{"id":2489,"date":"2020-01-01T16:40:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T16:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/?p=2489"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:27:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:27:53","slug":"year-musician-planning-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Your year as a musician: the UK gig season explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last updated: April 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life as a professional musician can leave you vulnerable to many of the same problems that other predominantly self-employed industries face. Chief amongst them will be the seasonal nature of work\u2026 you\u2019ll probably find yourself busier at some points of the year than at others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog, we give you a quick guide to what kinds of enquiries you can expect at various times of the year. Knowing this can help you plan in advance financially, and target your advertising for different points of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t forget, if you play in a function band and want to generate more enquires (and get more gigs!) consider signing up for a listing with lastminutemusicians.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

January & February<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, unfortunately, your year as a musician begins with a bit of a slump. January and February are notorious in many sectors for being pretty quiet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chief reason for this is the public\u2019s upward trend for spending in December (which we will come to later!) and over the Christmas period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With many people tightening their belts (and the weather still being quite cold!) few couples will be looking to get married. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, the main gigs you are going to be looking to get are less dependent on season or weather – probably birthday parties and other functions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It depends on the volume of enquiries you get, but you may want to consider dropping your rates or running a special promotion for these months, in order to secure more shows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, anything you can get during these quieter times of the months is a bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one saving grace for January, and this is New Years Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NYE is a great time to pick up a show, as you can charge a premium (much like you would for Christmas and other holidays) and there will generally be lots of people and venues looking for live music to see in the New Year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting a good show on NYE is essential for surviving a quiet January!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February also has one bright spot: Valentine’s Day. Restaurants, hotels and private clients often look for live background music (solo pianists, jazz duos, acoustic acts) for Valentine’s dinners and proposal moments, so it is worth pitching local venues in the weeks before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider other avenues of making cash, like private instrumental lessons or recording session work, to maximize your revenue stream in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is also a great opportunity to expand and improve your band\u2019s repertoire for the year to come, and put out advertising for gigs in the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Music<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Remember that, if you are self-employed, January is when your self-assessment tax deadline is, and when your bill will be due. Planning in advance is especially important for this, as the slow down in work can land you in trouble if you\u2019re suddenly faced with a huge bill. For more information, check out our blog on Tax for Musicians<\/a>.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

March & April<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the public starts to recover from the heavy Christmas spending, you\u2019ll hopefully see a small increase in shows for this time of year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t expect to be majorly busy, but you may be able to pick up the odd early wedding for couples who are looking to save cash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look to advertise for birthday parties, anniversaries and other functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May, June, July & August<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These months are going to be your bread and butter as a function player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the UK, August is the single most popular month for weddings (around 18% of ceremonies), with June and July close behind. Couples often lock in summer Saturdays 12 to 18 months in advance, so if you want a full calendar in peak season you need to be visible and quotable well before the year begins. Festivals, outdoor summer parties in pub gardens, and tourism-driven events also add a healthy layer of non-wedding work during these months. If you are benchmarking your fees against the market, our breakdown of UK wedding band costs<\/a> is a useful reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Warmer weather brings with it a whole host of potential bookings, but we\u2019ll discuss the most obvious one: Weddings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weddings are a brilliant way to make money as a musician. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is pretty much public knowledge that weddings are going to cost a reasonable amount of cash, and so people save up in advance and get financial help from relatives to secure a healthy budget for the big day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Couple this with the desire to make the event the best it can possibly be without doing it \u201con the cheap\u201d, and this means that there is usually a reasonable part of the budget set aside for entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wedding<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While all of this may sound brilliant, there is a second reason musicians charge a premium for weddings and that is that they can be extremely stressful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the initial organisation, musicians playing weddings are going to encounter much more pressure than at other events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may encounter wedding planners or events managers that are going to want to be incredibly specific with timings and therefore may leave you precious little time for anything unexpected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to combat this is to ensure that you have adequate set up time (or as much as possible!) built into the schedule and, to the best of your ability, ensure that your equipment is serviced and reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weddings are notorious events for running late and behind. Often, you may have to hang around for hours before performing or deal with delays in setting up. While it doesn\u2019t happen every time, there are some managers or planners that will try and use the band set up time as a way to claw back those lost minutes or hours.<\/p>

This can be a very tricky situation to manage! As a rule, always be polite and courteous, but don\u2019t agree to anything completely unreasonable or compromising \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019ll be as quick as we can, but we will really struggle to get anything set up in less than X amount of time\u201d is usually a good way to approach it.<\/p>If the wedding is running behind, see if there is another area near the stage that you can load gear into and begin to set up smaller bits of kit in preparation.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

There are three main points of the day that you could be asked to play at for a wedding, and they each present their own challenges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceremony\/ walking down the aisle<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t take a genius to work out why this could be stressful! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A room full of friends and family in hushed silence; a very formal and personal moment\u2026 the last thing you want is any mistakes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work with the happy couple or wedding planner to decide what music they would like to have played and when, then you can practice it accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wedding<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Drinks reception<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While obviously less pressure than the ceremony, the main problem you could encounter here is selecting the right volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this scenario, you may not be the focus of attention as a lot of people will want to let of some steam and chat about the ceremony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work with the staff on hand to ensure a suitable volume, and try to establish in advance if they are looking for a full-on performance or background music to contribute to the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some clients will already have debated whether a band or DJ is the right fit for their evening, and it is worth being ready for that conversation. Our guide to choosing between a wedding band or DJ<\/a> is a useful link to share if a couple is still on the fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evening entertainment<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While playing at weddings can be tremendous fun, you must first get past one of the more stressful times of the evening \u2013 the first dance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some weddings will be more casual, and consider this a bit of a formality that needs to be moved past\u2026 others will take it more seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always take the temperature of the room in this respect and find out if the Bride and Groom want their guests inviting on to the dance floor after a certain length of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While you may experience a slight dip in shows at this time of the year, you will hopefully continue to pick up the last weddings of the peak season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another type of show that may be popular throughout the warmer months is the company summer party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite often, both big and small companies will chose to have events over the summer and into September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be anything from major product launches, to just a fun get together to let employees blow off some steam or team building events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October & November<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These are months where your work may experience another slump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally speaking, both companies and individuals are looking to tighten their belts and save money for December. Speaking of which\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your band’s style compliments it, see if you can pick up a Halloween show playing a few scary classics like “Thriller” or even the theme from “ghostbusters!”<\/div>\n\n\n\n

December<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This should be a bumper month for most function musicians! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main aim of the game is corporate events and office parties, as it is by far the most popular time of the year for corporations (large and small) to book live entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"live<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Remember – the larger the company, the more they will be able to spend, so be intelligent when it comes to sending quotes, and brush up on our tips for negotiating with clients<\/a> before firing off your response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entertainment Directories (like Last Minute Musicians<\/a>) or other entertainment agents will be a great place to source corporate gigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are prepared to work them, days like Christmas and Christmas Eve can also be a brilliant time to pick up premium work. Just remember to take a little time for the family!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bank holidays, festivals and the fee uplift<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Running alongside the four “seasons” above is a calendar of bank holidays and special dates that can lift your fees noticeably. Bank holiday Sundays and Mondays often see an uptick in weddings and parties, and NYE, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day all command a premium rate. Halloween, Valentine’s Day and major sporting finals (FA Cup, Rugby World Cup, Euros) can also drive last-minute bookings if your act is a good fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key is to set your premium rates early and stick to them. For a deeper look at festive pricing, see what to charge at Christmas and New Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: fees and booking patterns vary by region, experience level and act type. Figures in this article are general guidance based on UK market trends as of 2026 and should be treated as a starting point, not a fixed tariff.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum up\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Knowing the peak times of the year can help you plan in advance with budgeting both your time and money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also upsides to some of the quieter months \u2013 holidays and travel are cheaper in January and February, for instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep an eye out for bank holidays and other special occasions when people may look to book entertainment. You can even run special promotions for these days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Live<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
If you found this blog useful, you may also want to read Sickness and Retirement as a musician<\/a>.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any advice for how to maximise income in the quieter months? Any advice for making sure you don\u2019t burn out during stressful times of the year? Post them in the comments below\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n
\n \n
\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\n
\n 4.9\/5 - (14 votes) <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last updated: April 2026 Life as a professional musician can leave you vulnerable to many of the same problems that other predominantly self-employed industries face. Chief amongst them will be the seasonal nature of work\u2026 you\u2019ll probably find yourself busier at some points of the year than at others. In this blog, we give you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice-for-musicians"],"yoast_head":"\nGig Season 2026: Busy & Quiet Times for Musicians (UK Guide)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A month-by-month UK guide to gig season for musicians: when weddings, corporate parties and NYE bookings peak, and how to stay earning in the quiet months.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gig Season 2026: Busy & Quiet Times for Musicians (UK Guide)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A month-by-month UK guide to gig season for musicians: when weddings, corporate parties and NYE bookings peak, and how to stay earning in the quiet months.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Last Minute Musicians Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-01T16:40:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T13:27:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jon Fellowes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lmm_uk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lmm_uk\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jon Fellowes\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fcc78a99e7b895ef71cab26729c8efb3\"},\"headline\":\"Your year as a musician: the UK gig season explained\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-01T16:40:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T13:27:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1937,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Advice for musicians\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gig Season 2026: Busy & Quiet Times for Musicians (UK Guide)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-01T16:40:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T13:27:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"A month-by-month UK guide to gig season for musicians: when weddings, corporate parties and NYE bookings peak, and how to stay earning in the quiet months.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"diary\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/year-musician-planning-ahead\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Your year as a musician: the UK gig season explained\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Last Minute Musicians Blog\",\"description\":\"LAST MINUTE MUSICIANS BLOG\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Last Minute Musicians\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/lmm.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/lmm.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Last Minute Musicians\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/lmm_uk\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fcc78a99e7b895ef71cab26729c8efb3\",\"name\":\"Jon Fellowes\",\"description\":\"Freelance Journalist \\\/ Last Minute Musicians Publisher & Press Liaison\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/jonfellowes\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gig Season 2026: Busy & Quiet Times for Musicians (UK Guide)","description":"A month-by-month UK guide to gig season for musicians: when weddings, corporate parties and NYE bookings peak, and how to stay earning in the quiet months.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gig Season 2026: Busy & Quiet Times for Musicians (UK Guide)","og_description":"A month-by-month UK guide to gig season for musicians: when weddings, corporate parties and NYE bookings peak, and how to stay earning in the quiet months.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/","og_site_name":"Last Minute Musicians Blog","article_published_time":"2020-01-01T16:40:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-10T13:27:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jon Fellowes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@lmm_uk","twitter_site":"@lmm_uk","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/"},"author":{"name":"Jon Fellowes","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fcc78a99e7b895ef71cab26729c8efb3"},"headline":"Your year as a musician: the UK gig season explained","datePublished":"2020-01-01T16:40:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T13:27:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/"},"wordCount":1937,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg","articleSection":["Advice for musicians"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/","name":"Gig Season 2026: Busy & Quiet Times for Musicians (UK Guide)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2020-01-01T16:40:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T13:27:53+00:00","description":"A month-by-month UK guide to gig season for musicians: when weddings, corporate parties and NYE bookings peak, and how to stay earning in the quiet months.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/diary-1149992_1280.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"diary"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/year-musician-planning-ahead\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your year as a musician: the UK gig season explained"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/","name":"Last Minute Musicians Blog","description":"LAST MINUTE MUSICIANS BLOG","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Last Minute Musicians","url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lmm.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lmm.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Last Minute Musicians"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/lmm_uk"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fcc78a99e7b895ef71cab26729c8efb3","name":"Jon Fellowes","description":"Freelance Journalist \/ Last Minute Musicians Publisher & Press Liaison","url":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/author\/jonfellowes\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2489"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6749,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions\/6749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminutemusicians.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}