If you’re an electronic music head, there’s every chance you’ve already chewed several ears off about just how good Houghton has become over the past few years. But in 2025, the festival ascended into a new realm. Houghton is now firmly one of the greatest gatherings in the country.
Held in the grounds of Houghton Hall, the festival has grown from a 5,000-capacity jaunt into an almost 20,000-strong celebration — yet both artists and punters still feel as intimate and interconnected as they did at the first edition. There’s a real sense of wonder whenever you head into the forest. Amidst the dislodged dust, stages sit shrouded in mystique; largely unnamed, unpretentiously inviting, and blessed with the best sound systems in the business.
Houghton boasts a gold standard of electronic music. From legends like Ricardo Villalobos and Chez Damier through to regulars like Peach and Palms Trax, there was something for old heads and newcomers alike.
There’s a whole different meaning to the term “locked in” when you’re deep in Houghton Hall Forest. With no phone signal until you’re miles from the site, the immersion, frivolity and interconnection felt like a festival from the Time Before. People actually talked to one another. Dancers weren’t documenting every moment on their phones. The music had a deeper appreciation as a result.
Much of this heightened absorption comes down to Craig Richards’ DJing philosophy. In a Resident Advisor interview back in 2019, Richards said: “A dance floor is the most successful for me where people have their heads down and they’re dancing.” On the ground, that ethos was everywhere — phones rarely surfaced for long, despite TikTok later blowing up with ridiculous reactions to Big Tunes captured in the aftermath.
The curation of the experience, for artists and attendees alike, was meticulous. The pacing of the festival stems from Richards’ obsession with building things gradually into a dedicated groove. That groove simmered slowly across a scorching weekend, bubbling from low-key rollers into a heavy-hitting crescendo, with Mala and John Talabot seeing out proceedings with deeper, more intense wobblers.
But it wasn’t just the music that delivered. Away from the dancefloors, attendees were spoilt for choice when they needed a breather from the bedlam. This year saw a stronger artistic presence across the grounds. Chris Levine lit up the night with an incredible installation: a beam fired from a camper van into the sky, refracting into a full purple rainbow that even Mace Windu would have admired. Studio Ebba’s Pulse was another standout; an interactive shrine that converted the bioelectric signals of trees into waves of sound and light.
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Beyond the art, there were experiential gems tucked into every corner. Down at the chill-out zone near The Orchard, you could request a personalised poem from a man in a shed, bliss out at a moon bath, or sip tea and chat in Auntea’s living room.
One must-do experience actually sat outside the main site. Hop on a tractor and you’d be whisked through Houghton Hall’s sprawling sculpture garden, where you could encounter immersive work by Stephen Cox or stare skyward inside one of James Turrell’s celestial skylight installations.
Right now, Houghton sits in a truly magical sweet spot. With its eclectic line-up, beautiful setting, and brilliant crowd, Houghton isn’t just one of the UK’s best dance music festivals — it’s actively restoring faith in the future of festivals as a whole. As it continues to grow in stature and size, we hope the optimism it inspires will only rise alongside it.
