Leisure: We Invented the Weekend, Salford, Greater Manchester

In 1843, Robert Lowes (Ian McKellen’s great-great-grandfather) persuaded Greater Manchester businessmen to give their workers a half-day holiday on Saturdays – paving the way for the modern weekend. This new festival of free time at MediaCity and Salford Quays is a celebration of everything people love about weekends, with 200-plus activities covering live music, sport, gardening, exercising, eating and more. There is a “charity supermarket” in the piazza with curated fashion from 10 charity shops; a family-friendly rave; and talks and debates hosted by the University of Salford.
3-4 June, weinventedtheweekend.com

Culture: EA festival, Hedingham Castle, Essex

This year, the East Anglian festival of literature, media, art, environment and music is taking place at Hedingham Castle, one of England’s best-preserved Norman keeps. While the talks on the main stage cost £15 each, the concerts, workshops and talks at the keep are mostly free (although a £5 donation for the day is welcome). Music genres include Gypsy swing, vintage jazz, neo-soul, opera and musical theatre. Talks range from “How to shop charity shops: a beginner’s guide” to “What they never taught you in school (but you need to know)”. There is also an insect walk and talk around the castle grounds.
10-11 June, eafestival.com

Beach: First Light festival, Lowestoft, Suffolk

There is two-day party on South beach, Lowestoft, to celebrate the first sunrise of midsummer in the UK’s most easterly town. Day one runs from “noon till moon” (12-9.30pm) on the beach, with some “sundown events” around town late into the night. The festival restarts with music and dance at dawn (3.30-5.30am), before day two gets in full swing at 10am (until 4pm). The packed lineup includes comedy from Josie Long, folk music by Eliza Carthy, poetry from Linton Kwesi Johnson, a Bollywood brass band, live sculpture sessions, sunset yoga and much more. Everything is free and unticketed except the sundown events in town (mostly £10 each). One of those is free, too: Moonlit Soundscapes in St Peter & St John church features classical and acoustic musicians, including Mercury-nominated Tom McRae (10pm-2.30am).
17-18 June, firstlightlowestoft.com

Street theatre: So festival, Skegness and Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire

This twin-venue street theatre festival takes place in the Tower Gardens, Skegness, and Sherwood Fields, Mablethorpe. This year’s lineup is still to be finalised, but last year’s featured a spray-painting robot who created a giant mural of people’s faces; dance shows in fountains and on football fields; and a one-man show involving cooking, drumming and playing the organ at the same time. As well as professional performers, there is a community stage for local talent, an activity zone with free workshops and a pop-up town square for discussions.
Skegness, 16-17 June, and Mablethorpe, 18 June, sofestival.org

Food: Pembrokeshire Street Food festival

Street Food Warehouse runs festivals across Wales and southern England from April to September. The next event is by South beach in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, and has 25 street-food traders. Cuisines range from Italian to Jamaican, with dishes from poutine to churros; most dietary requirements are catered for, including vegan and gluten-free. The event is sponsored by Fourpure Brewing Co and there is a live music stage. Entry is free but ticketed. After Tenby, the next stop is Poole in Dorset (30 June-2 July).
16-18 June, streetfoodwarehouse.co.uk

Music: Summer Solstice Asian Music festival, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Leeds 2023 is a year-long programme of cultural events. It includes this music festival: a triple celebration in the Corn Exchange to mark the longest day of summer, World Music Day and International Day of Yoga. The bill features the Shah-e-Mardan qawwali ensemble (playing Sufi devotional music); the American-Afghan musician Qais Essar, who plays the rabab; the Scotland-based sarangi player Sardar Satwinder Pal Singh; the santoor player Kaviraj Singh; and the singer Anamika Chowdhury.
21-22 June, pay what you can, saa-uk.org

Spectacle: The Tall Ships Races, County Durham

The annual Tall Ships Races are coming to Hartlepool for the first time since 2010, and the city is holding a four-day festival on the waterfront to celebrate. Maxïmo Park are headlining on Friday night and the Wailers top the bill on Saturday, while other acts include the Magic Numbers and John Bramwell. As well as music, there is a giant pop-up ceilidh, an outdoor theatre and light show centred on the lighthouse, plus dance performances, art installations and fireworks. Then, of course, there are the ships: nearly 40 signed up so far, some modern, some dating back as far as 1900.
6-9 July, tallshipshartlepool2023.co.uk

Potters Fields Park by Tower Bridge is the site of a new festival aiming to celebrate the local community living in a tourist-heavy part of London. The programme includes a mass-participatory clay workshop nodding to the history of pottery-making in the area; a Feast in a Field; guided walks by architecture experts and park rangers; a suitcase sale (like a mini car boot sale) and makers’ market; music on a pedal-powered stage; film screenings; and street food. Some events take place in St John’s Churchyard, a few minutes’ walk away.
22-23 July, inafieldbyabridge.com

Family: Charlbury Riverside festival, Oxfordshire

This family-friendly festival has been held on Mill Field, a meadow by the River Evenlode on the outskirts of Charlbury in the Cotswolds, for 25 years. This year there will be more than 30 bands across three stages, playing rock, indie, folk and blues; lots of children’s activities; a green field with craft demonstrations (bronze axe-casting, willow weaving, stone masonry); and a wellness tent with taster sessions of pilates, sound therapy, meditation and more. Ale and cider is from the Cotswolds brewer Hook Norton; there is also a gin bar, as well as food traders and craft stalls.
29-30 July, riversidefestival.charlbury.com

Circus: Out There festival, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Circus performers and street artists take over Great Yarmouth for a weekend of “breathtaking spectacle, quirky comedy and seaside silliness”. Last year more than 40 shows were watched by more than 60,000 people in St George’s Park, along the seafront and in venues including theatres, museums, the town hall and the library. The programme is to be confirmed, but highlights in 2022 included Argentinian acrobats, bicycle-powered puppets and a farmyard circus (juggling with hay bales, wheelbarrows, tractor tyres and scarecrows), plus the Saturday Night Spectacular involving a steel drum orchestra and pyrotechnics.
15-17 September, outtherearts.org.uk