As festival season begins its long march through the muggy heat of British summer time, there are few questions heard more frequently than ‘are you going to Green Man this year?’
Championed as a bastion of independence, community and grassroots celebration, Green Man is consistently named as one of the country’s finest festive offerings. The broadly considered ‘friendliest festival on Earth’ perpetually maintains one of the best lineups around, with its quality in 2025 being no exception to such a rule.
An early arrival to the mountains of the Brecon Beacons is essential for a blistering introduction to the weekend. The Far Out stage begins proceedings showcasing a clenched one-two Hiberno blow from Kneecap and Gurriers alongside the gothic shuffling of Heartworms and the bubbling synthwork of W. H. Lung.
Across at the Walled Garden where some of the weekend’s most interesting acts are set to play, it would be sacrilege to miss the ancient avant-folk of Tristwch y Fenywod, Peiriant’s minimalist violin and guitar drones and Midding’s blurry, shoegaze inflected neo-psych. To get things moving underfoot, heritage central London venue, The Social, are bringing the full Little Portland Street experience to Round the Twist via The Social Soundsystem.
While Friday may champion the heavy hitters of Wet Leg, the preceding set by Wunderhorse is your premium choice for headline gold at the Mountain Stage. That said, the real highlight will almost certainly come in the shape of Green Man Rising winners wing! Blending trip-hop and post-rock with ambient flourishes, wing! are a true spectacle to behold and wholly deserving of their place at this year’s Mountain Stage.
For a Friday blend of psychedelic offerings, seeing Panda Bear with his stripped back ensemble will be a refreshing treat while MIKE’s alternative NY hip-hop is jaunty, odd and utterly enthralling – definitely an artist to check out. Over at the Walled Garden, Naima Bock will be sharing her fusion of chamber pop and psychedelic folk while New York’s Sex Week will provide a nostalgic serenading of intimate indie-pop. Over on the Rising stage, Adult DVD are primed to deliver bullet train dance-punk while Oreglo represent the spirit of London’s jazz scene blending jazz fusion with grime, psych rock and lounge. A particular treat will almost certainly take shape via the new project from Ava Gore and Ethan P Flynn, Silver Gore – their recent debut ‘Dogs in Heaven’ is a new highlight and we are looking forward to catching them in the flesh. For late night skanking you cannot miss the ghettotech hype of Detroit’s HiTech and the synthy range of South London stalwarts PVA performing a DJ set.
Saturday is set to be a day of sheer quality across the festival. Green Man’s folk credentials are always stellar but this year they are flying the flag high with Saturday seeing masters of the craft across site. Opening the Mountain Stage will be the contemporary female Morris dancing troupe Boss Morris, a must-see set for costume design, folklore and a celebration of the land. Following them will be London label and folk night Broadside Hacks presenting a tribute to Bob Dylan featuring the unmistakable voices of Nina Linder-Wind of The New Eves, Clara Mann and Spitzer Space Telescope hosting a range of special guests.
Amongst the powerful freneticism of Fat Dog, the songwriting mastery of English Teacher and the sweet highlife of Kokoroko on the Far Out stage, the quality of the Walled Garden and Rising stages is unparalleled today. Rich(ard) Dawson’s intimate, epic poem freak-folk will be an absolute for folk fans while with the psychedelic drones of Cornwall’s Daisy Rickman feels almost specially crafted for a festival like Green Man. Holding fast to the Walled Garden comes the pulsating weight of New York’s YHWH Nailgun – one of the absolute unmissable acts on this year’s lineup and a true insight into the shape of guitar music to come. Off the back of releasing their sublime second record, caroline will display their stunningly distinctive style of post-rock while mark william lewis will be providing intimate slowcore for weary revellers.
The Rising stage on Saturday is of particular interest with some of the best up and coming artists storming through. Top of our list is black fondu with his teeth-grindingly intense, glitched out experimental hip hop destined to summon the dead. Fast favourites Manchester’s Westside Cowboy precede him providing jangly, raw and toasted guitar-forward indie-rock à la Pavement and early Modest Mouse. RIP Magic, one of the country’s most anticipated and exciting artists will also be gracing the Rising stage with their flavour of neon-soaked, internet-drenched electronica; definitely one of the sets to make time for this weekend. Newcomers Truthpaste are also ones to watch with their blend of art-pop, chamber folk and jazz alongside Newcastle’s lots of hands delivering a tender blend of indietronica and emo. For later in the evening, the combination of dub and Scottish traditional music in the form of An Dannsa Dub is your go-to for sure.
For the final stretch of the weekend, Green Man is in no way letting up with Sunday being potentially the strongest showing of the festival. High flying artists to check out on the Mountain Stage have to be Beth Gibbons delivering forlorn chamber folk while scuzz-punk favourites Warmduscher are set to open any and all pits going. Brixton jazz-funk icons Cymande will be a particular highlight to wipe any Sunday scaries away alongside the chameleonic sounds of Nilufer Yanya and the garage-punk thrashing of Upchuck on the Far Out stage. The Walled Garden once more comes through with sheer quality, showcasing the spoken word poetics of Joshua Idehen, a contemporary indie-rock masterclass courtesy of Been Stellar and the swirling, intoxicating voices of Folk Bitch Trio. Honourable mentions must go out to Oisin Leech’s otherworldly voice, the vintage psychedelic pop flourishes of Iraina Mancini and undulating synthpop of Molina.
The Rising stage remains outstanding on Sunday. Irish noise-pop sensation Cruel Sister is set to dominate the bill alongside fizzy Welsh post-punkers MORN and one of the finest experimental folk talents in the guise of Aga Ujma; a special performer and a must-see before the weekend is out. The final day is absolutely where the Round the Twist stage comes alive, though. Opening the stage is the shapeshifting theatrics of London’s Ash Kenazi followed by baggy, psyched out acid freaks Pearl2 – a new and exciting prospect featuring members of Hank and Moreish Idols. On from them comes the rising star of the multi-talented Poppy Richler spinning rare groove and soulful steppers, before PVA’s Josh Baxter brings the filth in the shape of Technodaddy666. With all these incredible artists on the Sunday, please try and make time to pop down to Deptford Northern Soul Club at the Walled Garden for uplifting and healing deep cuts or over to Far Out for the thunder of Kelly Lee Owens.
With Green Man holding such a dear place in the hearts of festival goers across the country, it’s hard to imagine any disappointment with a lineup so strong this year. The festival is sadly sold out, so if you managed a ticket, I’ll see you there. If not, well – that sounds like a ‘you’ problem. Catch us at So Young for our full review in the coming weeks.
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