Radar Festival 2022: 7 things we’re looking forward to

(Image credit: Radar Festival)

We’ve been waiting a long time for Radar Festival. The new progressive music festival made its debut back in 2019, but the 2020 edition was postponed twice due to Covid-19. Now, the newly-expanded three-day festival is finally taking place this weekend from July 29-31 in Corner House in Guildford, Surrey.

Here’s what we’re looking forward to the most.

Leprous headlining

Norwegian prog rockers Leprous were announced earlier this year as the final headliners for Radar Festival. They’ll be headlining the Prog Stage on Friday night, and we can’t wait to finally hear tracks from their latest album Aphelion live.

The Prog Magazine Stage

With two stages on offer at Radar Festival there will be plenty of bands to watch. But we’re most excited (of course) for the Prog Stage. As well as Leprous, the Prog Stage will host UK proggers Haken, Swedish supergroup Soen and Australian guitarist Plini, plus Swedish fusion band Dirty Loops playing their first ever UK performance.

The Boileroom

But of course, there’s plenty to see at the second stage, too, from UK singer/songwriter AA Williams, to Polish guitarist Jakub Zytecki to London alt proggers Temples On Mars. And the best part is, there are no clashes between the first and second stages.

Musician masterclasses

Tosin Abasi presenting a masterclass at Radar Festival in 2019 — Animals As Leaders' Tosin Abasi presents a guitar masterclass at Radar Festival in 2019 (Image credit: Laura Dunning)

Radar Festival gives festival-goers the change to get up close and personal with the musicians with a selection of masterclasses and Q&A sessions, whether you want to learn about guitar from Haken’s Rich Henshall or get a masterclass on drumming from Monuments’ Mike Malyan. The masterclasses are ticketed separately and take place in ACM Guildford and the Electric Theatre, which are a short walk from the main venue.

The venue

Inside Casino/Corner House at Radar Festival 2019 — (Image credit: Oli Duncanson)

Sick of festivals in fields? Fear not, for Radar Festival takes place fully indoors, in Corner House in Guildford. It’s just a 5-minute walk from the train station (South Western Railway tell us their services won't be affected by industrial action on July 30) and boasts two stages, plenty of merch and fantastic food that includes vegan and gluten-free options. There's even an outside courtyard where you can mingle.

The after parties

Radar Festival 2019 crowd shot with pink lighting — (Image credit: Rob Blackham)

While it’s possible to catch the last bands and still make the last train back to London from Guildford, the pull of the afterparties may make you want to stay on – with Pintglass, The Scratch, and Ultimate Power taking to the main stage after the headliners.

The friendly atmosphere

Crowd shot from Radar Festival 2019 with crowd surfer — (Image credit: Oli Duncanson)

Going to Radar Festival on your own? The festival have set up a Facebook group, RADAR Festival Group, where you can chat with your fellow festival goers ahead of the weekend.

Tickets for Radar Festival are available now.

Want to find out who's playing when? Download the clash finder here.

Radar Festival 2022 day splits poster July 2022 — (Image credit: Press)

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.