Sunday 7:25pm
They still haven’t shut the gates. Severe tactical misjudgement on our part! This is going to call for churros or brownies between Florence and Kneecap.
Sunday 7:05pm
Maybe Stockholm Syndrome needs reinstating as a thing, after fifty-five minutes we were kind-of enjoying Role Model. Of course there is precisely zero pushing going on at the gates as Florence fans are fantastic. Not that Dave fans aren’t, just that he attracts the “o Thiago Silva” chanting teenage boys as much as the hip-hop sophisticates.
Much like the Pink Pony Club last year we are enjoying the injection of colour that the Florence + The Machine fans have bought to the festival today.
Another fifty minutes to kill before Florence. Come back Sweary Country Bob.
Sunday 6:30pm
Sweary Country Bob is now letting some girls in the front row help him with the vocals. This is fast turning into a horror movie.
Sunday 6:20pm
Chris Stassy is pulling a massive crowd over at The Gallery. It suggests the The Kidz might all be at Kettama later and leave Florence to the grownups.
Kilu were well worth a look. Though don’t tell them we were mostly there to grab a good spot for Violet Grohl.
Even recovering from laryngitis it wasn’t even close. Violet Grohl delivered a savage first round knockout punch in the Battle Of The CaNEPOpy Babies. She has a serious band assembled around her and I am sure we will be seeing more of Violet Grohl at Reading Festival. There is a TikTok slowly uploading, but we were in such a dash it probably got messed up and will need fixing several hours after its chance to go vaguely viral has been missed. Such is life.
We are now stuck listening to Sweary Country Bob, or whoever it is on The Grid right now, as we have no desire getting crushed in the build up to Florence + The Machine as we were trying to get into the front section for Dave last night.
Sunday 3:55pm
Julia Wolf was great, sweetly blown away by the size of the crowd at The Gallery, which was big.
Reading Festival finally got one of the defining moments of Reading Festival 2025 a whole one year late, as Lola Young showed up. A lot to unpack from that set.
Big shout out to Mat for the donation to the tea fund! Glad you have enjoyed the coverage.
Sunday 2:30pm
We got held up and missed Raynor supporting Master Peace at The Facebar in June, so it was lush to catch a proper set here. Great guitar sound and a really nice guy as well.
Defining best new band as any band in the UK with one album or less, we are calling it – Westside Cowboy are THE BEST NEW BAND in the country. They just capped their brilliant year with one of the sets of the weekend. They have gone up a gear even since we last saw them. Wow. Wow. Wow
Sunday 12:50
We were going to move on but these soulful vibes are a great way to start Sunday!
Sunday 12:35pm
Amazing start to the day with Alex Spencer, including a backflip to finish on. 20 minutes was too short.
Down for 54 Ultra out of curiosity. Never seen a smaller audience for a main stage act at Reading. Festival Republic got so much right this year, this booking seems to have missed the mark though.
Sunday 9:30am
Wow, what a great day yesterday. Today we are soooo looking forward to Florence + The Machine. Chase and Status versus Kneecap versus Paris Paloma is our least favourite clash of the whole festival. We are probably going to Kneecap but will have FOMO whatever we do. Holly Humberstone and Westside Cowboy clashing also sucks.
The weather has been the great unknown all weekend. It was surprisingly dry yesterday evening. The forecast today looks much improved, but expect at least light showers on and off at a few points. If it stays dry long enough the mud shouldn’t be an issue as it will flatten down even more than it was doing last night. Any significant rain and it will be very slippy, so watch out.
At Leeds there have been even more issues with The Warehouse than at Reading. Great idea, clearly needs a bit of a rethink ahead of next year.
Saturday 11:45pm
And then Kano and Central Cee!!!! But there was no phone signal. The Boy Who Played The Harp was incredible. Dave was incredible.
And then Raye came out and was also brilliant. What an evening. Reading 2.0 is fizzing now.
Saturday 8:23pm
James Blake is in the house!
Saturday 7:45pm
Apparently Victoria Beckham was there as well earlier!
Watched the start of Frost Children, imsane levels of bass, high energy fun from the American duo. Left to catch most of Sombr’s set. He has star quality. Risked getting crushed to death to get into the front pit for Dave… We made it and apparently nothing got broken! The sun is shining and we can already see the harp on stage!
Saturday 5:40pm
Snayx are on site, but sadly not for a secret set.
We really wanted to watch Seb Lowe, but were afraid of turning up late to bar italia if it started raining again, so got down in good time. Some bands are just so cool it should probably be illegal and bar italia are definitely one of those.
Jade is just finishing her set on The Grid and sounding great.
Saturday 4:20pm
Apparently there is a huge crossover between Kingfishr fans and Reading Festival attendees as The Gallery was very, very busy! A lot more than when we were front and centre in The Festival Republic Tent a few years ago! No surprise really, they make great music, even if they do throw a few clichés in.
Saturday 3:40pm
Poor Cruz Beckham, you just want to play guitar on stage but your famous Dad wants to support you and is on the side watching- and large parts of the crowd are losing their minds over it! They might be quite decent if they play a hundred or so pub gigs to get the hang of it.
Saturday 3:10pm
Big crowd for Cruz Beckham And The Breakers already! I don’t think they are just taking shelter from the light rain!!!
Saturday 2:50pm
Confirmation that the stabbing story was utter nonsense.
Of course the mild weather changed the absolute second Absolutely started her set and the heavens dropped a monster deluge. She and the crowd didn’t let it affect them though, a true professional.
Slayyyter performed to a crowd nowhere near as big as it ought to be. You suspect by the time she returns to the UK she will be an absolute mega-star. Whilst it is pop, it has a monstrous punk energy edge to it. Those in the know loved it, even when that rain came back again. THAT was a Main Stage set. Serious early Lady GaGa vibes, her band look like a proper rock band and have that sort of energy. If you are on site and weren’t there you definitely missed one there.
Saturday 11:00am
It is Raye and Dave today! Don’t forget the boots or wellies.
Friday 11:55pm
Wow, somehow the rain stayed clear of the headliners. Areas of the site are already close to being a bog though, so if coming for the day on Sunday wellies are going to be essential.
Fontaines D.C. went down well with the crowd that was there for them. They went on over 20 minutes late, I don’t think it affected the set as they were allowed to go on to 11:40pm.
Great vibes across the live music side of the site all day, great atmospheres in all the audiences. We go again tomorrow!!
Apparently The Warehouse was shut down and some sets were cancelled/cut short. There are several conflicting stories as to why. A number of people report it was crushing up due to the in and out flow not working properly. I have seen a couple of reports that there was a fight which may or may not have included a bladed weapon, however there is nothing official and no further corroboration, so I would take it with a pinch of salt for now.
Friday 9:35pm
Charli XCX put on quite the show. Both style, substance, sometimes style over substance and sometimes substance over style. It was her film, her direction and we were invited to watch. It was a moment, and likely one if the biggest talking points of the festival.
Just waiting for Fontaines now.
Radio Free Alice have had to pull out of their Silent Disco slot.
Friday 7:15pm
The rain is coming and going in dramatic bursts, such a big downfall earlier that it was finding small gaps to come through in The Gallery during Geese. Don’t stand near the big tent posts if you want to keep dry! Geese were neither The Emperor’s New Clothes or The Second Coming. Having listened to the albums for a while and now seen them, we are still at a loss as to quite what they are. Simply Geese. Uniquish Geese in a world full of ducks.
Villanelle were memorable for all the wrong reasons. Gene Gallagher looks set to lose the battle of the CaNEPOpy Babies this weekend!
Friday 4:15pm
Big Secret Set news on our Secret Set blog!!!
Friday 2:55pm
Have we just had the set of the weekend? Royal Blood delivered a phenomenally stacked set in The Gallery. By far the cleanest sound of everyone we have heard so far.
Have Festival Republic finally cracked the formula? The Warehouse hit capacity early on and there is a wait time of about an hour to get in! Luuk Van Dijk cannot perform due to travel issues, Dean Turnley is stepping in.
Friday 1:30pm
Jamie T did exactly what you wanted, getting the party started with a big sing-along of his hits.
Absolute scenes at Bleech 9:3 The Ballroom was rammed ten minutes before it started. How wild was it? I am not sure Festival Republic expected shoes and boots to be hitting the lovely chandeliers they have installed!
Friday 12:05pm
Wow, the arena site looks so different this year! No dust or mud yet. The Gallery is a big improvement design wise on The Chevron from last year. Split into sections properly so no chance of a crush like last year. Big screens just outside as well. The Warehouse is equally as big. The Yard is a bit of grass fenced off by crates. The Canopy is right by the main entrance to the arena.
Here comes Jamie T!!!
Friday 10:00am
What a night at The Purple Turtle with The Amazons!!! It does mean we haven’t had a chance to look at the new arena layout yet, on our way shortly.
A sunny start is likely to give way to an afternoon and evening of light showers, cloud and bursts of sunshine.
Today has so much going on, definitely our favourite line-up of the three days. Charli XCX and Fontaines D.C. are your headliners. The line-up is hugely bolstered by the not-so-secret sets from Jamie T and Royal Blood, it has really changed what we were planning on seeing. Don’t miss the set from Bleech 9:3, one of the best new bands around if you like the idea of a bit of alt-grunge.
Thursday 6:50pm
Standing in the queue for The Amazons Secret Set at The Purple Turtle for 45 minutes now. Must be some serious sound checking going on! Let us in!!!!!
Thursday 6:05pm
It is relatively quiet out and about round Reading, clearly most locals have remembered to keep clear after this morning.
There is quite a bit of mud on the way into the wristband exchanges already, wellies are looking useful by Sunday.
We have Secret Set news! Check out the Secret Set blog.
Thursday 2:15pm
Of course five minutes after praising the weather the first rumbles of thunder were heard!
Fingers crossed Violet Grohl is okay to perform at Leeds and Reading. The young star has cancelled three performances in the last week after contracting laryngitis.
Thursday 1:00pm
Free campsite areas closer to the arena are filling up now. Traffic was really bad around Richfield Avenue during the morning rush hour. Avoid driving past the festival entrances around the afternoon rush hour, unless you want to be stuck in traffic for over an hour. You may well beat the shuttle buses from the station by walking between 4:30 and 6:30pm. So far the rain has been nowhere near as bad as expected but the weekend forecast is worsening again.
Thursday 8:00am
The campsites are now open to everyone who didn’t have early entry. The rain is most definitely here and thunder storms are a possibility for much of the day. Traffic was okay coming into Reading yesterday, but will be busier today.
Wednesday 10:15pm
Plenty of people now settled into the campsites, but still loads of room for arrivals tomorrow. Our Secret Set page is now up and running, to be added to whenever we get any news. I think we are going to be missing the good old BBC Introducing chalk board!
Wednesday 6:15pm
Early entry camping is now officially open, having been unofficially open since a bit after midday. Security checks look more rigorous than last year. If you are selected for a more in-depth search then you may be stuck in the queue a while, one person was waiting about an hour to be seen and processed.
Don’t forget any tickets, and valid railcards for your tickets, for arrival at Reading Train Station. Extra security and spot checks are in place.
The possible thunderstorms have not materialised yet today, but may still show up tomorrow morning,
Wednesday 10:00am
Early entry ticket holders can access the campsite from 6pm today. Everybody else can go in from 8am tomorrow. For the second year in a row the campsites have had some major upgrades, so we would love to hear about any experiences of what the different areas are like.
Following on from a couple of very dry Reading Festivals, it looks like we are getting a lot more rain this year. The forecast does not look as bad as it did a week ago, but Thursday looks particularly wet, so if arriving early to camp be prepared. Saturday currently looks like the wettest of the live music days with light showers possible for a lot of Friday and Sunday. Given how dry it has been, the rain will hopefully save us from the horrible dust that affected last year. Will the rain be bad enough to make mud a concern? We will see. Basically, bring coats, bring sun hats, bring decent boots and maybe wellies.
There are some Wi-Fi hubs around the campsites and near a couple of the bars:
Wi-Fi hubs:
- 5 x Campsite Hubs in The Fields Campsites
- 1 x The Glades (Accessibility Campsite)
- 1 x Orchard (Premium) – VIP Nation
- 1 x Lotus (Boutique) – VIP Nation
- 1 x The Lounge
- 1 x Street Feast / Tap House
- 1 x seating by Bar 4
STEP 1: Open on your phone connect to WI-FI settings
STEP 2: Choose “READING FREE-WIFI” network
STEP 3: Add your email and click submit
A couple of updates from Reading Festival about White Car Park and camping stoves.
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