Vibes In A Downpour: Reading and Leeds 2026 Review

By Seb Gorlov 

Since the first edition way back in 1961, Reading and Leeds has been known as one of the UK’s most popular festivals, seen by many as a rite of passage, especially for young people and teenagers.

Most of the acts target a young Gen-Z age demographic, with rock, pop and rap music all playing a major part in the lineups over the years. Artists such as Twenty One Pilots, My Chemical Romance, Bring Me The Horizon, Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar have had the honour of headlining the festival.

The festival, which is traditionally held over the August bank holiday weekend in the UK started out in Reading, but artists began to perform in Leeds from 1999. The first headliners at Leeds were Britpop legends The Charlatans, who captivated the crowd at Temple Newsam. Currently, the festival is held at Branham Park in Leeds, and Richfield Avenue in Reading.

“As demand increased in the late 90s, the idea for a northern version of Reading Festival came to fruition. Thus, in 1999, Leeds Festival was born.” (Johnson, Yorkshire Evening Post, 08/12/22).

I attended my first Reading and Leeds Festival in 2025 in Reading, where I saw Bring Me The Horizon deliver a majestic performance as headliners on the Saturday night, alongside acts such as South Arcade, Lambrini Girls, Enter Shikari and Limp Bizkit.

There has always been a discussion around whether Reading and Leeds should play into the history of being a rock festival, but having more diversity among genres is never a bad thing – as proven by festivals abroad, such as Portugal’s famous NOS Alive – last year this event had Olivia Rodrigo and Muse as headliners – or the highly popular Coachella, which happens in California. The latter of these saw pop icon Sabrina Carpenter as a main act this year, alongside the festival’s first Latin headliner Karol G and K-pop group KATSEYE.

Despite this, some people wanted to see different acts this year in contrast to 2025’s metal rock feel and Reading and Leeds delivered. Across the weekend, Charli XCX, Florence and The Machine and RAYE all headlined the festival. I was back at Richfield Avenue for the Saturday (August 29, 2026) and it exceeded expectations.

The weather was inclement and for the majority of the day, artists had to deal with this, but the vibes remained upbeat throughout, even as some fans began to effortlessly glide across the muddy paths.

After an early start getting into the festival site, the first act of my day was the talented trio Say Now, performing in a big tent on the Gallery Stage. The band came up with their name in 2023, a year after their initial formation. Despite only catching a few songs, it was evident that they had a strong stage presence and charisma and were reminiscent of artists like Fifth Harmony or Little Mix. Say Now are ones to watch for the future and definitely made a name for themselves at Reading.

Shortly after this, it was time for the first act on the Grid,  the festival’s main stage that later on, would become packed with eager festival-goers. The opener, Slayyyter drew an enthusiastic audience, despite the fact the downpour had decided to make an early appearance.

As she went through a fantastic set, which mainly consisted of songs from her EP WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, such as high-octane opener “DANCE”, the crowd eagerly sung every word and jumped around in torrential rain, making for one of the day’s most memorable moments. This was a powerful reminder of just how good concert crowds in the UK can be.

Following her was Maisie Peters. The popstar provided a relaxing atmosphere with bursts of energy punctuating throughout, the West Sussex-born singer keeping the crowd entertained with hits such as “Blonde” and “ Lost The Breakup”  the latter from her 2023 album The Good Witch.

Shortly after the Reading crowd were mesmerized by the effervescent nature of Peters, there was a fantastic set from former Little Mix member Jade Thirlwall. Thirlwall, who performs under the moniker JADE since the dissolution of the popular girl group, turned Richfield Avenue into a rave.

Thirlwall has had a solid solo career to this point. Her debut single “Angel Of My Dreams” peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart when it was first released and its popularity was telling, as it got one of the biggest cheers of her set.

The best part of Thirlwall’s performance was probably the fantastic stage design and background visuals, a myriad of lights and bright colours across the stage. However, this might have been rivalled by the decision to treat fans to a medley of Little Mix classics including “Shout Out To My Ex”, “Salute” and “Reggaeton Lento”, each one met with jubilation and excitement.

Throughout her set, she captivated the audience, putting on a show with additional humour, such as during her track “Gossip” where she staged a mock phone call, calling out someone who had been spreading misinformation about her, aligning with the record’s themes. It was refreshing to see how much joy she got from being on the main stage at such a major festival and it was a spot thoroughly deserved.

The rain had cleared by the time her set came to a conclusion and the gap was the perfect chance to go explore some more of the festival site. The amount of vendors and bars has expanded over the years and as someone who appreciates good marketing, I enjoyed seeing the various partnerships the festival has, from Pepsi to Vodafone. There were various discos going on and even another smaller blue and yellow circus tent, which highlights the festival’s atmosphere – the party never ends, even when the artists aren’t performing.

Soon, it was back to the main stage for the three final acts of the day. We started with Sombr, who has had a rapid rise in popularity with tracks like “12 to 12” (which features Addison Rae in its eccentric music video)  “homewrecker” and “back to friends” trending on social media. The popstar performed these and more and although the mud had reached a peak at this point, there was still lots of dancing being done. Looking back and given the state of my shoes, this may not have been the best idea, but it was fun at the time. The crowd provided a cathartic chorus chant of “ How can we go/Back to being friends/ When we just shared a bed/ How can you look at me and pretend/ I’m someone you never met”, whilst Sombr showed his creative flair, using spray paint to make a message about loving Reading to the crowd on a flag, which he then paraded around as those in attendance kept singing.

The sun began to disappear behind the clouds for what was probably the most highly anticipated set of the day. British rapper Dave was last at the festival in 2022. Fresh off his recent tour supporting his album The Boy Who Played The Harp, Dave lit up Reading with a stellar performance full of hits, new songs and deep cuts. He also brought out a host of famous rappers to join him, including Kano, which added a touch of nostalgia to the set.

One of the best songs he performed which had the crowd rapping every word back to him was “Sprinter”, his fantastic collaboration with Central Cee which highlights the duo’s flow and lyrical ability. “We ain’t got generational wealth/ It’s only a year that I’ve had these millions/ My whip could’ve been in the Tokyo Drift ‘cause it’s fast and furious” (“Sprinter”, Sprinter, Dave ft. Central Cee).

Between songs, the crowd were excited to hear his song “Thiago Silva”, a duet with the effervescent AJ Tracey which has been a staple of Dave’s setlists in recent years. Dave closed his show with the fantastic collaboration “Raindance”, a romantic ballad featuring Nigerian singer Tems that ended to raucous cheers from the crowd and a scintillating fireworks display.

Shortly after Dave’s set, it was time for RAYE, the final act of the day and the perfect way to round things off. There was a technical issue with a name sign that wouldn’t light up, but RAYE handled the situation with poise and professionalism, greeting the packed out crowd before launching straight into “Escapism”, which is undeniably one of her biggest hits, fuelled by its creative and catchy lyricism, “Drunk calls, drunk texts, drunk tears, drunk sex/ I was looking for a man who was on the same page” (“Escapism”, My 21st Century Blues, RAYE ft. 070 Shake).

Even though me and my friends had to leave RAYE’s set about 45 minutes in to get home, whilst there we were treated to what felt like a night out on Broadway, from the smartly dressed members of her band to the way RAYE owned the stage, powering through songs including “Worth It” and “Oscar Winning Tears”

Despite the fact we were miles away from Richfield Avenue by the end, we could hear people singing RAYE’s final track “ WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” word for word, and I couldn’t help joining in as I walked down the streets of Reading. This is testament to just how fabulous the record is.

It’s a definite crowd pleaser and an immensely popular song, especially over on social media, which highlights how much Gen-Z resonates with RAYE ( who asked how many people in the crowd were celebrating their GCSE exam results during her set, which prompted a massive cheer).

Overall, the Saturday at Reading 2026 was a fabulous experience which I thought was highly enjoyable throughout. It is a fantastic festival every year and come rain or shine it always delivers, with a multitude of fantastic acts.