Reading and Leeds Festival

So festival season is finally upon us and what an amazing time it is to be British! We’ve drunk and raved too much at We Are, done more head banging than we could handle at Download and threw our hands in the air way too many times for David Guetta at Wireless , so what’s left? Only the two biggest festivals that go hand in hand to bring you the most amazing worldwide artists in two locations playing on different dates so you won’t need to miss out on anyone. The title should be a big enough clue but if you’re not very perceptive then I`ll put you out your misery, I am of course talking about Reading and Leeds.

The festivals take place over the weekend of the 28th to the 30th of August, a bank holiday weekend if you didn’t know! Meaning a fun filled, boozy long weekend is definitely needed, any excuse eh. Reading festival is held at Little Johns Field on Richfield Avenue in central Reading, with the festival located just 15 minutes from the local station.  Leeds festival is located in Bramham Park near Wetherby, the festival is located 30 minutes away from the station but a shuttle bus service is available. 

The Line Up

The line-up for this year’s Reading and Leeds festival is pretty hard to beat, with headlining acts such as Brit award winning rock band Mumford and Sons and American heavy metal band Metallica the standards are set pretty high. With several stages on offer there isn’t a shortage of music to get your teeth stuck into, with every genre of music possible that’s what makes Reading and Leeds so versatile and exciting. Alongside the headlining acts the Main stage will be home to performances from Bastille, Panic at the Disco and Kendrick Lamar as well as recent Brit award winners Royal Blood and American pop punk band All Time Low. The BBC dance stage is popular amongst all you ravers out there; with sets from MK, Charlie XCX, SecondCity, Hannah Wants and DJ Fresh there will be more than enough to keep you going through to the early hours. The NME/BBC Radio 1 stage is home to some of the best artists and DJ`s including a closing set from Knife Party on Saturday in Leeds and Friday in Reading, who recently went down an absolute treat at Wireless Festival! Also joining the line-up are new kids on the block Years and Years, Twin Atlantic and Gorgon City as well as a whole load more. Something tells me you won’t be short on music for the weekend.

All The Extras

Both festivals are a hefty three days long and they do both offer on site camping. That’s three days of snuggling up in sleeping bags, 3am treks to the portaloos and probably three days without any reception but on the bright side you definitely won’t miss out on any of the action. There are single sex showers available on both campsites as well as a quiet camping area for those who value a good night’s sleep, good luck with that one! Both sites offer a whole host of food to munch on throughout the weekend as well as several different bars all of which operate on a cash only basis. Both festivals offer a silent disco and a funfair as well as a cinema tent which screens films until 4am so for those of you who simply don’t want to sleep there will be no need for tossing and turning all night long.

Reading and Leeds may be fast approaching and you don’t have too much longer to grab yourself some tickets but there are some left so get with it people! It will be one August bank holiday you won’t forget anytime soon, in the best way of course.

By Sophie Black