We always thought Reading Festival was heavily rock focused and stayed well clear HOWEVER last summer the line-up was that varied that both of us decided to attend for the first time!
We both went with our separate friends but did manage to meet up like twice due to our obsession with similar acts but overall we had different experiences and our debrief once we'd both packed up our tents and retreated home was HILARIOUS we learnt so much which we definitely want to share for anyone considering Reading fest this year...
Arriving
We all piled in Lorraine's car with all our mahoosive traveller backpacks, wellies, sleepbags piled high taking up the boot and some. Baring in mind Lorraine had only passed a month before and still required full use of her rear-view mirror it was quite an eventful journey to Reading; down loads of country roads in her lil corsa Kory!! 20 minutes later we were safely parked up in one of the festival parking zones and began our loooong walk to the campsite.
Now there are two choices we faced when travelling from the carpark to camp:
1. Wait 40minutes in the boiling sun for a boat to take us down the river
2. Walk along the river till we reached Green Camp
Being the inpatient fools we are we decided to walk. Now although it hurt like hell (we're talking back, legs, shoulders, feet even hair) it was the most hilarious walk everrrr literally Amy had toilet roll trailing behind her for the majority, we had about 20 pit stops and we hurled abuse at all the smug faces sat on boats going by (the boats we were too impatient to wait for).
When we FINALLY reached Green Camp we had to pass through the ticket exchange. We had both separated at this stage and passed through this checkpoint at different times but funnily got served by the same guy. We know this because we both fancied him lol but the first thing he said to Lorraine was "wow you guys walked" which is yes rude af but truly shows what hot messes we were by the time we got to camp!
Other ways are available:
Train to Reading Station - Taxis from station to festival are £5-6 orrr there's festival shuttles which run between both
Camping
Literally one of the biggest camping sites we've ever seen festival wise and Lorraine's camped in V Fest (Weston Park) and Benicassim! There are 6 different colours camping zones which are differentiated by coloured bunting - Lorraine stayed in Brown and Amy in Yellow.
Pros of brown - near white which is where there are showers, close to toilets
Cons - trekkkkk and the people here were older like not as hyped and boozy
Pros of yellow - close to festival gates, didn't have large crowds passing through middle of campsite (unlike purple!)
Cons - close to toilets, didn't have a silent disco (go for red if thats a must for you)
Tips for camping
Pack toilet paper and take to loo, go toilet in camp as early as possible not midday because as gross as this sounds the sunlight heats the metal trays and literally you'll be gagging if not vommit on yourself lol
Bin bags - don't be a pig this will be your home for the next few days
Baby wipes - yes there are showers but we're not divas, always worked fine plus deodorant obvs - we're all in the same boat and no-one cares!!! promise x
What to do if you've lost your pal...
Please for the love of god set a designated spot to meet at both campsite and venue itself, learn their no. off by heart or worst case scenario enjoy your night and you'll both end up by the tent at some point in the morning
Music Angel Mobile Chargers - lifesavers! We 100% recommend using this service. It is £25 on site but a little cheaper if you pre-order before the festival. We went for the unlimited battery and this includes:
- Music Angel Social Power Battery
- Lanyard
- Carry Pouch
- USB (can use your own too)
- Unlimited Charging Wristband - allows you to swap the battery as many times as you want throughout festival hence having a fully charge iphone at all times hollaaaa
PLUS you get to keep all of this. We still use our batteries to this day, we just charge them up and use them to charge our phones when we're out and about especially when on holiday or at other festivals!
SHOPS
Tesco - everyone walks over from red camp (main entrance via car, shuttles) just follow the crowd people, its a superstore too so its got all the goods you want - I'm talking plasters, asprin and more alc YOU KNOW
ALDI - people walk over from the green entrance (riverside) literally a 10-15minute walk and super cheap. Only negative is there's quite a queue on the way back into camp as security try to check bags but they're totally fine with you bringing booze in so small price to pay! There's also a TGI Fridays in the same carpark as Aldi so if the whole roughing it phase wares off go treat yourself to a good ol burger and cocktail honey. Lorraine and her friend did the minute their tent was pitched haha no shame
ACTS
Fave:
Hannah Wants, Oliver Heldens
Duke Dumont, Disciples, A$AP Rocky
Lorraine is on vid for discples daylight soz we just HAD to mention it lol
Fallout Boy - obsession when 13 - so lovely like Lorraine welled up when they started singing the old school tunes
Not our faves:
We ADOOOORE DJ EZ and had seen him at wildlife literally 2 months before however at Reading the crowds decided to mosh. Yes mosh. To House and Tech it was vile and most likely because its not over 18 - literally so annoying. This happened a few times in the dance tent and has kinda put us off coming back as it's so annoying when you're loving life, drop is coming and some fools start creating a massive circle then go insane.
 |
| Animals - not going to lie we couldn't stop laughing until DJ EZ refused to continue till they got down. |
Stages
BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage
Jagerhaus Stage - rave in a wooden cabin, decor and visuals was sick however massive queue!
BBC Introducing Stage
Main Stage
Comedy tent - drunk and bewildered Lorraine somehow ended up in the comedy tent which was hilarious bc I just sat there as this guy spit lyrics that I couldn't relate to but i just stayed there trying to focus my vision and chimed in clapping when everyone else did. Not my finest moment however the bar near here was empttttyyyyyy
Overall
We had such a laugh and got to see artists/dj we love for the first time so for that we'll always look back on Reading Fest fondly however there are so many other festivals on our to do list soooo haven't bought tickets this year but would definitely return for the right line-up as its so close to home
xxx
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