Going to Glastonbury and yearning for another festival sounds like one of the most ridiculous, ungrateful things a festivalgoer could do, right? It’s like cheating on Beyoncé: who or what could possibly be better? But that’s exactly how I felt this summer. Despite all the splendour of Glasto 2025, I was pining for another place. A place with smaller crowds, less queuing, a complete absence of mobile phones and a 24-hour music offering. I was pining for Houghton.
Houghton Festival has been running since 2017. It’s based in the remote, bucolic grounds of Houghton Hall in Norfolk, near King’s Lynn, where there is no phone signal, and festival organisers purposefully make no effort to provide any. It is the only UK music festival to offer a 24-hour lineup. At sunset, revellers descend into the forest to rave until sunrise, where they then retreat to tents, hammocks or the odd well-timed gong bath.
-(1).jpeg)
Tech house legend Craig Richards founded the four-day event shortly before giving up his 18-year weekly Fabric residency in 2018. With an actual DJ at the helm, Houghton’s lineup is masterfully crafted with loyalty in mind. Many DJs return year on year, as do the punters: I met one man this year who has attended every Houghton since it started in 2017.
As the genre of electronic music continues to boom, Houghton’s loyalist lineup only becomes more and more starry. Regulars like Joy Orbison, Sherelle, Ben UFO, Shanti Celeste, Helena Hauff and Call Super have only increased their profiles since they first started playing the festival, making their presence on the lineup increasingly exciting. Each of their sets this year knocked it out of the park, proving why they’re on such an obvious upward trajectory.
.jpeg)
A highlight has to be Joy Orbison, who has experienced meteoric success since the release of cult club track Flight FM in 2024. The mechanical whirring of Flight FM may have become Orbison’s defining hit, but the London-born DJ made it clear to the crowd he was no one-trick pony, keeping Houghton’s crowd in the palm of his hand as he swerved between speed garage, house, dubstep and jungle.
Similarly, despite its loyal returnees, Houghton is far from predictable: this year’s lineup boasted more debuts than ever before, with organisers taking chances on newer and more varied acts. This included Richie Hawtin, Aurora Halal, Upsammy and Objekt. Objekt will hopefully become a familiar face for the festival’s lineup after delighting the crowd at Earthling (well-regarded as the festival’s best late-night stage) with a genre-bending journey on the Friday night.
.jpeg)
Houghton’s unpredictability is best illustrated by its illustrious secret stage, Terminus, which refuses to list its lineup and doesn’t even appear on the festival map. Such is the hype around Terminus that after three years of attending Houghton, I have only managed to attend once. It’s the perfect dose of unattainable for an audience who undoubtedly queue for trendy East London pop-ups and have probably tried to get into Berghain. A slightly smaller queue or increased capacity would be nice, but that’s what happens with hype.
Then there’s another curveball: Houghton is full of art. The site is dotted with impressive sculptures and light shows by various artists, with a full guided sculpture tour of Houghton hall offered to festivalgoers at timed intervals. This year was the most art-focused the festival has ever felt, especially at night. Come nightfall, the world’s longest laser beam lit up the sky like a purple bat signal, courtesy of artist Chris Levine, while interactive audio-visual installations by Joseph Dean and Ebba captivated crowds in the woods.
Houghton is without a doubt one of the most well-curated festivals in the UK, if not the world. The lack of signal, the hidden stages, the art installations, the if-you-know-you-know nature of the festival itself. It’s the UK festival season’s best-kept secret. Even writing this article is a moral quandary: everyone wants to brag about Houghton, but no one wants it to lose the magic. Let’s enjoy it for as long as it lasts.
Houghton will return in 2026. For more information click here
