The event runs in the second week of August each year, and features a diverse lineup of live bands, electronic music DJs, speakers, and other performers across a wide range of genres.

Boomtown takes place on 1,250 acres of farmland, and consists of 8 districts of a fictional city, alongside camping, workshop, and activist areas.

Each district has a distinct identity and is constructed with life-sized street sets, housing more than 50 hidden venues run by independent collectives and record labels, with some resembling typical amenities including a post office, hotel, and police station.

[1] In addition to music, each edition of the festival features heavy immersive theatre elements, expanding on an overarching narrative through a large alternate reality game, and serving as social commentary.

Attendees can interact with actors portraying citizens of the fictional city and obtain copies of the festival’s in-universe newspaper, The Daily Rag, which is published throughout the event.

[6] The 2016 fair saw further expansion with Sector 6 in the Temple Valley area, introduced as a way to even the spread of bass-heavy music across the site.

[7] The 2019 fair introduced the new Area 404 district in place of Sector 6 providing the festivals home for techno and acid house music.

Organisers cited the lack of a government insurance scheme to cover COVID-19-related cancellations of music festivals, stating that "for an independent event as large and complex as Boomtown, this means a huge gamble into an eight-figure sum to lose if we were to venture much further forward, and then not be able to go ahead due to COVID.

"[15] The organisers planned to hold a smaller event known as Boom Village, but was cancelled due to safety concerns over rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases.

[18] The festival also adopted a new lineup policy whereby most performers were announced only days before the event, this coincided with a drop of typical headliner bookings.

On 6 December 2024, Boomtown launched the 2025 event, including announcing the first re-expansion outside of the bowl, with Old Town moving to Hilltop, and the introduction of two new main dance stages - The Lions Gate (replacing Origin), and Hydro for techno and house music.

There are two campsite 'villages' in the largest camps with large communal fire pits alongside traditional festival and spiritual healing activities.

Tickets are donated to charity for raffles and competitions, and the festival works with Oxfam, MyCauseUK and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance who provide stewards.

[57] For the 2019 event, Boomtown partnered with TreeSisters, an organization focusing on reforestation with women, to plant one tree for every ticket bought (48,000).

[60] In the years following the tragedy, Wendy Teasdill, Ellie's mother, has become an advocate for on-site drug testing, saying the facilities may have saved her life.

[64] In the weeks leading up to the 2017 event, the construction of the city was hampered by bad weather, which contributed to delays at the gates, with some guests queuing for up to 10 hours to enter the site.

[65] In 2019, the festival saw very high winds, causing widespread damage to tents in all camping areas, as a result of fencing barriers blown onto the grounds.