A bigger week for Torquay’s alternative scene
The English Riviera won’t be quiet in late August. The seaside town of Torquay is getting three days of amps, sweat, and singalongs as Burn It Down Festival expands its 2025 edition and installs Bob Vylan as the new Thursday headliner.
It’s a clear statement from a festival that’s been climbing fast since 2018. Burn It Down has grown from a tight, grassroots weekender into the South West’s largest indoor alternative gathering, picking up Best Micro Festival in 2023 and Best Metropolitan Festival in 2024 along the way. The 2025 dates run Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 August, stretching the party across an extra night and multiple walkable venues, with The Foundry on Torwood Street acting as the main hub.
Bob Vylan on a Thursday sets the tone. The London punk duo thrives on blunt, politically charged songs and a live show that swings from mosh-pit chaos to dead-stop call-and-response. Recently, they jokingly called themselves ‘BBC bandits’ after what they described as getting into ‘a little bit of trouble,’ and organizers here were among the first to back them. Booking them to open the festival’s new day signals a looser, more alternative flavor up front before the heavier, hardcore-leaning bills hit on Friday and Saturday.
Thursday isn’t a token add-on. Alongside Bob Vylan, the day pulls in Static Dress and Cancer Bats, two names with solid followings across punk and post-hardcore. The full weekend spans more than 45 artists, with a mix of punk, hardcore, emo, metal, and everything in between. If you like your riffs serrated and your choruses shoutable, you’ll find a lane.
The setting helps. Indoor, multi-venue festivals come with simple perks: no weather panic, better sound, and the chance to roam. In Torquay, that means venue-hopping between intimate rooms where you can watch a breakout band up close, then step into a bigger space for the headliner. The Foundry anchors the event, but the spirit of the thing sits across the town’s grassroots stages, where fans and bands collide without the barriers you see at big-field festivals.
That intimacy is part of why Burn It Down has become a calendar fixture. As the UK’s festival market gets tougher—rising costs, squeezed margins—this event has doubled down on community and curation. It isn’t chasing stadium names; it’s building a weekend that makes sense for the scene, and for the South West, which too often gets skipped on national tours. The three-day model should draw more travelers, more overnight stays, and a louder late-summer weekend for local venues and hotels.
Bob Vylan’s slot fits that mission. Their shows are cathartic and confrontational in the best way, blending punk energy with grime influences and sharp social commentary. They’ve built a loyal live audience on the back of relentless touring and word-of-mouth, and Torquay gets them on a night where the whole town can tune in before the weekend crush. Expect sweat, crowd movement, and a frontman who treats the room like a conversation, not a lecture.
The weekend balance matters too. If you’re coming for hardcore, Friday and Saturday will be your terrain. If you want something looser or genre-bending, Thursday is the smarter bet. The split gives fans a choice: pick your day, or go all-in for the full spread. Either way, the programming aims to avoid copy-paste lineups from other UK stops by mixing legacy names with rising acts that haven’t played the South West as often.
What fans need to know
Dates, venues, age rules, and a few planning tips can make or break your weekend. Here’s the snapshot:
- Dates: Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 August 2025
- Location: Torquay, with The Foundry as the main site and additional grassroots venues nearby
- Headline news: Bob Vylan tops the new Thursday bill; Static Dress and Cancer Bats also set for that day
- Format: More than 45 artists across punk, hardcore, emo, metal, and alternative sounds
- Age policy: Over-14s only for entry
- Tickets: On sale now, following the lineup announcement
Because this is a multi-venue setup, plan for movement. Set-time clashes are part of the game, so circle your must-see acts and leave space to wander. The best moments at this kind of festival often happen in the middle slot at a smaller room, where a band you’ve only streamed once suddenly owns the night. Comfortable shoes and a quick route between venues help more than you think.
Travel is straightforward. Torquay has rail links through the South West, and once you’re in town, the festival footprint is compact enough to walk between most spots. Accommodation tends to tighten as August approaches, so booking early is smart if you’re traveling in. If you’re local, keep an eye on last-train times or share rides—Thursday’s new finish will push more people into late-night exits.
Safety and access are treated like basics, not add-ons. Indoor festivals mean standard entry checks and venue teams that know their rooms. If you need step-free access or a quiet space to reset, ask at the door; smaller venues are used to working case by case and can often help on the spot. Ear protection is a good idea for anyone planning three straight days of high volume.
Economically, the extra day matters. A Thursday launch spreads crowds and spending into the shoulder of the weekend. For Torquay, that means fuller bars and restaurants on a night that’s usually quieter once summer holidays start to taper. For artists, it means more stage time across the bill and room for different sounds without cramming them all into two days.
For fans, the appeal is simple. Thursday offers a big-tent version of alternative music with a political edge and a party spirit. Friday and Saturday lean heavier for the pit regulars. Across all three, the through-line is intimacy: bands shoulder-to-shoulder with the crowd, short changeovers, and that pulse you only get when a room is packed not with casuals, but people who care.
If you’re building your plan around highlights, start with Bob Vylan’s Thursday set as the tone-setter. Add Static Dress for the shape-shifting, post-hardcore theatrics, and pencil in Cancer Bats for riff-fueled release. Then leave gaps. Burn It Down has a habit of throwing up a surprise mid-card moment that becomes your weekend story.
A few practical pointers go a long way: bring a refillable bottle, take breaks between the loudest sets, and don’t skip the earlier slots—newer bands often go hardest to win the room. Merch tables are tight and move quickly in smaller venues, so if you see something you want, buy it before the headliners hit. And if you’re under 18, carry ID; door checks are routine.
What’s different this year is the scale without the sprawl. Three days give the festival breathing room to book more styles without blurring the identity it’s built since 2018. Keeping it indoors keeps the sound sharp and the schedule on time. For the South West, which rarely gets first dibs on national headlines, it’s a rare chance to see a buzzed-about act lead a coastal town’s biggest alternative weekend.
Put simply, Torquay is getting louder, earlier, and for longer. Bob Vylan will kick the door open on Thursday. The rest of the weekend will test the hinges.
