Torquay's dance calendar has a big one back on it for next summer. Electric Bay Festival is returning to the English Riviera in 2027, and it's marking its fifth anniversary with a headline act that's hard to ignore: Pete Tong. The festival takes over Torre Abbey Meadows on Friday 9, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 July, so it's worth circling the dates now rather than later.
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The Saturday night is the one everyone's talking about. Pete Tong brings his Ibiza Classics show, backed by Tom Richards' Essential Orchestra, which first debuted at the BBC Proms in 2015 and celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2025 with four sold-out performances. It's a reimagining of the Ibiza club soundtrack with a live orchestra conducted by Richards, and it's not the only name on the bill that day: Eats Everything, Marshall Jefferson and DJ Paulette are all set to play alongside it. The Sunday headliner is still to be announced, so that's the one to keep an eye on as the lineup fills out.
For anyone who hasn't been, the setting is a big part of the appeal. Torre Abbey Meadows is a large open space set against the English Riviera's golden sands, used the rest of the year for picnics, tennis and mini golf, so it's a far cry from your usual concrete festival site. The festival itself is 18+, built around a main stage with a world-class sound system and a production that does justice to the headliners, with food and drink on site to keep you going. One thing to plan around: there's no on-site camping, so you'll be heading in and out of Torquay rather than roughing it in a tent.
It's also worth knowing where this fits into the bigger picture. Electric Bay is coming back after a year-long break in 2026, and the organisers are clearly keen to make the comeback count. Cllr Jackie Thomas, Torbay Council's Cabinet Member for Tourism, Culture and Events and Corporate Services, has pointed to the 2025 edition as proof of what the festival brings to the area: it generated more than £1 million for the local economy and pulled in 10,000 people on the Saturday alone. A spokesman for Beatz & Bobz said that after a year away, they're looking forward to bringing Electric Bay back to Torquay for its fifth anniversary.
On the practical side, tickets are £49 a day, which is the tier 3 price for the Pete Tong day, and Skiddle is the official seller, so that's where to go when you're ready to commit. As for the man at the top of the bill, Pete Tong, born Peter Michael Tong MBE in Dartford in 1960, has spent decades at BBC Radio 1 and is widely seen as the global ambassador for electronic music. Tom Richards, the conductor, is a UK-based director, arranger, composer and producer. Between the two of them, the Saturday bill is in safe hands, and with the Sunday headliner still to come, the full picture is still taking shape. Whether you're in it for the Ibiza Classics or the wider lineup, it's shaping up to be the biggest dance weekend on the South West coast next summer.
Published Date
8 November 2026
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