Reading and Leeds Festivals

Month : August
Place : Reading and Leeds, United Kingdom
Famous For : Music Festival
Attractions : Various Stages like Main stage, NME/Radio 1 stage, Festival Republic stage etc

The Reading and Leeds Festivals marks the advent of music festivals in England. These are a pair of annual music festivals held simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. This musical gala is run by Festival Republic and takes place in Reading and Leeds in the United Kingdom. The Reading and Leeds Festivals were officially known as the Carling Weekend: Reading and the Carling Weekend: Leeds, between 1998 and 2007. In 2007, the sponsor Carling parted its ways and the festivals regained their traditional names of Reading festival and Leeds festival.

Major Attractions

The Reading Festival holds recognition as the world's oldest popular music festival. It gained its traditional name back after a period of 9 years from 1998 to 2007. In November 2007, the organizers welcomed "Reading Festival reclaiming its prestigious name" when the sponsored title was abolished. The Reading Festival traces its origin from the National Jazz Festival which was first held at Richmond Athletic Ground in 1961. Nowadays, it's held at Little John's Farm on Richfield Avenue in central Reading, near the Caversham Bridge. During its first ten years, the Reading festival changed several names and moved around various sites including Windsor Racecourse, Kempton Park and Plumpto. It was only in the year 1971, when this musical extravaganza reached its final destination at Reading. The Leeds festival is held in Bramham Park, near Wetherby. The festival consists of various stages including Main stage, NME/Radio 1 stage, Festival Republic stage, Lock Up Stage, Dance tent, Alternative tent and BBC Introducing Stage.