Takedown Festival 2025 brings heavy music back to Portsmouth Guildhall

Takedown Festival, which is at Portsmouth Guildhall, moved to the city in 2023 after a hiatus of several years. Then in 2024 it was forced to take a year out because renovation works on the venue overran.

Both Friday and Saturday will feature three stages, all indoors, covering a diverse range of acts from the heavier end of the spectrum, including headliners Elvana – Nirvana fronted by an Elvis impersonator – and Kris Barras Band, as well as the likes of Ferocious Dog, Dream State, Seething Akira, Urne and many more.

Co-organiser Sarah Harris of Divergent Promotions said: “It's great to have it back.

"Any incarnation we have of Takedown is brilliant from our perspective because what we're trying to do is to nurture the scene and have longevity for the future generations.

"Portsmouth has been a bit undersubscribed for large, heavier events in recent years and we like to think Takedown fills that gap.”

"We were very fortunate in 2023 with Sleep Token and Skindred being co-headliners.

"Unfortunately, with the postponement that we had last year, I think that came with a bit of brand damage, so the festival is not as well subscribed for this year.

“It is still going to be a great event and it will still do what we need it to do. We need to make sure that we tap into the right zeitgeist at the right time – in 2023 we absolutely killed it.”

With the ongoing pressures on the live music scene, Sarah says they’re grateful to be able to come back at all.

"There's been a big switch towards the major events. (Entertainment giants) Live Nation-owned events like Download, the bigger major festival like Slam Dunk and then Bloodstock, which is an independent, they've all done exceedingly well, but then some of the smaller indies are starting to drop by the wayside.

"There were something like 60-odd independent festivals that were lost or cancelled last year and some aren't returning. We feel very fortunate to be back in 2025.”

And they’re proud of the diversity they’ve managed to bring to the bill.

"Although we lean towards the heavier side of stuff, we try to cover as much of the alternative heavy genre as we possibly can. So we’ve got some pop-punk in there with the Wide Awake Club and The Bottom Line. We've got some emo in there with Tova, then we've got like some grime/trap metal with Swarm Six and Kid Bookie.

"What we've been lucky with is that we've got the Friday evening and the Saturday, which has meant we can theme the Friday to more like heavy rock on the main stage. Then we've got like a stoner/doom stage with Urne, Sunk and Desert Storm and then some more sort of traditional Takedown on the other stage as well.

"It's panned out quite nicely this year, so we've got that real broad spectrum, and finishing with Elvana, who are completely left field for the heavy audience, but they're the best party band you could possibly imagine.”

The newly refurbished basement space will now be set up for bands to sell their merch.

“Most bands are doing self-sell on the day, which means if you're a fan and you want to buy a piece of merch, chances are you'll see a member from the band if you wanted to go and head down there.

“It's a really nice way of making sure that we've got that connection between the artists and the fans this year.”

They’ve also got two charity partners for the event.

"We've got Tonic Music for mental health, who we're super proud to be partnered with again, because obviously they're a local charity, and then we've also got Metal For Good, who are a Midlands-based charity, who look at the heavier side of music, and then try and raise funds that they can distribute to different projects throughout the year."

“They will distribute stuff to all sorts of schemes, and they're even offering bursaries to independent festivals this year, and that sort of thing, so they're great people to be partnered with.”

Of course the most important thing to the organisers is that everyone has a good time watching some great acts.

“We want to really make sure everybody has the same vibe that we had in 2023,” says Sarah, “so just making sure that everybody's having a good time and enjoying themselves, that's all I can really ask for, and if I get that sort of vibe on the day, then I know I'm good!”

There will be a variety of food options available on-site and an outdoor seating area.

Weekend tickets £40, Friday tickets £20, Saturday £30. Go to takedownfestival.com.