ has always aimed to bring together the best punk and alternative music from across the globe, and is still a family-run, family-orientated ALL AGES event and children under 12 are admitted free of charge (accompanied by an adult).
‘Rebellion’ festival will return on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th August 2024. Day and Weekend tickets are on sale from HERE.
Read our reviews of the last couple of years of ‘Rebellion Festivals’ below:
3rd August 2023
4th August 2023
5th August 2023
6th August 2023
4th August 2022
5th August 2022
6th August 2022
7th August 2022
