The festival is run by The Rival Organisation and Into The Groove, and was started after the success of one-off 1980s retro shows of previous years.

[1] Since its creation a number of additional attractions were included at the festival, including a weekend camp site, glamping, firework displays, theme bars, silent disco, roller disco, the Big Sing, live karaoke stage, and the Friday night welcome party.

Acts playing include Kim Wilde, Rick Astley, Gloria Gaynor and Sister Sledge.

The Rewind Festival in Scotland took place at the Scone Palace grounds near Perth on 23, 23, and 24 July 2016, and was headlined by Holly Johnson on Saturday and Adam Ant on Sunday.

The Rewind Festival in Scotland took place at the Scone Palace grounds near Perth on 21, 22, and 23 July 2017, and was headlined by The Human League on the Saturday and Billy Ocean on the Sunday.

The Rewind Festival in Scotland took place at the Scone Palace grounds near Perth on 20, 21, and 22 July 2018, and was headlined by OMD and Status Quo.

The Rewind North Festival took place at Capesthorne Hall in Cheshire on 3, 4, and 5 August 2018, and was headlined by OMD and the Jacksons.

Main artists lined up had included Bananarama, Tiffany, Thin Lizzy, Cutting Crew, and Gloria Gaynor.

The Rewind North Festival is due to take place at Capesthorne Hall in Cheshire from 5–7 August, with Holly Johnson and The Human League being the Headline acts The Rewind South Festival is place at the Temple Island Meadows, Remenham Farm, Remenham, near Henley-on-Thames from 19–21 August, with Holly Johnson and The Human League being the Headline acts.

The Rewind North Festival is due to take place at Capesthorne Hall in Cheshire from 4–6 August, with Andy Bell from Erasures and Squeeze being the Headline acts.

However, the first attempt met with failure after a change of venue and loss of overseas artists due to lack of work permits.