Isle of Wight Festival 2024: Weather forecast and travel advice ahead of Seaclose Park event

• This week sees the start of the Isle of Wight Festival, taking place in Newport from June 20 to June 23 2024.
• This year's acts include headliners The Prodigy, Pet Shop Boys and Green Day joined by the likes of Crowded House, Suede and The Streets.
• Ahead of packing for the festival though, what is the weather forecast for this weekend?
• How much would it cost also to take a train to Lymington Pier and then a ferry to the Isle of Wight - both with or without a car?

Another weekend means another music festival in the United Kingdom; but hopefully for the Isle of Wight Festival, the weather is a lot better than what occurred at Download Festival.

Taking place at Seaclose Park in Newport, the Isle of Wight Festival may not be the biggest music festival in the United Kingdom, owing to the rise of entities such as Reading and Leeds, Download, Glastonbury and Wireless over the years, but it is still one steeped in significant history and a touchstone moment in British music.

Considered Europe’s answer to Woodstock, the Isle of Wight Festival began with a series of lineups between 1968 and 1970, with the latter lineup a who’s who of music legends including (but not limited to) The Who, The Doors, Joni Mitchell, Supertramp, Leonard Cohen, Joan Baez and Chicago - who played to over 600,000 people. 

Since 2002, The Isle of Wight Festival stages have hosted bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Muse, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Kasabian, Kings of Leon, The Strokes, Coldplay, The Sex Pistols, Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Blondie and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. 

But there are the travel issues regarding the Isle of Wight Festival; it’s not a simple drive to a festival site, with ferries involved and travel involving heading to Southampton or Portsmouth. Plus, is it going to be rained out like Download Festival 2024 was last weekend?

Well - let me put my travel agent hat on once again and help make your Isle of Wight Festival planning this week a little easier - including how to get a car ferry over. 

Who is headlining this year’s Isle of Wight Festival?

This year’s Isle of Wight Festival will be headlined by The Prodigy (Friday), Pet Shop Boys (Saturday) and Green Day (Sunday), who are in the UK as part of their “Saviors” European tour. 

Alongside those headliners are names such as Keane, The Streets, Crowded House, Suede, The Pretenders, Johnny Marr and two-time Eurovision Song Contest winner Loreen.

What is the weather forecast this weekend for the Isle of Wight Festival?

The Met Office is advising those heading to Newport, the site of the Isle of Wight Festival, to expect “dry, fine, warm Thursday and most of Friday, although low chance of heavy rain early Friday. Cloud and rain moving east late Friday, clearing early Saturday then drier and brighter.”

Unfortunately, with that also comes very high pollen warnings for the area, so alongside packing your essentials, maybe some hayfever tablets might be a welcome addition.

Forecast for Newport during Isle of Wight Festival 2024

• June 20 2024: Sunny with a high of 21°C and a low of 13°C
• June 21 2024: Sunny with a high of 20°C and a low of 14°C
• June 22 2024: Light showers changing to cloudy by late morning, with a high of 19°C and a low of 14°C
• June 23 2024: Sunny with a high of 21°C and a low of 14°C

What are my travel options to get to the Isle of Wight Festival?

By train

For those who don’t fancy the car ride or car ferry over to the Isle of Wight, you’ll want to get a train from your location to Lymington Pier in order to catch one of three ferries available through Wightlink - the Wight Sun, Wight Light and Wight Sky. 

The Trainline advises that currently, prices to Lymington Pier from the following major train stations are as follows from the dates June 20 2024 to June 24 2024.

• Glasgow Central to Lymington Pier: £228.59 return (per person)
• Newcastle Central to Lymington Pier: £224.79 return (per person)
• Manchester Victoria to Lymington Pier: £158.79 return (per person)
• Leeds to Lymington Pier: £149.59 return (per person)
• Nottingham to Lymington Pier: £122.79 return (per person)
• Birmingham New Street to Lymington Pier: £114.99 return (per person)
• London King’s Cross to Lymington Pier: £62.99 return (per person)

Portsmouth and Southsea to Lymington Pier: £16.99 return (per person)

By automobile

This one’s a little trickier, owing to where you are in the United Kingdom, petrol prices fluctuating and, of course, the great summer holiday tradition of roads being dug up.

However, perhaps the easiest solution for those who wish to drive to Lymington Pier to take the car ferry over to Yarmouth is to provide the postcode for the ferry terminal - which in this instance is SO41 5SB. 

Those directions should bring up Lymington Ferry Port, Undershore Road, Lymington - but then there is the matter of paying to drive onto the car ferry. 

For those who arrive on the Isle of Wight, there are travel notices in place for this weekend’s festival. 

• Traffic from the East Cowes Red Funnel terminal will pass through York Avenue and Whippingham Road, turn right onto East Cowes Road, and then proceed to the festival car park. During peak times, vehicles may be directed to the car park via the Racecourse roundabout by turning left onto East Cowes Road.
• Festival-bound vehicles from the Wightlink terminal at Fishbourne will be directed to Kite Hill, through Wootton, down Lushington Hill, right at the Racecourse roundabout, left onto East Cowes Road, and then into the festival car park.
• Access to Newport Quay will be via the bridge from Sea Street, and vehicles should avoid passing through Seaclose Park.
• A one-way system will be implemented along Fairlee Road from lunchtime on Wednesday, June 19th.
• Outbound traffic from Newport will be directed up Staplers Road. This will revert to normal arrangements during Monday 24th, in the afternoon.
• In case of temporary blockages at car park entrances or incidents on festival traffic roads, diversions will be in place to temporarily divert festival traffic away from the main roads, allowing it to re-enter the network once the issue has been resolved.

How much is the ferry to travel from Southampton to the Isle of Wight?

So you’ve arrived by train or automobile to Southampton, in particular Lymington Pier, and now you’re a ferry ride away from arriving at Yarmouth for the Isle of Wight Festival. 

If you’re anything like me, who cannot recall the costs because I was too young and it was a family vacation, let’s find out the costs together.

Pedestrian passengers

Return tickets for those who don’t have cars or for some reason have bought a bike with them, tickets through Wightlink from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight cost £16.20, but are going incredibly fast as of writing (per person.)

Alternatively, Red Funnel also offers a foot passenger service that travels from Lymington Pier to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, with prices ranging around the £26.00 mark per person (return).

Car passengers

For those who are heading over by vehicle, current prices travel from Lymington to Yarmouth, the quickest car ferry according to Wighlink, is around the £155 mark for two people in a standard-size car.

But options from Lymington to Yarmouth are becoming scarce - for alternative options, including taking a car ferry from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight, we would recommend visiting Direct Ferries to give full details of your booking plans - including if you’re planning on bringing a roof rack with you to the festival.

Are there any tickets left for this year’s Isle of Wight Festival?

There are still weekend, day and “The Washroom” tickets available, though the latter is currently at low availability according to Ticketmaster UK. Should the details of getting there from further afield than London not put you off, you can still pick up a ticket today.

Are you heading along to the Isle of Wight Festival for the first time this year, or are you a regular mainlander who gets wet legs attending the festival regularly? We’d love to hear from you and hear some of your travel advice - especially if you're a resident of the Isle of Wight. Drop a comment down below or email the writer at [email protected].