Festival season is back – and with it comes the perfect excuse to dial up the drama and do something unforgettable with your hair. Whether you’re heading to a sun-soaked field like Glastonbury, a city-centre weekender like Wireless or a coastal festival such as Boardmasters with your best mates, there’s no better time to experiment with hair colour.
Because festivals aren’t just about the music – they’re about making a statement, owning your look, and celebrating creativity in every form. And in 2025, festival hair colour takes centre stage.
From soft sunset shades to vibrant, standout tones, this year’s festival hairstyles are all about playful, expressive colour that catches the eye and sets the mood. Ready to try something new?
This is the Festival Edit: Your guide to the standout summer hair trends and shades.
To kick off the season in style, our 2025 Festival Edit brings together four distinctive festival hair colour looks using our signature semi-permanent hair dyes – each one designed to capture the bold, free-spirited energy of summer’s biggest festivals.
Inspired by this year’s soft pink pastels, vivid purples and playful blends, these trend-led looks channel the creativity, confidence and individuality that festival season is all about, with hair styling and make-up made for golden hours and glittering nights.
The colour work comes courtesy of the brilliantly talented Amy Walker of Vanity Doll Salon (@vanitydollcolour), one of our Directions Ambassadors and a go-to for bold, expressive colour – alongside industry heavyweight, Steve Turner (@adams.turner_), whose decades of experience in global education and editorial styling brought serious vision to the shoot.
A huge thank you to our models, Lauren and Reece, who brought every look to life with effortless festival energy.
Ready for a closer look? Here’s how we created our four head-turning styles in this year’s Festival Edit…
Festival Look #1: Sugar Blush
There’s something effortlessly cool about soft pink hair in the sunshine, and this look is proof that pastel hair dyes still reign supreme for festival season.
Modelled by Lauren, this look builds on one of the most wearable trends of the moment: delicate, romantic colour with a confident edge. Pastel Rose was applied directly to Lauren’s platinum blonde (Level 10) hair for a clean, even result with serious impact.
To enhance the shape and add dimension, Steve and his team – Ebony and Lace – added matching wefts, also dyed in Pastel Rose, before styling the hair into tousled, beachy waves.
This look feels both sophisticated and Bohemian – soft yet striking, and ideal for relaxed, style-conscious festivals like Latitude, where colour, culture and self-expression go hand in hand.
Lauren styled the look with a chic white midi dress, denim jacket, and ASOS grey cowboy boots for a finish that felt festival-ready, stylish and completely her own.
Festival Look #2: Pink Siren
What about festival hair ideas that stand out when the sun goes down, or that fit right into the expressive, style-forward vibes of Coachella, where every look tells a story?
Amy and Steve worked their magic to evolve Lauren’s pastel pink into a bolder, brighter and all-around edgier pink and purple creation.
This electrifying split-dye effect was achieved by applying wefts coloured using our Lilac, Lavender and Flamingo Pink shades. Our stylists then enhanced these streaks with bigger waves and statement space buns – a modern festival favourite – for even more volume.
The result? A creative hairstyle that would feel right at home at this summer’s most diverse and high-energy music festivals. Matched with Lauren’s fierce make-up, faux leather jacket and black denim shorts, this is a festival look that’s as playful and carefree as it is edgy and intense.
Festival Look #3: Purple Haze
Purple hair has come into its own in the last few years, so our final two looks present this bold hair colour in all its glory on the ever-stylish Reece.
First, we started with a punchier, brighter purple effect using our Lavender dye. A blend of purple and pink tones, this shade delivered a real wow factor on Reece’s pre-bleached afro hair.
We matched this expressive look with a more muted, casual outfit – an oversized white tee, black bomber jacket and denim shorts, all from ASOS.
This produced a festival look that’s cool, fresh and rebellious. A killer combo that would shine under the sunlight at Creamfields and stand out through the massive crowds at Parklife.
Festival Look #4: Midnight Violet
Purple doesn’t always need to shout. For our final look, we took the tone deeper – layering Ultra Violet over Reece’s Lavender base to create a rich, dimensional colour melt with serious presence.
Darker, cooler and more refined than the previous look, this version brings a moodier edge – made for late sets, low light, and all-night party energy.
It’s also a perfect showcase for the blendable nature of Directions hair-safe dyes – a layered, custom colour blend with attitude, depth and zero limits.
5 festival hair care tips to prep, style & maintain your look
Those are our 4 standout festival hair colours and styles for the 2025 season. Whether you use our festival hair styling tips as inspiration, or follow your own path with one (or more) of our vivid hair colours, this is your time to experiment with bolder and brighter hues.
Achieving the ultimate festival look takes proper preparation and care, so here are 5 essential festival hair maintenance tips to make sure your style shines through this summer.
1. Stick to semi-permanent hair dyes
For those wanting to go daring and bright for the weekend, but turn down the volume in time for work on Monday – with semi-permanent hair dye, there is no long-term commitment.
2. Choose mixable hair dyes for custom colour blends
Want festival hair that mixes it up like our Midnight Violet look? Then make sure the hair dye you buy is mixable – not all of them are! With Directions hair colour, you can mix and match to your heart’s content!
3. Pre-lighten your hair for the best results
To make your DIY festival hair colour pop, especially on dark hair, lightening your base helps your vibrant hair dyes appear more intense and true-to-shade. A Hair Lightening Kit boosts brightness and helps achieve those vivid pastels or fluorescents seen in our show-stopping looks.
4. Wash with cold or lukewarm water
Hot water fades colour fast. Rinse with cold or lukewarm water to seal the cuticle and lock in vibrancy. It’s a small switch that makes a big difference for festival hair prep, especially when you’ve put the time in to get your hair looking its best.
5. Stick or twist once the party’s over?
Once the music’s stopped, are you keeping your colour transformation, or are you ready to dial it back?
If you love your new look, a sulphate-free shampoo will keep it around for longer. If you want to reset, fade it gently by washing out your colour with a clarifying shampoo.
Make your festival hair the headliner with Directions
Whether you’re dancing at dawn in pastel pink waves or going bold after dark with layered purples, we hope our Festival Edit gives you the hair dye inspiration to try something new this season and own it.
A huge thank you to Amy, Steve, Lauren, Reece, Ebony, Lace and the rest of the creative team who helped bring the vision to life.
The best festival hair dyes aren’t about fitting in – it’s about expressing yourself with a look that feels like you. And with our iconic range of mixable, semi-permanent shades, you’ve got the freedom to do just that.
Since 1981, Directions has been a trusted brand for colour lovers, stylists and creatives around the world. With 46 bold, vegan-friendly and cruelty-free hair dyes to choose from, we’ve got your summer colour covered, from the first set to the final encore.
Our soft tones through to vivid blends mean there’s something for everyone. So, if you’re ready to switch it up, experiment and have some fun with your hair colour changes this festival season, choose Directions.
Watch how we created Lauren's festival look
Watch how we created Reece's festival look
Already feeling inspired? Share your festival hair look using #thefestivaledit and tag @directionshair to show off your unique styles with our Directions community.