Don’t let festival season fade into a distant memory, book tickets for Reading and Leeds Festival 2024 to see you through the winter months.
The summer of muddy soles, sweaty foreheads, unwashed hair and lost voices has drawn to a close. After months of experiencing some of the best music festivals in the UK, whether that’s huge festivals such as Glastonbury and Download or fantastic smaller ones like Latitude and All Points East, it’s time to hang up the wellies in preparation for next year.
If you’re like us, and would like to book festival tickets to see you through the doom and gloom of winter, let us point you in the direction of Reading and Leeds Festival.
This RadioTimes.com writer was lucky enough to visit Reading Festival this summer with Three UK. They spent three days in the sunshine — with the occasional downpour of rain — listening to the likes of Arlo Parks, Rina Sawayama, Steve Lacy, and of course headliners Sam Fender, The Killers, and Billie Eilish.
In fact, seeing Eilish perform on the final night of Reading Festival was the highlight of their whole weekend, specifically hearing Happier Than Ever.
We can’t forget the moments besides the music which make festivals so special, too. Moments such as sitting at the campsite chatting and laughing with your friends, tucking into food from the many great food trucks (chorizo macaroni cheese and Korean BBQ wings being a favourite), and bonding with strangers in the queue to use the portaloos.
Tickets for Reading and Leeds have already been released, so get ahead of the curve and book tickets today. There are plenty of ticketing options available at different price points, and we’ve broken them all down below, as well as answering your most-asked questions about the Reading and Leeds festivals. The countdown to a bank holiday weekend of fun starts now!
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Are Reading and Leeds festivals different?
The short answer to this question is yes, and no. The two festivals are different in that they take place in two different locations, but they are the same in that they have the same line-up and happen on the same days. To answer the long way, let’s take a history lesson.
Amazingly, Reading Festival is the world’s oldest popular music still in existence. It originally began as a jazz music festival, known as the National Jazz Festival, in 1961, and it moved around various sites in the south of the UK before settling in its permanent home of Reading in 1971.
After establishing its roots in Reading, the music festival’s lineup moved away from jazz and began booking progressive rock and blues music. It then became the first music festival to incorporate punk rock and new wave in the late 1970s.
Due to its immense popularity, in 1999, Reading Festival added a second venue at Temple Newsam in Leeds, which was the site of V Festival in 1997 and 1998. Since 1999, the two-site festival has featured predominantly rock, alternative, indie, punk, and metal music genres in its line-up. With the addition of a little bit of hip-hop, of course; we remember seeing Kendrick Lamar at Leeds Festival in 2015 and he was phenomenal.
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Do the same bands play Reading and Leeds festivals?
In 1999, every band performed at Leeds Festival the day after they played at Reading, with Reading Festival running from Friday to Sunday, and Leeds Festival running from Saturday to Monday. In 2001, the festival moved to its current (and, in our opinion, better) format, which sees the Reading line-up play at Leeds the following day, with the opening day line-up from Leeds playing the final day in Reading.
To give a real-life example from this year, acts such as Central Cee, Holly Humberstone, Foals, and The 1975 performed at both Reading and Leeds festivals, with headliner Billie Eilish performing at Leeds Festival on the Friday and closing Reading Festival on the Sunday.
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Reading and Leeds 2024 line-up
The official line-up for Reading and Leeds Festival 2024 hasn’t been announced yet, but, that doesn’t stop the rumours from circulating…
The RadioTimes.com team would love to see Lewis Capaldi headline the festival, as he had to pull out of the 2023 festival due to health reasons. We’d also love to see Rage Against the Machine at Reading and Leeds festival; the Los Angeles rock band also pulled out of the festival in 2022 due to a medical issue involving their singer, Zack de la Rocha.
Where and when are Reading and Leeds 2024 festivals?
This year, Reading and Leeds Festival will take place Wednesday 21st to Sunday 25th August 2024. The summer bank holiday next year falls on Monday 26th August, so you’ll have a day of recovery before heading back to work or school.
Where is Reading Festival in 2024?
Reading Festival is held at Little John’s Farm on Richfield Avenue in central Reading, and it’s near Caversham Bridge. When this RadioTimes.com writer’s friend drove them to Reading Festival, the car park was easy to find following the instructions on the car parking pass.
You can also reach Reading Festival via coach, train, shuttle bus, and even by boat.
Where is Leeds Festival in 2024?
Leeds Festival is held in Bramham Park, near Wetherby in Leeds. You can reach Leeds Festival by car, coach, train, and shuttle bus.
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How much do Reading and Leeds 2024 festival tickets cost?
At the time of writing (Wednesday 6th October), a Weekend Camping ticket for Reading or Leeds festival will set you back £291.50 per ticket.
For the Early Entry ticket — which includes camping — it costs £327.25 per ticket for Reading or Leeds festival.
How to get Reading and Leeds festival tickets 2024
Reading and Leeds festival might be 321 days away (at the time of writing this article on Friday 6th October), but that shouldn’t stop you from purchasing tickets!
At Ticketmaster, you can buy camping, plus camping and early entry tickets for both Reading and Leeds festival. There’s also the option to pay in instalment plans, as we appreciate the run up to Christmas is an expensive time for all of us.
If camping isn’t your bag but you’re still keen on attending the festival for the whole weekend, why not check out Camping Plus?
This is an additional cost, and will get you access to the private Camping Plus campsite, which comes with 24 hour reception and security, toilets and warm showers, a pamper area with blow dryers, straighteners and a mirror, and phone charging.
First time at a festival? We have you covered with our top festival essentials guide.