RADAR Festival is returning on 4th-6th July 2025 and the genre-breaking progressive musical event has just made its first major announcement.

Once again, it’ll be held at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, and the first headliner announced for the fifth edition of RADAR in 2025 are darkwave legends Carpenter Brut performing a UK exclusive. They are joined by the dynamically unique Zeal & Ardor, Swedish melodic alt-rock geniuses Normandie, and prog instrumental giants Intervals. ROCKFLESH tours is equally excited to catch Future Palace, Cyan Kicks and good friends Tiberius.

The full list of bands announced so far is: Carpenter Brut (2025 UK Exclusive), Zeal & Ardor, Normandie, Intervals, GHØSTKID, David Maxim Micic, Floya, Pintglass, Future Palace, Cyan Kicks, Tiberius, Air Drawn Dagger, Continents, Hero In Error, and Waterlines.

When they moved to Manchester in 2023 they established the music market, and last year saw the addition of a pop-up boardgames café and retro game arcade. All these elements return for the 2025 edition, combining the festivals shared love of musical instruments and video games all in one place.

 Hopefully we’ll also once again be treated to the curated programme of masterclasses featuring amazing musicians and industry talks with leading figures from the scene. In addition, the festival wants to help grow the seeds of future bands, and RADAR will continue to donate a portion of ticket sale proceeds to Music Venue Trust, in order to support grassroots music venues.

RADAR is once again shortlisted for Best Small Festival and Best Metropolitan Festival at this year's UK Festival Awards, and that is in no small part due to the heart of RADAR having that sense of genuine community. It’s a community that starts with music - created for the fans, by the fans.

The fifth RADAR Festival is being held on 4th-6th July 2025, and tickets are available from https://www.radarfestival.co.uk/tickets

Festival co-founder Catherine Jackson-Smith comments: "We’re hitting the ground running with Carpenter Brut’s only UK performance in 2025 as our first headliner announcement. They’re a band that we’ve admired for a long time and their production combined with the mammoth effort that they put into making a special, one-off event is something that aligns exactly with what we want for our statement sets! Our first announcement is a solid mix of fresh new music that we know our RADAR community will love plus some familiar faces, rising up the ranks and showing everyone why they’ve become such firm favourites.  

"This is only the beginning and we can’t wait to share more of our plans with the RADAR community as RADAR 5.0 starts to take shape properly."

Check our previous ROCKFLESH reviews and photo galleries : HERE