Reading and Leeds Festival
Reading and Leeds Festival is one of the best weekends of the year. As an avid R&L goer myself, I’ve definitely learnt from my past mistakes and now know what makes or breaks the experience.
So here’s my ultimate guide to Reading and Leeds Festival, share the hacks to make things smooth sailing and easily enjoyable. With everything you need to know, from camping to music stages, to food, to toilets.
10. You’ll probably want access to the Refresh Retreat
The Refresh Retreat pass offers proper Toilets, Hot Showers, Haircare Stations and Locker Hire to purchasers.
Let’s just say the toilets at Reading and Leeds are not pleasant... In fact, I’d go as far as saying they’re a complete horror story - they get absolutely wrecked on the first day of early bird camping.
Out of all the times I’ve been to Reading festival in the past, I’ve only ever used the normal “toilets” (if you can call them that- which was literally a metal cage with a hole in the ground) once. And I wanted to be physically ill afterwards.
The toilets in the actual arena bowel are usually okay (but still not pleasant, but hey that’s what festivals are about). But the arena usually only opens around 11am and closes as soon as everyone’s cleared out after the last act – there’s only limited time you can get away with using these for, not to mention the queues can be long.
Typically priced between £45 - £70, depending on what facilities you want access to, £45 might sound expensive just for a toilet and a refresh lounge, but for me it was so worth it.
There are only limited tickets, so you never have to queue too long, the toilets are cleaned extremely regularly. There’s plenty of seating and access to mirrors, hair straighteners, hand soap and hand cream.
The only downside to the Luxury Loos is that in the past they have usually closed around 1am, and don’t reopen until 7am so if you need to go in the night, you’d have to brave it in the regular toilets - and for Reading goers, don’t think you can be smart and walk down the road to the train station, because they close access to their toilets for the duration of the festival.
The timings for the refresh retreat aren’t currently posted on the Reading & Leeds website, so keep in mind this could be subject to change.
I cannot emphasise how this can make or break your experience, but if you choose not to purchase a Luxury Loos pass, then don’t say I didn’t warn you!
9. Limit the food you bring
You do not need to bring 71 pot noodles, 15 packets of crisps and 6 boxes of cereal, trust me. The first time I ever did R&L, I took way too much food, and I didn’t eat most of it. It was just a waste of food and caused extra hassle to carry.
After that, the only food I’ve bothered bringing with me are couple of cereal bars, a multi pack of crips to share with friends, some dried fruit and a multipack of Cider.
There are so many food stations at R&L. While some are overpriced, there are definitely some that are reasonably priced, you just have to make sure you take a look at the pricing before jumping in the queue.
From pizza and chips to fajitas and nachos, to cookie dough, pulled pork roles and more. There’s even been a Nando’s Station in the past.
Over the last few years, Co-op have partnered with R&L by creating a pop-up store on site for you to buy food, alcohol, ice cream… all the essentials for a Reading and Leeds Festival goer really!
Rock up, and stock up. But keep in mind, prices here are more expensive than if you leave the site to go to a supermarket elsewhere; it depends whether the saving in money is worth the hassle and time to you.
There are supermarkets nearby at both Reading and Leeds Festivals if you wish to leave the site.
For Reading Festival, the Tesco Extra on Portman Road will be your most convenient choice.
For Leeds Festival, the Shuttle Bus Service is available to take campers to the local Tesco.
Note – you cannot leave and re-enter the festival site if you have a day ticket to Reading or Leeds Festival, only weekend ticket holders can.
8. Don’t camp next to paths (unless you don’t mind coming back to no tent at the end of the night)
Under any circumstances, DO NOT camp next to a pathway. The paths become very busy after the headline acts come off stage in the evening.
If your tent is next to the path, it’s likely it won’t be there by the time you get back. People get pushed onto tents, people trample on tents, and unfortunately, some people slash tents or deliberately pull tents out of the ground and throw them across the campsite – if your tent is on the path, then it’s likely that your tent will be the first victim.
If you’re one of the lucky ones to be camped on the path without your tent being trampled to death, it won’t be a nice feeling when you’re in the tent and people are constantly drunkenly falling onto you.
You don’t have to be right at the back of each campsite, but just a few rows in from the path should be enough of a safety net.
It’s also important to know the best campsites to camp at, depending on what you want your experience to be – are you looking for a lively party campsite? Are you looking to get a good night’s sleep? Are you attending with family and need a family-friendly area? Are you going solo and want to meet others also doing the festival solo?
As of 2025, both Reading and Leeds have completely revamped their campsite, and now offer pre-bookable camping slots, which are completely free to book – you can find out more here for Leeds and Reading
7. The “two main stages with no clashes” is a blatant lie (sorry R&L, but it’s true)
When R&L Fest finally made its return in 2021, they announced that there would be double the headliners with “no clashes”, with 2 separate main stages at opposite ends of the field and alternating headliners appearing at each stage.
It sounds great as a concept. But unfortunately having experienced it, this really wasn’t the best idea R&L have come up with. With only 5 minutes between each act appearing on the stages, you’ll still have to leave one act early if you want to make it across the opposite end of the field in time for the next act, and if you want to be up close in the front section then you’ll likely have to leave even earlier.
It’s actually quite a frustrating experience and would’ve been a lot easier if Reading and Leeds could’ve just stuck to the one main stage like they did in 2019 and all previous years before then.
Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do about this one and it’s just something you need to be aware of.
Your best bet is to download the Reading and Leeds Festival App, as this will show you set times as well as who is on what stage.
After that, it’s all about prioritising who you want to see most and being prepared that you might either have to miss the final song (which is usually the main acts most popular song and the one that gets the crowd going the best), or you’ll have to miss the first song of the following act on the opposite stage (which again, they usually start with a fairly popular song to get the crowd going).
6. Bring warm clothes
Yes, the festival is in August, and yes, the first time I went to Reading and Leeds it was about 34 Celsius, but you still need warm clothes to sleep in. Even if you’re blessed with warm weather and no rain, the nights get cold, so you’re going to want to be sleeping in joggers and a hoodie.
If you’re not blessed with scorching weather, then you’re probably going to also want a hoodie for when the evening acts come on. It can get really cold in the evenings. When I went to Reading Festival in 2021, I wasn’t quite blessed with the same scorching weather as I was in 2019, which left me rather unprepared for just how cold it was going to get when the sun went in.
5. If you’re driving, don’t leave it too late to buy a parking ticket
If you’re driving, don’t leave it too late to buy a parking ticket – they do sell out and you don’t want to have to be one of those people trying to buy one off a random stranger on social media who may or may not be scamming you.
Some multi-storey car parks that will do special “deals” for Reading and Leeds festival goers, but these prices come at triple the cost of a normal R&L parking ticket and are also usually miles and miles away (as someone who made this mistake the first time they went to Reading, trust me, buy the parking ticket on the festival website while you can, they will sell out).
If you do find yourself in a position where car park passes are sold out, my advice would be to get the train.
There are dedicated festival shuttle buses that run from both Reading Station to the Reading Festival site at Richfield Avenue, and from Leeds train station directly to the Leeds festival site at Bramham Park.
Leeds train station is about a 30-minute drive from the festival site, so it’s definitely worth getting the shuttle bus rather than attempting to walk. Whereas Reading train station is a bit closer, with it being a 20-minute walk from the station to the campsite if you don’t wish to queue for the shuttle bus. The queues might look long but from my experience, they go down fast.
The shuttle buses usually operate from the first day of early bird entry to Monday, when most people make their way home.
4. Do not bring a tent any bigger than a 5-man
This one is for my people that aren’t early bird camping. Personally I’ve never paid extra for Early Brid and have usually been fine getting a camping space.
In the past I’ve used both 3-man, 5-man and 10-man tents, and a 5-man tent is the perfect option.
Usually a 5-man tent is the best size for it to be comfortable, not too small so you don’t spend the entire time shrivelled up in a cramped tent, yet it’s not too big so you’re still able to find a decent camp spot.
If you’re bringing anything bigger than that then you’re going to start to struggle to find space to pitch it, especially if you haven’t got early bird camping.
3. Zip lock bags are an essential
Zip lock bags are the most underrated thing to bring with you for Reading and Leeds. When you pack, place your outfits for each day all in a separate zip lock bag. This makes it so much easier when it comes to finding everything you need.
Bring an extra with you for your dirty clothes, so you can keep everything organised and tidy. It’s a real game changer and will make sifting through your bag each day, and repacking when you leave, so much quicker and easier.
2. If there’s one “luxury” you bring, make it a pillow
The last time I went to Reading Festival, I made the decision that I didn’t need a pillow despite bringing one every other time in the past. Oh, how wrong I was!
If you’re like me, as fun as Reading and Leeds Festival is, it’s also quite exhausting and although some evenings it’s fun to stay up and party into the evening, some nights you just want to crash and get a good night’s sleep.
I underestimated how useful a pillow would be. Trying to sleep on some scrunched-up clothes didn’t come anywhere close to as comfortable as having a pillow.
Although I’m an advocate for packing light when it comes to festivals, trust me - don’t ditch the pillow altogether, just bring a small one so it’s not a pain to carry.
1. Bring a refillable bottle, as they increase the water price
The price of bottled water usually starts off at the already extortionate price of £3 when the festival first begins, but with the 2019 heat wave during Reading and Leeds Festival, the price was bumped up to £6 by the Friday of the festival – double the price of what they were charging for a can of Pepsi.
Thankfully, R&L have plenty of free water refill stations, both inside the arena and the campsites. I’d recommend bringing 2 flasks or bottles with you, so you can leave one in your tent and bring the other with you.
Always make sure you keep the bottle or flask that you leave in your tent full, you’ll be grateful for it when you head back to your tent after the acts have finished for the night, and again when you wake up in the morning.
If you bring a water bottle that can clip onto your bag or belt loop with a carabiner clip, then you don’t have to worry about always holding it.
The arena will usually make you empty your water out before you go in as they don’t want people sneaking other liquids in and it basically forces you to either buy drinks in the arena or use their water refill stations (but from my experience, you can sneak water in pretty easily if you really don’t want to empty it out).
When the weather is much milder, the price for water won’t jump too much, but you’re still much better off bringing refillable flasks or bottles, not to mention it’s a much greener choice to take
Reading and Leeds Festival
I hope these 10 things helped you prepare if this is your first time going to Reading and Leeds Festival this year.
If there’s one more message I can pass on, then it’s please don’t litter and leave your rubbish scattered all over the place.
Festival goers at Reading and Leeds get given a bad reputation and it’s super sad to see the state that the campsites have been left in once the festival is over.
Bring some plastic bags or bin bags to keep your rubbish in and dispose of them in one of the bins while you’re on your way out. If you don’t overpack and only take what you need, then carrying an extra plastic bag to the nearest bin is really not a big deal.
Reading & Leeds Festival FAQ
Are Reading and Leeds two different festivals?
Reading and Leeds are the same festival which is held simultaneously. They have the same lineup, just flipped to play on different days. The acts that play at Reading on a Friday will play at Leeds on a Saturday. Saturday Reading acts play Leeds on a Sunday, and Sunday Reading acts play Leeds on the Friday.
When is Reading and Leeds festival?
In 2025 Reading and Leeds festival will run from Thu, 21 Aug 2025 – Sun, 24 Aug 2025, people are able to camp until Monday 25 Aug although there are no acts on this day. Reading and Leeds festival is usually held across the final weekend in August, which happens to be the August Bank holiday weekend that is celebrated by England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Does Reading and Leeds Festival have two main stages?
Yes, Reading and Leeds Festival have two main stages which are at opposite ends of the field. This was first introduced in 2021 and is staying for 2025.
Which festival is bigger, Reading or Leeds?
Reading Festival is bigger than Leeds Festival. The capacity for Reading Festival is 105,000, and Leeds Festival 75,000.
Can you come and go from Reading and Leeds festival?
On a day ticket you can’t leave and re-enter the festival site, however you can with a weekend ticket.
How does Reading and Leeds festival work?
Reading and Leeds is the same festival, held on the same weekend. With Leeds in the North and Reading in the South of England, it gives people across the country access to a weekend of great music. The lineup is the exact same at both festivals, the acts just play on different days so that both sites have access to the same artists. The acts that play at Reading on a Friday will play at Leeds on a Saturday, the Saturday Reading acts play Leeds on a Sunday; and Sunday Reading acts play Leeds on the Friday.
Does Reading and Leeds festival sell out?
Yes typically Reading and Leeds festival sells out every year, tickets are released in tiers so if you purchase earlier then you tend to get the ticket for cheaper.
