British stars Charli XCX, Dave and Raye have been unveiled as the headline acts for next summer’s Reading and Leeds Festival.
They will be joined at the top of the bill by Irish rock outfit Fontaines DC, electronic duo Chase & Status and Florence + The Machine, with all six headliners performing across both festival sites during the August bank holiday weekend.
According to organisers, this marks the first time in 25 years that the headline slots at the twin festivals are filled entirely by British and Irish artists.
Charli XCX, a five-time Brit Award winner, will make her only currently scheduled UK festival appearance next summer.
Reading and Leeds bosses confirmed that the 2025 editions will be the sole UK festival shows for all six top acts.
For the first time, the Leeds site will host a Thursday headliner, with rock band Kasabian set to open proceedings.
The weekend’s line-up also includes Irish rap trio Kneecap, pop singer Jade and grime legend Skepta, alongside US performers Sombr and Role Model. 1
Rising acts such as Skye Newman, Manchester DJ Josh Baker, Irish producer Kettama, American rock band Geese, Slovakian singer Adéla and Keo are also confirmed.
Dutch DJ Chris Stussy will appear exclusively at Reading, with additional artists still to be announced.
Charli XCX arrives off a standout year defined by the chart-topping impact of her culture-shaping album Brat, which fuelled an online “brat summer” phenomenon.
Although that trend has faded, the festival says she will “usher in a new era” with her 2025 performance. She recently dropped House, the lead track from her forthcoming album Wuthering Heights, which will soundtrack Emerald Fennell’s highly anticipated film adaptation set for release next year.
Meanwhile, Dave continues his ascent as one of Britain’s most dominant rap voices. His latest album, The Boy Who Played The Harp, debuted at number one, making him the first UK rapper to launch three consecutive albums at the top of the official charts.
Florence + The Machine also returned this year with their first album in three years, released on Halloween.
Florence Welch told Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw the date felt fitting because it is a “darker album” that explores “life and death”.q
Festival regular Meg, who has attended every year since she was 17, told BBC Newsbeat the 2025 line-up “feels made for her”.
She said the scale of the@ headliners is “very big” and welcomed seeing three women topping the bill, a point of criticism the festival has faced in the past.
In 2023, organiser Melvyn Benn said the team had worked “really hard to get full diversity” on the line-up but claimed “there’s just less women available to headline festivals”.
This year’s festivals featured US pop singer Chappell Roan, rapper Travis Scott, rock band Bring Me The Horizon and singer-songwriter Hozier among the main acts.
Reading and Leeds 2025 will run from 27 to 30 August at Richfield Avenue and Bramham Park, with artists rotating performance days. Presales are already open, and general ticket sales begin on Thursday.
