Creamfields 2025 review: World-class DJs and production - and surprises that made it unmissable

There is probably no other festival in the UK where you can hop from hard techno, groovy house, garage, donk to drum and bass stages within minutes, and some of the world’s biggest DJs graced Daresbury in Cheshire for the 2025 edition.

From David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia and Sonny Fodera to Ewan McVicar, Duke Dumont and ANYMA, more than 300 artists performed across four days. Such an eclectic mix of dance music brought an equally eclectic crowd, and we were pleasantly surprised by the range of ages at the festival. We listened to amazing stories from original ravers who were at the first Creamfields in 1998 and soaked up the excitement from 18-year-olds at their first festival.

While the Creamfields stages lack the magic and creativity of festivals like Glastonbury, Tomorrowland and Boomtown, they more than make up for it with the production - the sound is crystal clear and the visuals are out of this world. There were two new stages this year - Halo replaced the Runway Stage and offered a brilliant immersive experience, a 45-metre diameter, cyclical outdoor arena with 360-degree visuals. One of my favourite stages was the new The Forest stage, which was beautifully decorated - and perhaps a sign that the Creamfields team will incorporate more design elements in years to come.

Overall, Creamfields surprised us in the best way. The atmosphere in the gold campsite was super chilled out and friendly, meaning we got a good night’s sleep after hours of dancing. The music was far more diverse than just the commercial-leaning house that Creamfields is known for, and we discovered some fantastic new artists.

This was my first Creamfields, but won’t be my last.

​My three Creamfields highlights

Chase & Status

Drum and bass is my first love, so I was thrilled it got a decent showing at Creamfields this year - Sub Focus brought the main stage to life on Friday with an outstanding set, before a stacked line-up of D&B heavyweights took over the Sub Aural stage on Saturday. However, the highlight of the festival was Chase & Status closing Arc on Friday. There were moments my nostalgia for those of us who have been fans since their 2008 debut album - Take Me Away and Eastern Jam were weaved perfectly into the set - but it was mostly just 90 minutes of pure madness D&B, with the legends showing they’re very much deserving of all the hype they’ve had over the last couple of years.

Josh Baker

The Manchester DJ and man of the moment had his set shut down at Parklife due to overcrowding, and he packed out Apex - the world’s biggest indoor main stage with an enormous capacity of 30,000 people. The set took me by surprise; Baker brought in garage alongside his signature groove-led house, and it made for an electric 90 minutes - the crowd and production were unbelievable. Dutch DJ Chris Stussy followed him with a sensational audio-visual set, before the two paired up for a BTB to close out the Steel Yard, which garnered more mixed reviews.

Downtown

Creamfields’ all-new entertainment village was the perfect way to spend the day before the arena opened, from watching five-a-side football and enjoying some pamper time at the Freshfields spa to yoga raves, bingo and karaoke. The atmosphere was brilliant and so chilled out, with girls in curlers and their pyjamas enjoying overnight oats and a smoothie, and others getting in a session at the on-site gym. It was the perfect way to refuel and find some balance before dancing into the early hours.