Block9 reveals its Glastonbury Festival 2025 plans
- Text by Isaac Muk
- Photography by Tom Weatherill
Party and protest — The nightlife hub will feature a bigger-than-ever Saturday daytime block party across The NYC Downlow and Genosys, and a huge collaboration with artist-activist group Led By Donkeys.
Block9, Glastonbury Festival’s nightlife centrepoint, has revealed its 2025 line-up and plans.
Its usual slate of stages and nightclubs return, with LGBTQ+ venues The NYC Downlow and The Meat Rack featuring along with audiovisual arena IICON and the free rave spirit channelling stage Genosys.
The NYC Downlow will see debuts from the likes of Blitz Club’s BASHKKA, London DJ & broadcaster Heléna Star, who will play alongside sets from Downlow residents Grace Sands and Prosumer, and other returnees including Gerd Janson and Horse Meat Disco’s Luke Howard. Stage performances will be led once again by Jonny Woo’s drag crew Maude Adams & All Those Children.
The venue’s back room The Meat Rack, which was enlarged to double its previous size last year, will host sets from the likes of Seth Troxler, NIKS, Nabihah Iqbal, Adonis’ Shay Malt and more.
Following the success of 2024’s NYC Downlow day party, there will be an enlarged block party during the daytime on Saturday kicking off at 2pm, which will take place across The NYC Downlow and Genosys. Topping the bill is Chicago house music originator Derrick Carter, who will make his Downlow debut as part of a Classic Music Company 30th birthday party, while at Genosys Barcelona-based LGBTQ+ crew MARICAS’ co-head ISAbella will play with Hannah Holland, Leonce and others.
Dystopian audiovisual arena IICON, which features a giant head sculpture that references our hyper-connected post-truth age, will host a live set from Detroit electro and techno pioneering group Cybotron on the Friday – headed up by Juan Atkins – as well as Paranoid London. DJ sets will include Hessle Audio boss Pearson Sound and the elusive Two Shell, while Sunday’s closing party will be led by jungle and drum & bass royalty DJ Storm and Nia Archives.
Genosys will see a three-way b2b set from Peach x Saoirse x Moxie, with the final night paying tribute to the origins of acid house, with sets from Justin Strauss, Craig Richards and Felix Dickinson.
This year will also feature an installation from art and activism crew Led By Donkeys, in line with Block9’s protest, party and counterculture ethos. As with each year, it will also be raising money for charitable causes through the NYC Downlow’s moustache scheme and more. This year’s partners will be HIV prevention activists PrEPster, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), Crisis, Human Dignity Trust and Freedom from Torture.
See the full line-up below.
Isaac Muk is Huck’s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky.
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