Reading and Leeds Festivals

The Reading and Leeds Festivals are two big music events that happen every year in Reading and Leeds, England. They take place at the same time during the August bank holiday weekend, lasting three days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Reading Festival happens at Little John's Farm near Caversham Bridge, while the Leeds Festival is held at Bramham Park close to Wetherby.

The Reading Festival is the older of the two and is the longest-running popular music festival in the UK. Over the past fifty years, many famous bands from the UK and around the world have performed there. Since 1999, when the two-site format began, the main types of music have been rock, indie, alternative, punk, and metal, with hip hop becoming more common in recent years. Famous artists like Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Eminem, and Post Malone have headlined these festivals.

Both festivals are organized by Festival Republic. From 1998 to 2007, they were called the Carling Weekend: Reading and the Carling Weekend: Leeds. In 2007, the original names were brought back. In 2011, the Reading site could hold 87,000 people, and the Leeds site could hold 75,000, which was more than in earlier years. There are campsites at both locations, and weekend tickets include camping, with day tickets also available.

History

Main article: National Jazz and Blues Festival

The Reading Festival started as the National Jazz Festival in 1961, organized by Harold Pendleton at Richmond Athletic Ground. In the 1960s, it moved to different places around London before settling in Reading in 1971. Over time, it grew from a jazz event to include rock, punk, and other music styles.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the festival faced some challenges, like a temporary ban in Reading due to local council decisions. Despite this, it kept going and brought in many famous bands. The 1990s saw big names like Nirvana perform, and the festival added a second location in Leeds in 1999.

In the 2000s, both festivals became very popular, but sometimes had issues with crowd behavior. By the 2010s, the festivals had many different stages for various music types. In 2020, both were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they returned the next year.

List of headliners

The Reading and Leeds Festivals feature many famous musicians each year. Here are some of the headliners from recent years:

• 2026 (scheduled): Charli XCX, Dave, Raye, Chase & Status, Florence and The Machine, Fontaines D.C.
• 2025: Travis Scott, Bring Me the Horizon, Hozier, Chappell Roan
• 2024: Blink-182, Fred Again, Liam Gallagher, Lana Del Rey, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Gerry Cinnamon
• 2023: Sam Fender, Foals, the Killers, The 1975 (replacing Lewis Capaldi), Billie Eilish, Imagine Dragons
• 2022: Dave, Megan Thee Stallion, Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me the Horizon, the 1975 (replacing Rage Against the Machine), Halsey
• 2021: Liam Gallagher, Biffy Clyro (replacing Queens of the Stone Age), Stormzy, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Post Malone, Disclosure
• 2020 (cancelled): Liam Gallagher, Rage Against the Machine, Stormzy

The festivals have had many famous performers over the years, from rock bands to pop stars.

Bottling incidents

At the Reading and Leeds Festivals, sometimes people throw bottles and cans at bands performing on stage. This has happened many times over the years. Some bands have had to stop playing because of this.

For example, in 1980, a punk band called the Hellions had to leave the stage quickly after being hit with many cans and bottles. In 1983, the band Steel Pulse also left right away because of things thrown at them. In 2004, the singer of 50 Cent’s band threw his microphone into the crowd after being pelted with bottles and mud. In 2006, the lead singer of Panic! at the Disco fell unconscious after being hit in the face with a plastic bottle but later recovered.

These incidents show that throwing things at performers is unsafe and not allowed.