UK festival with quietly star-studded line-up is a hidden gem

Stuffing my hair under a wrinkled bald cap, rocking facial hair as I dressed up like a 45-year-old man, I felt liberated.

As we walked over the expansive green hill, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A sea of heads jumping up and down, half of them wearing bald caps, arms waving enthusiastically in the air as Lil Jon had them belt out Sweet Caroline.

It felt like a fever dream. One that I didn’t want to wake up from.

On Friday, I headed to Leeds from London to attend the inaugural Roundhay Festival, taking place in the city’s historic Roundhay Park. Spanning more than 700 acres, it’s one of the largest city parks in Europe that’s hosted historic performances by icons including Madonna in 1987 and the Rolling Stones in 1982.

The park is an ideal location for a music venue, boasting a natural open-air colosseum with a large grassy hill on one side and a massive base at the bottom. Whether you want to immerse yourself in the thick of the crowd or watch the performances from the hill, there really isn’t a bad view.

All of this considered – the size of the park, the shape of the grassy auditorium, the immaculate vibes – it was a wonder to me that this was the first time the festival has taken place.

Organised by AEG Presents, the same company behind BST Hyde Park and All Points East, Roundhay Festival 2026 went into its first year all guns blazing with a stellar line-up.

To start with, Pitbull headlining on Friday. Mr Worldwide himself, the man who comes up before the breed of dog when you Google his name, the personification of the word ‘party’.

Supporting him, the Mexican band Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Get Low rapper Lil Jon, Pass Out legend Tinie Tempah and Jasooon Derulooo. Not a bad way to spend a Friday.

On Saturday, Roundhay Festival is hosting headliner Lewis Capaldi, supported by Conan Gray, Jessie Murph, Jacob Alon, Kerr Mercer, Naive Ella, Ber and Maya Lane. Meanwhile, on Sunday, festivalgoers can enjoy classical tunes by The Hallé Orchestra, hosted by Myleene Klass, and conducted by Stephen Bell, alongside special guest Alfie Boe.

Looking back on my student days, I can’t count the number of times I roared: ‘To the windooow, to the wall!’ while sweating my butt off on a sticky dancefloor. Like many millennials, Lil Jon was the soundtrack of my uni clubbing days. 

His unlimited energy as he switched up from Sweet Caroline to Hollaback Girl, a Sweet Dreams remix and then Lean Back made me feel like I was 18 years old again. He revved up the crowd with Pump It, and had us wiggling our butts to Sugarhill Gang’s Apache and Anaconda. The King of Crunk is still very much reigning supreme.

Next up was Tinie Tempah, who I saw perform a few months ago at Koko in Camden. That gig was electric, and I had a feeling that his show at Roundhay Festival was going to take things up a notch. I wasn’t wrong.

Having seen him arrive backstage in a luxurious car about 15 minutes before the start of his performance, Tinie rocked up to the stage with his right-hand man DJ Charlesy as the sun beamed down on the park. 

However, the duo hit a snag when tech issues caused the start of the set to stutter. At first, Tinie stood in silence as DJ Charlesy tried to fix the issue. But then he addressed the crowd, keeping spirits high as the problem was resolved. And then the rave could really begin.

16 years after releasing hits including Pass Out and Written in the Stars, they’re still certified bangers that I’ll never get sick of. Dressed head to toe in camo, the rapper delighted the crowd with the classics, while also performing some of his new material. Turn the Music Louder, Miami 2 Ibiza, Not Letting Go… Tinie’s discography is simply top class.

Having been invited to the festival, I had the chance to meet Tinie backstage following his performance. After he’d eaten and changed into a tan tracksuit, he smiled as I told him how brilliant he was at Koko and how much I enjoyed joining in the ‘tsunami’ in the crowd at Roundhay. ‘You’ll have to come to more of my gigs,’ he replied. I assured him I would.

While chatting to Tinie, there was a surreal moment when I heard Lil Jon yell out ‘Yeah!’ in his signature style while he milled around backstage in his trailer. Teenage me wouldn’t have believed it.

After our backstage rendezvous, we rushed back out to watch Jason Derulo take to the stage with his many glamorous dancers. Another major throwback to my teenage years as Ridin’ Solo was my song of the summer when I was 16. 

As talented as Jason is, and as much as I loved when he performed Wiggle, Whatcha Say, Swalla, Spicy Margarita, and Trumpets, there were moments when it felt like he was trying too hard. He’s enormously gifted, with the vocals and dancing chops to prove it. I have to admit that the biting of his lips multiple times as he stared into the camera felt like overkill.

The final break before the main event. We raced out to get some dinner, in desperate need of fuel before the Pitbull extravaganza. There were several mouth-watering options on offer – pizza (with the longest queue), Lebanese food, ice cream… but for me, a smashed burger was the one. After my meal, it was time to don my bald cap, aviator sunglasses and furry soul patch, which I popped on my chin. (I’d grown very attached by the end of the night).

My friends know that I love a bit of fancy dress. There’s something liberating in transforming yourself into a different character. As a woman at a festival, you can often feel the pressure to glam up to the nines. The phenomenon of Pitbull has taken that pressure away in an extraordinary way.

Seeing him perform live had been on my bucket list for ages, and Mr Worldwide was everything I hoped for and more. We sang ‘Meet me at the hotel room’ at the top of our lungs, bald heads galore bobbing along as the sun began to set at 9pm. 

A brief Sweet Child O’Mine guitar riff transitioned into Rain Over Me with Marc Anthony. Pitbull had us shaking our salsa hips as the band played Suave (Kiss Me), telling us that he wanted to bring the Miami club to Leeds. The park felt like it was shaking as the rapper belted out ‘I wanna see you move move, shake shake, now drop, what your momma say.’

I could have stayed there all weekend, no matter how much that bald cap made me sweat.

Throughout the concert, Pitbull preached messages of love and togetherness, which felt particularly pertinent when a woman in front of us collapsed on the ground. We heard that she’d apparently been caught up in a scuffle between two men, the only quarrel we witnessed at the event.

As she lay on the ground surrounded by security, and then the medical team when they also arrived, crew members and festival goers joined hands to create a channel so she could be safely stretchered out of the crowd. Thankfully, she was conscious as she received medical care, and the way everyone united around her was really heartening to witness. 

Hopefully, this first year of Roundhay Festival is just the start. If in future you miss out on BST tickets, it’s a fantastic alternative where you can see several of the same headliners, just a couple of hours away from London.

The journey out of the grounds was arduous, with traffic basically at a standstill as people clambered to get into taxis while roads further down were closed off, but it’s hardly unexpected. This festival is a hidden gem you don’t want to miss.

To find out more about Roundhay Festival, click here.