I went to Hardwick Festival and think it has the potential to become one of the north's best events
One of the region’s largest music events is back, and it didn’t disappoint thanks to a fantastic headline set.
The UK has festival fever, and as more events pop up across the best in live music and entertainment, staying power can be a green flag for anyone wanting to spent a weekend away.
Luckily for Hardwick Festival, the County Durham festival has years of experience welcoming crowds to the grounds of Hardwick Hall Hotel every August and 2025 was no different.
Previous headliners have included James, Snow Patrol, and Stereophonics, with the event expanding into a two day weekend event into the Friday evening for last year’s event.
This year saw the three day schedule return, and we went along to the Saturday of the event to check out how it stands up in today’s festival landscape.
This year it was the turn of Pet Shop Boys to close the main stage on the Saturday, and while they drew the biggest crowd of the day, earlier main stage sets offered a fun mix of local talent alongside touring acts from across the UK.
Deco opened our day with their fantastic range of synth pop tracks - and are a band I’ll continue to keep an eye on as they work on their second album - before The Rosadocs kicked off a run of guitar-based indie acts including The Clause, Newcastle-born Andrew Cushin and The Lathums.
Also on the main stage were Everything Everything, who brought tracks from their fantastic 2024 album Mountainhead to the North East in a personal highlight of the day.
Elsewhere across the site were areas for disco and modern dance music, alongside a second ‘Treehouse’ arena to accompany acts on the main stage which included sets from Alabama 3 and K-Klass as well as a mid afternoon set from tribute act Definitely Oasis, who drew a considerable crowd for the smaller stage.
The event site itself is well set up with minimal sound crossover between stages, and is an example of how long-running festivals can be a top option for groups with the vast majority of crowd control measures already ironed out over previous years - the one exception being a prosecco bar which caused a minor bottleneck towards the back of the Treehouse area.
The range of stages and well set-up venue space also means the festival never feels too busy while allowing space for a large entertainment area for kids away from the main stages. While our group didn’t have use for the area, it seemed to be run well. The festival setting on the side of Hardwick Hall’s lake also makes for a picturesque spot.
As the day progressed more focus went on the main stage, and by the time Pet Shop Boys were set to take to the stage, it was a homecoming of sorts for frontman Neil Tennant, who was born in Newcastle, as the group played their first North East show since 2022.
And what a show it was, in front of one of the best stage backdrops I’ve seen from a festival act, the iconic synth pop duo brought arena-level production to a county Durham field with the anthems to back it up.
A strong start including Suburbia and Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) stunned fans, as did the impeccable voice of Tennant, which sounded as perfect as it did in the group’s peak hit making years.
Switching up the stage throughout the set and backed with a three piece band on percussion and additional keys, it was a set which any festival in the country would have been proud to host.
In a world where the audience for festivals continues to grow, the one-day ticket or weekend question will be asked across households for years to come. Hardwick seems to have struck a good balance with a well rounded lineup across three days, a well sized family area and a range of stages tailored for different genres.
If this isn’t the most well rounded festival in the North East, there must be somewhere I’m missing. As far as medium-sized events go, Hardwick is up there locally. It will be interesting to see how it grows over the years to keep up with the festival boom.