Penny Lane Weekender returns for 2025
This August, the Penny Lane Weekender returns for its third year, continuing Penny Lane’s global musical legacy with a 3-day festival spotlighting local and independent artists and bands. Taking over venues on and around Liverpool’s iconic Penny Lane, the festival celebrates the city’s vibrant grassroots music scene.
Created in 2023 by Liverpool Post-Punk band Pleasure Island, the grassroots community festival was conceived to showcase Liverpool-based acts from the local community. Initially billed as a one-off event in the upstairs area of Dovedale Towers, a pub famous for being the residence of Freddie Mercury before his Queen glory days, the event immediately blossomed into a festival in its first year, taking on a second venue and a few extra days to accommodate the demand.
Now in its third year of operation, Penny Lane Weekender has grown into a smash success that continues to discover fresh new music and widen opportunities for emerging musicians from both Liverpool and the rest of the UK. The 2025 lineup promises an eclectic mix of Indie, Rock, Punk, Electronica, Dance and Pop including local frontrunners The DSM IV, infectious spiky sci-fi rockers SILENT-K, Japanese psych-rock band Qujaku and the hosts themselves, Pleasure Island.
Organiser (and frontman of Pleasure Island) Sean Regan says “This festival has been a shock for us all, given how we started it only two years ago as a gig upstairs in a pub! We’ve been very fortunate that the community has gotten behind this in such an incredible way, we just hope we can keep making it better and do everyone proud. Liverpool already has great festivals, but this is a part of town which hasn’t had a lot of love, despite its musical legacy. Everyone who comes here tells us what a great place it is, with an amazing atmosphere that is perfect for a weekend of live music. We’re really looking forward to seeing everyone again.”
In the wake of increasing financial pressures – resulting in the loss of 125 grassroots music venues across the UK last year alone (Music Venue Trust) – the role that events like Penny Lane Weekender represent are even more crucial, dedicated to platforming new music and local talent. The festival continues to honour Penny Lane’s significance in Liverpool’s musical history, as a hotspot for budding musicians and bands who are struggling to make it on the map.
2025 FULL LINEUP
1ST WAVE:
PLEASURE ISLAND · TEPID DAYS · EDGAR JONES · BONES · THE FROOBZ · PVC · BLOODWORM · THE DSM IV · DISCO IN SOCHI · CHEERY · EVIL PINK MACHINE · THE DIRT · BLACK BORDELLO · YASWADAH · FALSE THOUGHTS · THIRST · QUJAKU (JP) · HELEN MAW · MODERN MARRIAGE · AUSTERITY DOGS · ZARA SMILE · COW
2ND WAVE:
SILENT K · CAPTAIN CROCODILE · FAKE WIFE · WORLDCUB · MUSEUM OF BACKWARD HATS · MONOXIDE BROTHERS · B.B. KAIZO · MEAT BAGS · HOLY PICTURES · HANS UMLAUT · PAINT ME IN COLOUR · CORNERSTONE · ANDRÉ JAHNOI · KULTURESS · MILES TEMP · THE GENTLE SCARS · OBFUSK8 · TURNSTONE · JUNIOR DAYVIS
PENNY LANE WEEKENDER
3 DAYS | 4 VENUES | BOSS MUSIC – 8TH, 9TH, 10TH AUGUST 2025
TICKETS | MORE INFO
