Isle of Wight Festival 2025: Day Three with Olly Murs, Nieve Ella, Jess Glynne and Justin Timberlake
The final day at the Isle of Wight Festival 2025 arrived with a sharp bite. After Saturday’s relentless heatwave, Sunday’s drop in temperature was enough to catch most off guard, causing the reappearance of puffer jackets, scarves pulled high and hands wrapped around hot drinks rather than pints. But despite the chill, day three had its moments of warmth, both emotional and electric.
Olly Murs took to the main stage with his trademark grin and a setlist built to lift moods. Troublemaker and Heart Skips a Beat brought predictable joy. Tracks like Dear Darlin’ and You Don’t Know Love gave the set emotional weight, while the encore, Dance with Me Tonight, finally loosened up the audience, closing things out on a bright note. It wasn’t groundbreaking, but it was feel-good pop done right, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
In a more intimate setting, Nieve Ella’s performance at the Big Top was a revelation. Car Park and Ganni Top (She Gets What She Needs) oozed cool, confident vulnerability. There’s something magnetic about her presence: understated but razor-sharp, with the kind of songwriting that sticks. Her set felt emotionally open, romantically nostalgic and bursting with pent-up yearning, but backed by the polish of an artist destined for longevity, not just virality.
Back on the main stage, Jess Glynne delivered a set that felt deeply personal. She moved from powerhouse hits like Right Here and Hold My Hand to the stripped emotion of Take Me Home and Thursday with natural ease. Her cover of Rudimental’s These Days was a high point, soaring, heartfelt and rich with lived experience. By the time she reached Rather Be, the crowd had warmed up, both literally and emotionally. Glynne’s voice, clean, strong, honest, cut through the cold better than any pyrotechnic could. Her gig was one of the most cathartic of the day, and set the tone for the final performance on the main stage of the day.
It was always going to finish with a bang. Justin Timberlake’s headlining slot was full-throttle from the second he launched into Mirrors. He hit every mark: the falsetto, the footwork, the flawless transitions. The audience finally burst into life for Can’t Stop the Feeling!, a full-field dance moment that somehow made every attendee forget how cold we were. JT mixed in deep cuts and clever mashups (Like I Love You bleeding into She Wants to Move, the Timbaland-heavy medley of Ayo Technology and Give It to Me) before rolling into SexyBack like it was 2006 all over again. It wasn’t just nostalgic, it was slick, confident, stadium-ready pop – an absolutely fitting close to the weekend.
The Isle of Wight Festival 2025 was three days of sunburn, goosebumps, good food and some truly unforgettable sets. It was a weekend that danced between eras: the timeless pull of Sting and Justin Timberlake rubbing shoulders with the wide-eyed wonder of rising acts like Nieve Ella.
It wasn’t perfect. The weather had mood swings, there were technical hiccups, and not every crowd was as reactive as the music deserved, but ultimately, somewhere between the chaos of the main stage and the calm of the Hipshaker Lounge, that old festival magic showed up again and again.
As the final notes echoed out over Seaclose Park, cold drinks swapped for layers, and everyone shuffled off toward ferries, buses and tents, it felt like the perfect ending.
Kirst Hubbard
Photos: Virginie Viche
For further information and future events, visit the Isle of Wight Festival’s website here.
Watch the video for Can’t Stop the Feeling! here:
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