Skip to main content

These are the Top 30 UK events in August 2018

Eastern Electrics, Creamfields, Houghton Festival, Yard: Open Air, Lost Village, Numbers @ EIF... 

The nights might be creeping in but that doesn't mean summer is anywhere near over, as the Top 30 UK events in August 2018 go to show. 

Our number one spots are unsurprisingly dominated by festivals, from the 21st anniversary of Creamfields, to the stunning design of Lost Village, Craig Richards and Gottwood's much-lauded Houghton and Numbers at Edinburgh's annual arts behemoth, EIF, with the inimitable SOPHIE, whose first album, 'Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides', arrived in June

Londoners looking for clubs should check Trouble Vision's incredible line-up— Avalon Emerson, Call Super and Or:la, or for something tougher Natural Selection has techno don Jeroen Search, CPU's Jensen InterceptorStenny of Ilian Tape and the mightly Conforce live.

There are copious Notting Hill Carnival afters, of course, our pick being dnb pioneer LTJ Bukem, Digital Mystik Mala and a DJ set from Afriquoi at The Steelyard. Meanwhile, charitable session Dance For Refuge celebrates £20,000 raised for worthy causes in three years via an on-point one at Five Miles, featuring Peach, Lone and Eclair Fifi

Elsewhere, nomadic UK crew Loose Lips are going in with Merseyside natives Más and all-female arts community Sisu for a Liverpool party with local hero Breakwave (Meine Nacht) and Max Graef, and Body Talk welcome Lithuania's Manfredas for their next in Newcastle. Check the wildly varied mix he did for DJ Mag back in January for proof of his prowess. 

Homoelectric wins best of Manchester's Pride weekend thanks to Phantasy boss Erol Alkan playing disco and Michael Upson from Leeds soiree, Love Muscle. And Audio Farm Festival moves from the North to Midlands for 2018, but should retain its free party spirit with techno stalwarts Kevin Saunderson, Cari Lekebusch and Jerome Hill sidling up next to dnb innovator Alix Perez

Down South, debutant Another World Festival looks like a proper rave, packing plenty of pedigree players such as Joey BeltramBad Company, Ratpack and Phuture. Then there's the small matter of Deadmau5 in Maidstone, which is the kind of coup attendees will remember for many years to come.

The same can be said for Romanian minimalist Raresh when he hits a Cardiff car park with Francesco Del Garda, a top choice for West & Wales alongside Blawan at the re-energised Bristol Vaults and the always-solid Dogruff with its contingency of talented residents. 

All that leaves just enough space to namedrop Mehmet Aslan in Birmingham, a familiar face to regulars at Parisian institute Concrete, Lukas Wigflex and Ben UFO b2b all night in Nottingham, July's cover star Sasha in Stoke, Slam joining acid originator DJ Pierre for a one-off at Glasgow's sorely unused Old Fruitmarket and live afficionado Sebastian Mullaert, who's also in Scotland's second city this month.  

You'll find more complete listings in the latest print copy of DJ Mag, known to those in the know as Issue 584. 

LONDON

Eastern Electrics Festival

1. EASTERN ELECTRICS 
SATURDAY 4TH & SUNDAY 5TH AUGUST 
MORDEN PARK 
House and techno big’uns come out en masse for this two-dayer— Jamie Jones, Alan Fitzpatrick, Claude VonStroke, Eats Everything, Skream... not to mention Citizenn b2b Sooney, The Menendez Brothers, Prince Fatty Soundsystem, D Double E, Kate Simko, and Saturday’s afters over at Egg with Matador, Guti, Mella Dee and more in charge. 
11AM - 10PM / £55 - £59 (Saturday), £25 (Sunday) 

2. TROUBLE VISION 
FRIDAY 24TH AUGUST 
CORSICA STUDIOS
Avalon Emerson, Call Super, Or:la.
11PM - 6AM / £17.50 

3. NATURAL SELECTION  
SATURDAY 18TH AUGUST 
BLOC 
Jeroen Search, Conforce (live), Jensen Interceptor, Stenny.
10PM - 6AM / £10 - £20

4. THE CARNIVAL SESSION 
SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST 
THE STEELYARD
LTJ Bukem, Mala, Awesome Tapes From Africa, Afriquoi (DJ).
10PM - 6AM / £15 - £22.50  

5. DANCE FOR REFUGE 3RD BIRTHDAY
FRIDAY 3RD AUGUST 
FIVE MILES
Peach, Lone, Eclair Fifi. 
10PM - 6AM / £10 or £15 inc. £5 donation

NORTH 

Creamfields UK 2018

1. CREAMFIELDS UK
THURSDAY 23RD - SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST 
DARESBURY, CHESHIRE 
Talk about ways to turn 21— four days, 70,000 guests and more than 300 artists will witness Creamfields come of age. Carl Cox, Sasha & John Digweed, Eric Prydz’s Holo show, Sven Vath, Goldie, Faithless, Giggs, Major Lazer, B.Traits, Loco Dice, Sir Spyro, Leftfield, James Zabiela, Adam Beyer, Solardo, Tiesto... you get the point. 
12PM - 12AM

2. MAS x LOOSE LIPS x SISU 
SATURDAY 4TH AUGUST 
24 KITCHEN STREET, LIVERPOOL
Max Graef, Breakwave, Medallion Man, Malissa. 
2PM - 2AM / £5 - £10 

3. BODY TALK  
FRIDAY 31ST AUGUST 
COBALT STUDIOS, NEWCASTLE 
Manfredas.
9PM - 2.30AM / £8 

4. HOMOELECTRIC 
SATURDAY 25TH AUGUST 
HIDDEN, MANCHESTER 
Erol Alkan, Michael Upson, more. 
10PM - 4AM / £16 

5. COURTYARD 004 — HALF BAKED  
SATURDAY 4TH AUGUST 
DISTRIKT, LEEDS 
Thomas Melchior, Point G. 
2PM - 2AM / FREE

SOUTH 

Houghton Festival 2018

1. HOUGHTON FESTIVAL 
THURSDAY 9TH - SUNDAY 12TH AUGUST 
HOUGHTON HALL, NORFOLK  
In 2017 Houghton— a festival with 24-hour music from Gottwood and Craig Richards— surpassed huge expectations. Trying to top that this time will be A Love From Outer Space, Appleblim, Barac, Claro Intelecto, DMX Krew, Ivan Smagghe, Magda, Margaret Dygas, Calibre, Monolake, The Mole, Ricardo Villalobos, Red Axes, Nathan Fake, Jane Fitz and we can’t wait. 
12PM - 12AM / £180 

2. ANOTHER WORLD FESTIVAL 
FRIDAY 3RD  - SUNDAY 5TH AUGUST 
WASHINGPOOL FARM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE 
Bad Company, Dave Clarke, Joey Beltram, Special Request, DJ Pierre, Ratpack, Phuture, Chris Liberator, Terry Farley, more.
12PM - 11PM / £49.50 (daily), £95 (weekend) 

3. BESTIVAL 
THURSDAY 2ND - MONDAY 6TH AUGUST 
LULWORTH ESTATE, DORSET
London Grammar, M.I.A., Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, Bicep, Amelie Lens, Mall Grab, Honey Dijon, more. 
12PM - 3AM / £160 

4. THE SOCIAL SERIES 
SUNDAY 5TH AUGUST 
THE SOURCE, MAIDSTONE 
Deadmau5, Nic Fanciulli. 
12PM - 2AM / £25 

5. GLOBAL ROOTS 
SATURDAY 25TH AUGUST 
PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 
Thris Tian, DJ Okapi, Nick The Record. 
11PM - 4AM / £6 - £8 

WEST / WALES

Yard: Open Air

1. YARD: OPEN AIR CLUB
SATURDAY 25TH AUGUST 
MOTION, BRISTOL 
Antal, Leon Vynehall, Rodhad, Avalon Emerson, James Ruskin and a three hour set from the Lord Sabre himself, Andrew Weatherall, spread across three courtyards sounds like a decent idea for Bank Holiday, with Studio 89’s Mr. Price looking after art installations. Oh, and you also get Âme live, whoever they are. 
1PM - 10PM / £16.50 

2. DELETE 
SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST 
JACOBS CAR PARK, CARDIFF
Raresh, Francesco Del Garda, more.
1PM - 10.30PM / £TBC

3. VAULTS PRESENTS 
SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST 
THE VAULTS, BRISTOL 
Blawan.
9PM - 5AM / £13.50 - £14.50 

4. MIDNIGHT SHIFT 00l03 
THURSDAY 2ND AUGUST 
THE LOVE INN, BRISTOL 
Donna Leake. 
10PM - 3AM / £4 - £5

5. DOGRUFF
SATURDAY 4TH AUGUST 
THE LAST RESORT, SWANSEA
Shaun Edwards, Mikki James, Amy Amor, Luke Tainton, Alex Taylore, Gareth Richards. 
1PM - 4AM / £12 - £18 

MIDLANDS

Lost Village Festival 2018

1. LOST VILLAGE FESTIVAL
THURSDAY 23RD  - MONDAY 27TH AUGUST 
NORTON DISNEY, LINCOLNSHIRE  
Jaymo and Andy George, the Moda Black bossmen behind this surrealist throw-down, have always looked to create an immersive experience with Lost Village. So think art, theatre, fantastical design and amazing eats, alongside Four Tet, DJ Harvey, 2ManyDJs, Daniel Avery, Bill Brewster, Saoirse, DJ Tennis, Helena Hauff, Ben UFO and stacks more.
2PM - 12PM / £190 

2. AUDIO FARM FESTIVAL 
THURSDAY 30TH - MONDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 
HOPTON COURT, KIDDERMINSTER 
Blawan, Kevin Saunderson, XDB, Cari Lekebusch, Jerome Hill, DJ Sneak, Alix Perez, Paul Woolford, more.
2PM - 2PM / £95 

3. VOYAGE 
FRIDAY 3RD AUGUST 
HARE AND HOUNDS, BIRMINGHAM 
Mehmet Aslan, more. 
9PM - 3AM / £5 - £12 

4. WIGFLEX BANK HOLIDAY
SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST 
RED BAR, NOTTINGHAM 
Lukas Wigflex b2b Ben UFO.  
2PM - 11PM / £15 

5. THE MOVE WAREHOUSE SPECIAL 
SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST
SPODE POTTERY FACTORY, STOKE-ON-TRENT
Sasha, Alan Fitzpatrick, PBR Streetgang, more. 
8PM - 6AM / £25

SCOTLAND / NORTHERN IRELAND 


Numbers at Leith Theatre EIF 2018

1. NUMBERS AT EIF 2018
SATURDAY 11TH AUGUST 
LEITH THEATRE, EDINBURGH 
A spectacular venue to say the least, expect equally stunning sounds at this Edinburgh International Festival soiree. Avant-pop-electronic bits from SOPHIE, Glasgow’s Lanark Artefax (who counts Bjork and Aphex Twin in his fanbase), and Numbers co-founder Spencer should combine to make for a night of intelligent next level business. 
10.30PM - 3AM / £15

2. PLATFORM 18 OPEN AIR  
SATURDAY 4TH AUGUST 
WEST STREET, GLASGOW 
Ben Klock, Kobosil, Alexkid, Ivan Kutz, Sebastian Mullaert (live). 
12PM - 10PM / £38, £45 (inc. after party)

3. JIKA JIKA! FESTIVAL 
SATURDAY 26TH & SUNDAY 27TH AUGUST 
EBRINGTON SQUARE, DERRY 
Green Velvet, Octave One (live), Patrick Topping, Steffi, Charlotte de Witte, Willow, Louisahhh. 
2PM - 11PM / £55 - £65

4. SHINE
SATURDAY 18TH AUGUST 
CUSTOM HOUSE, BELFAST
Sasha & John Digweed, Nic Fanciulli, Psycatron. 
2PM - 11PM / £TBC 

5. SLAM 88 
SATURDAY 11TH AUGUST 
THE OLD FRUITMARKET, GLASGOW 
Slam, DJ Pierre. 
10PM - 3AM / £15 


Martin Guttridge-Hewitt is DJ Mag's Clubs Listings Editor, let him know what's happening via Twitter @martinghewitt