The Godiva Festival is a three-day music festival held each year in the War Memorial Park, Coventry, England, named after the city's famous former inhabitant Lady Godiva. It first appeared as a day-long event in 1997 and became a three-day event the following year in 1998. It is made up of two fields; a Main Field and a Family field, which each offer a different experience.
Format The modern three-day music festival is a non-profit making event organised by Coventry City Council.
The festival attracted 148,000 visits in 2016 to a site in Coventry's War Memorial Park.
The festival includes a dedicated Main Stage which has played host to a wide array of mainstream and independent acts, including Kasabian, Biffy Clyro, The Charlatans, The Boomtown Rats, Scouting For Girls, The Wombats, Don Broco, Embrace, Fun Lovin' Criminals, the Buzzcocks, the Happy Mondays and The Enemy. The other large stage on the Main Field is the Rock/Rhythm Tent, which plays host to rock/metal acts on Friday night, and has seen artists such as Neck Deep, Slaves and Kids in Glass Houses perform since its introduction in 2014. Saturday's Rhythm Tent has seen acts such as Fuse ODG, JME, Big Narstie and D Double E.
Other features of the festival include the Family Field, an Acoustic Stage, a Paradise Tent, food stalls, a Hilltop bar, craft stalls, an Urban Youth Tent, a vintage market and a fairground.
The Family Field often sees attractions such as a petting farm, charity village, Community Stage, Lives and Times area, Greenspace area, Make Space tent, a funfair, cycle training, falconry and visits from local groups such as the Coventry Bears and the Fire Service.
Godiva Festival was a free, ticketless festival, that anyone can attend, until ticketing and charges were introduced in 2019. In 2019 the capacity of the festival was 40,000.
Lineups 2025 The 2025 festival took place from 4 to 6 July.
2024 The 2024 festival took place from 5 to 7 July. In February 2024, it was announced that the headliners were Richard Ashcroft, Paloma Faith and Beverly Knight. Other notable performers were Sam Ryder, and multiple acts including Standard Procedure and Holy Goof who performed on the Next Stage as part of the DnB takeover.
2023 The 2023 festival will take place from 30 June to 2 July. In February 2023, it was announced that The Enemy would headline on Friday 30 June. The Saturday headline was next to be announced as Rudimental. Mel C would be the headline for the Sunday and final day of the festival.
2022 The 2022 festival took place from 2 to 4 September, to avoid a clash with BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. The headline acts were announced in April 2022, The Libertines played the Friday slot, Tom Grennan on Saturday and Bananarama headlined on Sunday.
2021 The 2021 festival took place from 3 to 5 September, but with a limited capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Saturday night headline was announced on 26 July 2021 as Craig David who would be performing his TS5 DJ Set. The headline act for the final day of the festival was announced as Sister Sledge, with Fun Lovin' Criminals and David Rodigan also appearing. Another performer for the Saturday was announced on 5 August 2021, Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
2020 The 2020 festival was announced as taking place from 3 to 5 July, but was cancelled in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019 The 2019 festival took place from 5 to 7 July. The first act to be announced was Busted who headlined on the closing day of the festival. Subsequently, Brighton based folk-rock band Levellers have been confirmed as headlining on the opening night (Friday). as well as Frank Iero and the Future Violents in the Rock & Rhythm tent. The Saturday headline act was announced as Welsh rock band Feeder. Cornflakes at Kelly's, a local Coventry punk band also performed their festival debut, on the main stage on Saturday too.
2018 The 2018 festival confirmed in February that it would take place from 31 August to 2 September. Ronan Keating was announced, in March 2018, as the Sunday headline act. A Saturday main stage act was announced at the end of April 2018 as Gabrielle. Other acts announced for the Saturday were Professor Green, Jonas Blue, Blood Red Shoes and Little Comets. The Friday night headliner was announced in June 2018 as Jake Bugg, at the same time Rae Morris and Kyle Falconer were announced as performers in the Rhythm Tent on the Saturday. As the end of July 2018 Editors were announced as the Saturday headline act on the main stage.
2017 Godiva Festival 2017 was confirmed in January 2017 for 7–9 July, and took place in the War Memorial Park. On 8 February 2017, The Darkness was announced as the Sunday headline act. On 20 February 2017, The Stranglers were confirmed as the Friday night headline act.
2016 Coventry Godiva Festival 2016 was confirmed in January 2016, and took place on 1–3 July in the War Memorial Park. The Friday night headline was the Boomtown Rats supported by Space. The Saturday headline was The Charlatans supported by Mystery Jets. The Sunday headline was Scouting for Girls, who were supported by The Pigeon Detectives.
The weekend saw Godiva Festival visited over 148,000 times and was the most successful festival to date. DayMain StageRock/Rhythm TentParadise TentFriday The Ellipsis Luna Kiss Space The Boomtown Rats Wilde Signs of Fire The Prophets Black Peaks Neck Deep Howard Read Patrick Monahan Ava Vidal Tiernan Douieb Jonathan Mayor Mitch BennSaturday Tell Me I'm Pretty Quarry The Session Idle Noise April Ravens FRONTEERS Ekkah The Subways Mystery Jets The Charlatans The Larrks The Paradimes General Chaos The Tuts Kiko Bun Easy Star All-Stars Eyeden and Lia The Society Mugun Jevan Sox & Jaykae C Cane Yungen D Double E Launch of Coventry's UK City of Culture BID.Sunday Louie Forde Andrew Ferris Emma McGann Cliff Hands Sound of the Sirens Pigeon Detectives Milburn Scouting for Girls Closed on Sunday Performances from Coventry's schools, academies, community groups and local people.
2015 The 2015 Godiva Festival took place from 3 to 5 July. The headline act for Friday was Fun Lovin' Criminals, Saturday The Wombats and Sunday Embrace. DayMain StageRock Tent/Rhythm Tent/Young EntertainerParadise TentFriday Rooted N Booted King Phoenix The Beat Fun Lovin' Criminals Pelugion Shot Down Zed Charles Dexter Ward Baby Strange Slaves Ceilidh dance Blast from the PastSaturday The Deserts Quarry The Prophets The Seadogs The Broken Rebels Flygone Carnival Youth Spector Pulled Apart by Horses Don Broco The Wombats The Kubricks The Skints The Stiff Joints Orange Street Deadzone The Society Afrojosh Nineties Boy Mikill Pane Double S Lady Leshurr Big Narstie JME Sid Bowfin Abi Collins Jones & Barnard Dan the Hat The Black Eagles Silent discoSunday Jake Melles and Harry Alexander Danny Ansell Callum Pickard and the Third Look The King's Parade Rhoda Dakar Meadowlark We Are The Ocean Embrace UV BEATZ Aiyana Three Souls The Big Bang Theory Ben Charley Jeeves and Aron Haunted Mousetrap Coundon Court Students UV BEATZ Letitia George Three Half Pints Patrick Monahan Tim Fitzhigham Martin Mor Andrew O'Neill Sally Ann Hayward Tiernan Douieb Adam Hess Jay Foreman
2014 The 2014 Godiva Festival took place from 4 to 6 July. The headline act was the Happy Mondays. DayMain StageRock/Rhythm TentParadise TentFriday Yes Sunshine Stone Foundation The Selecter Buzzcocks Bad Horse Symphony State Scream Blue Murder Baby Godzilla Kids in Glass Houses John Hatins Darren Walsh Kate Lucas Seymour MaceSaturday Spooky Wagons The Prophets Hula Girls Swamp Donkey Jimmy Weston Young Aviators Little Matador Funeral for a Friend Dan Le Sac We Are Scientists Happy Mondays The Activators Barb'd Wire King Hammon Roddy Radiation & The Ska Billy Rebels Neville Staple Cream ov da Crop Afrojosh Duplex Family Ghetts Meridian Dan Fuse ODG Bread & Butter Matt Barnard Wolly Balloonatic Dan the Hat Rannel Silent discoSunday The Mariachi Band David Sanders HE IS A PEGASUS Nina Baker Batsch Horance Panter's Uptown Ska Collective The Ordinary Boys Lightning Seeds Tile Hill Wood Choir Coundon Court dance troupe Laura Warwick Pecan Grove Jack Dickson Carvell Out of the Blue Richard Fairlee The Commonjets Reece Bahia Sandra Godley Bread & Butter Matt Barnard Wolly Balloonatic Bread & Butter Dan the Hat Rannel Mariarchi Band
2013 The 2013 Godiva Festival took place from 5 to 7 July 2013. Friday was headlined by Echo & the Bunnymen who were to headline in the 2012 cancelled event. Saturday was headlined by Maxïmo Park and Sunday starred the Loveable Rogues and Amelia Lily. The festival claimed to have broken attendance records with over 125,000 visits being estimated over the three days. DayMain StageRhythm TentFriday Dark Actors Pint Shot Riot Ghostpoet Echo & The BunnymenSaturday The Fallows The Sixty Fours Russian Gun Dogs Reverend and the Makers Concrete Knives Mallory Knox Steve Cradock Lucy Rose The View Maximo Park The Dualers Riddimstone Reggaelators Lee Thompson's Ska Orchestra Neville Staple Matt Henshaw and ReggiMental Samson Influential DeeLayDee Scrufizzer Charlie Brown Sway DevlinSunday Masterclass Dhol Drummers Freeman Dance Severn Trent Choir Sonrisa Lexy Tich The Risk Loveable Rogues Amelia Lily The Notables Freeman Dance Pandemonium Street Orchestra The Belles of Three Spires Barbershizzle Reece Bahia Pauline Quirke Dance Academy Coventry Youth Jazz Orchestra Craig Price
2012 The 2012 festival was scheduled to take place Friday 30 June to Sunday 1 July, but bad weather forced the event to be cancelled.
Friday was scheduled to be headlined by Echo & the Bunnymen with Space in support. Saturday was scheduled with Cast as headliners, with support from The View and The Pigeon Detectives. Sunday evening was scheduled to link in with the arrival of the Olympic torch relay and the lighting of the Olympic beacon in the park.
The festival was cancelled by Coventry City Council on 29 June 2012, owing to the recent 'bad weather conditions causing unstable ground'. The Olympic torch procession continued unaffected.
2011 The 2011 Godiva Festival took place from Friday 1 July to Sunday 3 July. The headline acts were Heaven 17 and Athlete, attended by a record-breaking crowd of 120,000 people.
2010 The 2010 Godiva Festival took place from Friday 2 July to Sunday 4 July.
2009
The 2009 Godiva Festival took place from Friday 3 July to Sunday 5 July, headlined by Scottish alternative band Idlewild.
DayElectric StageRhythm TentFridayGo West Womack and Womack The Blow MonkeysJason Wood Cole Parker Jimmy McGhie Carl Donnelly (compere)SaturdayIdlewild The Twang The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster Toploader Pint Shot Riot Exit Calm Just Morale Echo Empire Haunted By Humans Satin DollsFreefall Collective Seckou Keita Drumalicious Asian Strings, Skins and Spices The Salsa Samba Sensation Blind Pirates rhythm and blues band Hip Hop – Coventry MDCSundayNewton Faulkner The King Blues The Yeah You's The Austin Francis Connection A-Cappella Fellas April Elizanbeth PJ Wright Thom Kirkpatrick Fiona Cox Rachel Challis Jonny Darley Sarah Ruddick StylusboyMeet On The Ledge Clarksville Mountain Band Dave Swarbrick & Kev Dempsey Trí Gareth Davies-Jones Harvey
2008 The 2008 Godiva Festival took place from Friday 4 July to Sunday 6 July, headlined by the Coventry band The Enemy.
DayElectric StageRhythm TentSpotlight TentMarket StageFridayInner Circle Tippa Irie Ambelique Michael ProphetJohnny Mac Rosko Pico Jay Nana DJ ChristoAkeal The Bellows Fiori The Illchemists Men in Caves Shadowplay Shakletons Wes Finch and the Dirty BandIvan Brackenbury Brendan Riley Carl DonnellySaturdayThe Enemy Art Brut Glasvegas The Displacements Six By Seven The Ripps Pint Shot Riot Exit Calm Shadowplay