Reading and Leeds Festivals: The Music Goes On

2008-10-29 11:58:55

( Arts )



The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in the United Kingdom and are run by Festival Republic. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. Between 1998 and 2007 the dual festivals were known officially as the Carling Weekend Festival, until parting ways with their sponsor Carling in November 2007.

The Reading Festival is the world's oldest popular music festival still in existence and has had various musical phases - major rock, indie and alternative acts for the main stage; acts with less popular appeal and breakthrough acts at the Festival Republic stage; underground punk and hardcore acts at Radio 1 Lock Up stage.

For promotional purposes during 1998-2007, the Reading and Leeds Festivals were known as the Carling Weekend Reading Festival and the Carling Weekend Leeds Festival. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm on Richfield Avenue in central Reading, near the Caversham Bridge. The Leeds Festival is held in Bramham Park, the grounds of a historic house. Campsites are available at both events and weekend tickets include free camping.

This festival has been a witness to numerous historical events for some of the bands and music artists who performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. Britpop bands such as Suede and Blur started to show themselves on the festival circuit in 1991. 1992 was one of the most famous in the Reading and Leeds Festivals' history where Nirvana played what was to become their last UK concert.

There are a lot of standout moments during the Reading and Leeds Festival, but for most people who attend the festival, it is the way that so many people with a similar taste in music meet up once a year, for a weekend, to have a great time. There is obvious camaraderie in the campsite where one could make friends with people in the nearby tents and just have a great fun and listen to types of music from all over the world.


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