Boomtown — festival guide

At a glance

Dates

11–15 Aug 2027 (5 days)

Location

Winchester, Near Winchester, United Kingdom

Sound

Reggae · dub · techno · live bands

Crowd

around 77,000 people

Tickets

€23 – €515 · 5 tiers tracked

Nearest airport

Southampton Airport

Nearest station

Winchester Railway Station

Venue type

Natural site

Best nearby base

Winchester · 5 km · about 10 min

On-site camping

General camping is included in the ticket purchase, with the option for upgrades to pre-pitched camping.

The story

Boomtown is a five-day, over-18 camping festival held at Matterley Estate near Winchester, Hampshire. The festival is structured as a city, with districts that have unique architecture and a storyline, allowing for a unique experience as attendees navigate between stages and performances. The festival was established in 2009 and has run annually, with the current planning permission through 2030.

Boomtown is a 5-day reggae, dub, techno, live bands festival at Winchester in Near Winchester, United Kingdom. The August 2027 edition runs 11–15 Aug 2027. It draws around 77,000 people.

Expect stages split between Reggae, dub, techno and live bands.

At around 77,000 attendees it sits in the mid-to-large bracket — big stages and big production, but still walkable end to end. Everything happens at Winchester, in Near Winchester. Winchester · 5 km · about 10 min is the organiser's practical nearby base for accommodation and transfers to the festival site. General camping is included in the ticket purchase, with the option for upgrades to pre-pitched camping.

Boomtown keeps the same calendar slot each year: August 2027 for this edition, opening on a Wednesday and closing on a Sunday. It is a high-summer date, which is peak season for both travel and accommodation across the region. That slot matters for the budget — flights and rooms in Near Winchester are priced for the festival weekend, not the week around it, so shifting your arrival by a day often saves more than any ticket tier does.

• October 2027 dates: 11–15 August
• New chapter: Chapter Six: Wild Style
• Capacity of approximately 77,000 people
• Split into districts with unique themes and performances
• Includes general camping with ticket purchase

Venue, camping & access

Venue type

Natural site

Best nearby base

Winchester · 5 km · about 10 min

Camping

General camping is included in the ticket purchase, with the option for upgrades to pre-pitched camping.

Getting to the gates

Access to the venue includes a wheelchair-accessible shuttle from Winchester station, public transport options, and taxi drop-off at West Gate.

What the trip costs from Paris

Door to door from Paris, a trip to Boomtown works out at roughly €484 per person on the cheapest combination we track — a mid-priced weekend by the standards of our index.

The ticket is only 5% of that: the rest is getting there and sleeping somewhere, which is exactly the part most ticket sites leave out.

Cheapest travel we price is bus · 13h 23m each way, at €91 return.

Planning the trip, step by step

1. 1Book the ticket first: tiers at Boomtown are sold in waves and the cheapest wave is gone long before the line-up is complete.
2. 2Then price the travel from Paris — Cinderella compares train, bus, car and flight for the same dates, and the cheapest option is not always the obvious one.
3. 3Reserve 6 nights rather than 5: the last night of a festival almost always ends after the last train home.
4. 4If you fly into Southampton Airport, check the transfer time to Near Winchester before booking the earliest departure — the airport bus is usually the cheapest leg of the whole trip.
5. 5Follow Boomtown on Cinderella to be emailed when a ticket price drops or a new tier opens.

Full line-up

Ordered as the poster reads it — headliners first, then most booked to least. Each name opens that artist's festival dates.

Past editions

Dates are the event's recurring calendar slot, so treat them as approximate — the organiser keeps the official archive.

• 2026

  11–15 Aug 2026 (approx.)

• 2025

  11–15 Aug 2025 (approx.)

• 2024

  11–15 Aug 2024 (approx.)

Travel tips from Paris

• Fly into Southampton Airport, the closest airport to the site.
• Rail arrivals come through Winchester Railway Station; shuttles usually run from there.
• The site itself is Winchester, in Near Winchester.
• Access to the venue includes a wheelchair-accessible shuttle from Winchester station, public transport options, and taxi drop-off at West Gate.
• Book a bed in Winchester early — rooms around a festival sell out before the last ticket tier does.

• bus13h 23m · €91
• air4h 32m · €173
• car10h 58m · €226
• train7h 29m · €228