Victorious Festival 2025: Know Before You Go

Victorious Festival is fast approaching, and stages are already up around Southsea Common! As Portsmouth gears up for the big event, here are all the things you need to know before you go.

When and where is it?

Victorious Festival 2025 takes place over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday, so this year it covers the 22nd to 24th inclusive.

The huge festival site takes over much of Southsea Common, running from the western end (where the main stage is located) near the Hovercraft Terminal right up to Southsea Skatepark and the Pyramids Centre (this being the Family Area).

Much care and attention goes into keeping Southsea Common open for as long as possible. This means it will re-open first thing on the Bank Holiday Monday morning, and will only be closed to the public from Thursday (this is so police have sufficient time to conduct security searches of the area).

What's on?

The festival brings some of the biggest names in music and comedy to Portsmouth, and this year is no exception. The main headliners for 2025 are Queens of the Stone Age (Friday), Vampire Weekend (Saturday) and Kings of Leon (Sunday). The much-celebrated afternoon special guest slots go to The Charlatans, Rizzle Kicks and Craig David.

Elsewhere on the line up you'll find Bloc Party, Nelly Furtado, Kaiser Chiefs, The Last Dinner Party, Madness, Gabrielle, Travis, Gabrielle and loads more besides.

There's also top comedy on the main stage, with acts Joel Dommett, Chris McCausland and Jasper Carrott all set to perform.

Of course, the huge family arena returns, bringing with it live performances, special appearances, games, activities, fairground rides and loads more besides. It's also the location of our Visit Portsmouth hut - so be sure to drop by and say hello!

Are tickets still available?

Final tickets are available on the Victorious Festival website. It's also where you can browse through some of the options and upgrades, if you fancy giving your bank holiday weekend that little something extra and going VIP.

What's included with a ticket?

As you'd expect, all the music and live entertainment is included with a Victorious Festival ticket, but that's really not all. The D-Day Story is within the Victorious site so will be open to festival ticketholders only (free of charge) on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

There will also be events at Southsea Skatepark to watch or get involved in, as well as a whole host of fun craft activities at the Kids Arena.

This year, Blue Reef Aquarium will also be included within the festival site, but note that entry charges still apply.

There are a wealth of food options and funfair rides to enjoy also in the festival site, as well as numerous bars stocking a range of drinks.

What isn't?

A number of attractions and restaurants are located just outside the festival site, and these will be open as usual. The likes of Exploria at Portsmouth Pyramids, Clarence Pier, The Briny and others will be gearing up for a busy bank holiday weekend and are expected to be open as usual.

With Victorious offering re-entry before 8pm, festivalgoers have an opportunity to explore some of the local area as well as all the top things to see and do on-site.

Is there camping?

Being a metropolitan festival, Victorious doesn't have space to offer on-site camping, but there is a large site at Farlington available - with regular shuttle buses taking ticketholders to and from the festival ground. At the time of writing there are still some spaces for camping available, but note that campervan pitches have now sold out.

Will there be road closures?

Some road closures will be in place around the festival site - most of which are only in operation at certain times, to allow festivalgoers to exit the site safely after the headliners have all finished.

Detailed information on road closures and times can be found on the Portsmouth City Council website.

Of course, Avenue De Caen will be closed throughout as it bisects the festival site, and traffic will not be able to go further down Clarence Esplanade than the Pyramids Centre.

It's worth remembering that existing road closures are already in place due to the ongoing Southsea Coastal Scheme sea defence works, and that the bank holiday is expected to draw many visitors to the city even if they don't have tickets to Victorious Festival.

For that reason we strongly recommend anyone travelling over the bank holiday to plan ahead and allow plenty of time for their journey.

Any questions?

If you have any further questions about Victorious, head to the festival website where there's a full line up, FAQs, and link to download the handy app. This lets you see the festival site map, see the food traders, and even build a bespoke 'clashfinder' to plan out who you want to see on which stage.