‘Mutations Festival’ announces first 80+ acts of this year’s lineup

Returning for its seventh edition, Brighton’s seminal ‘Mutations Festival’ is set to return on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th November 2025, boasting an exciting mix of the most explosive, established, and brand-new international artists, all performing across nine of the city’s most treasured Grassroots Music Venues. These being: Chalk, Patterns, Revenge, Dust, The Prince Albert, Green Door Store, The Hope and Ruin, The Folklore Rooms and Alphabet.

Mutations Festival venues (pic Nick Linazasoro)

One of the most beloved events of the Brighton autumn music calendar, Mutations Festival 2025 is shaping up to be the strongest, most ambitious, and most cohesive edition yet.

Headlining this year’s festival are two of the UK’s most exhilarating live acts. On Friday, the seminal South London post-punk quartet Dry Cleaning, fresh from recording their 3rd album with Cate Le Bon, make their welcome live return to Brighton. On Saturday, local legends Lambrini Girls continue their meteoric rise, returning to Mutations Festival to headline with their unique brand of chaotic, unapologetic punk rock, a sound that has seen them dominate festival main stages around the world in 2025.

Renowned for consistently showcasing ‘the next big thing’, from CMAT, Yard Act, and Sprints in 2021, to The Last Dinner Party, Wunderhorse, and Fat Dog in 2022, and English Teacher, Antony Szmierek, and Paris Paloma in 2023, Mutations Festival 2025 will be no exception. Joining Dry Cleaning and Lambrini Girls this year are some of the most vital, urgent and boundary-pushing artists from across the globe, including:

Gritty, poetic post-punks Big Special, who’ve been making waves across the UK in 2025 with their critically acclaimed new album ‘National Average’; Hotly tipped indie art-rock trio Mary and the Junkyard, fresh from supporting Wet Leg across North America; Seminal British psychedelic noise-rock powerhouse Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs; Acclaimed, alt-country breakout act Divorce, who describe their sound as “Wilco meets ABBA”; Fast-rising London alt-rock quartet Keo whose headline shows have been selling out across the UK in minutes; Immersive post-punk shoegazers Bdrmm whose recent new album ‘Microtonic’ received widespread critical acclaim; Welsh garage-Indie Rockers The Bug Club; Local post-punk/no-wave heroes Ditz, who originally formed after a chance conversation at Mutations Festival 2015; Emerging Birmingham noise rock duo GANS; Alternative emo-punk rockers University, whose distinctive sound is unlike anything else you’ll hear in 2025; Avant-pop trio Stealing Sheep, whose experimental and psychedelic sound continue to challenge creative boundaries; American DIY skate-punks Upchuck; …and over 75 more exhilarating, genre-defying, and inspiring artists.

With all this and more, Mutations Festival 2025 is set to be one for the ages.

Gans (pic Martin J Fuller), Congratulations (pic Petra Eujane), Mary In The Junkyard (pic Cris Watkins) & The Bug Club (pic Mark Kelly)

Founded in 2015 and proudly independent, Mutations Festival has forged its own path in a congested UK festival market, passionately creating a melting pot of the most exciting, urgent and forward-thinking artists of the moment.

After its second edition in 2019, Mutations Festival returned with its first sell-out edition in 2021, establishing itself as one of the UK’s most fertile grounds for discovering new music. Early career performances that year included artists such as Yard Act, CMAT, Sprints, and Billy Nomates.

Responding to the overwhelming demand in 2021, Mutations Festival 2022 rose to meet the challenges of the time with a politically charged line-up. It brought together some of the most vital voices of the moment, including Pussy Riot, Bob Vylan, Squid, Fat Dog, Black Country New Road, The Last Dinner Party, and Warmduscher.

In 2023, the festival achieved its third consecutive sell-out while continuing to diversify its programming. Blending folk, pop, indie, punk and electronica, it showcased rising stars such as future Mercury Music Prize winners English Teacher, Antony Szmierek, Bar Italia, Paris Paloma and Panic Shack. Performing alongside hugely influential headliners including Fat White Family, Public Service Broadcasting, Django Django, and The Staves.

With cultural and sonic diversity at its core, Mutations Festival 2024 marked its most ambitious and far-reaching edition to date. Pushing the boundaries of genre and sound even further, the festival welcomed internationally renowned artists including Arooj Aftab, Casisdead, Sprints, Mercury Rev, and arguably the most important performing artist of the past twelve months, Kneecap.

Adwaith (pic Petra Eujane), Vlure (pic Sara-Louise Bowrey), Ditz (pic Sara-Louise Bowrey) & Ebbb (pic Mike Burnell)

The Mutations Festival 2025 first wave line-up of performing artists are as follows:

FRIDAY 7TH NOVEMBER:

DRY CLEANING

ADULT DVD

THE BUG CLUB