Pepsi MAX presents Reading and Leeds Festival have announced major new plans for the on-site festival experience at both shows this summer, with a completely revamped stage layout that marks the biggest staging and arena overhaul in the festival’s 37 year history. This year’s Reading Festival is now SOLD OUT with only remaining Sunday Day Tickets available now at https://www.readingfestival.com/ with final Leeds Festival tickets available at https://www.leedsfestival.com/. 

Synonymous with unforgettable weekends and always looking ahead to pioneer the next chapter in modern culture, this years’ Reading and Leeds Festival will see new stages with their own new identities offering an experience never seen before. These include:

The Grid

The home of the festival’s main stage, The Grid is where iconic headline moments happen. The greatest place to watch live music for the whole of summer, it’s a crowning platform that welcomes the biggest artists on the planet and those leading the way in the here and now. Expect to witness headliners Charli xcx, Fontaines D.C., Dave, Raye, Florence + The Machine and Chase & Status alongside Sombr, Skepta, Role Model, Loyle Carner (Reading only), Blossoms (Leeds only), Declan McKenna, Jade, Maisie Peters, Keo and more soundtracking The Grid this year, with Kasabian making history in Leeds as the first ever Thursday night headliner of Leeds Festival.

The Gallery presented by Budweiser

A brand new stage for 2026, The Gallery is an undercover immersive stage. Innovative LED screen lights and immersive production runs throughout the entire stage. The Gallery is ready to create iconic moments from Josh Baker, Geese, Kneecap, Skye Newman, Kettama and Holly Humberstone amongst others with Gunna, Chris Stussy and Viagra Boys adding to proceedings in Reading whilst Jamie Webster, The K’s and Rose Gray add to the lineup in Leeds. The Warehouse

Previously announced, The Warehouse is a brand-new purpose-built home for dance music with viewing platforms in front and behind the decks, plus huge screen production welcoming special sets from Skepta b2b Prospa, Hybrid Minds, Hedex, Silva Bumpa and Rossi. amongst others. Max Dean goes b2b with Luke Dean as well as Bou, in what will be the first ever custom built, experiential dance stage for Reading and Leeds. 

The Ballroom 

As the name might suggest, for the first-time ever, Reading and Leeds Festival will have a transformed stage complete with unique chandeliers and draping that plays host to artists who are defining and dominating 2026. Mixing together genre, styles and moments – The Ballroom is primed for legendary breakthrough sets from YT, Florence Road, Niko B, Paris Paloma, Bassvictim, Overpass, SPEED, Frost Children, Bleech 9:3, Westside Cowboy, Chloe Qisha, Radio Free Alice, dexter in the newsagent, WHATMORE and Clementine Douglas amongst others. 

The Canopy 

New music has been at the core of Reading and Leeds Festival since the very beginning, and in 2026 The Canopy will usher in a new chapter for new music – with a stage dedicated to festival fans’ next favourite artists. It will play host to the likes of Violet Grohl, Villanelle, December 10, Camille Blackman, Kibo, Finessekid, Cruz Beckham and The Breakers and more. 

The Yard (Reading Only)

The Yard will bring the industrial edge of alternative club culture. Situated in the open-air with shipping containers The Yard this year will offer something completely different to any other stage at the festival. 

These new stages are joined in Leeds Festival by the return of much-loved fan favourites LS23 (lineup for which was revealed last week and sits as one of the most popular late-night destinations) and Piccadilly Circus, with full programming to be revealed in the coming weeks. Leeds Festival sits as the only opportunity for fans to still secure their spot at Reading and Leeds Festival this summer to experience the full weekend’s programming, and ticket buyers are encouraged to purchase now to avoid disappointment. 

Reading Liberal Democrats have written to Thames Valley Police after a residents’ survey identified the anti-social use of e-bikes and e-scooters — and their connection to drug dealing — as the single biggest concern facing local communities.

The survey, carried out earlier this year, received a significant number of responses from residents across Reading. E-bike and e-scooter-related anti-social behaviour topped the list of local concerns, with residents naming specific hotspots across the town.

Liberal Democrat Councillors have written to local Neighbourhood Policing Teams asking how the new Public Spaces Protection Order — introduced by Reading Borough Council and Thames Valley Police in March — is being deployed, and what residents should do to ensure their reports of incidents result in visible action.

The Councillors say they will also be pushing the council for a full breakdown of enforcement activity under the PSPO since it came into force, and to ensure that all Councillors have a proper opportunity to scrutinise its impact.

Cllr James Moore, Liberal Democrat councillor for Tilehurst ward, said: “Residents across Reading were clear. This is affecting their quality of life, and they want to see action. We welcome the PSPO, but we now need to know it is being enforced effectively — and we will keep pushing until we have answers.”

The survey also highlighted other significant priorities for residents across Reading, such as road and pavement repairs. Liberal Democrat councillors say they will be raising each of these issues in turn over the coming months.

Reading Liberal Democrats are calling on the Labour-run Council to explain how much taxpayer money and officer time was spent on a City of Culture bid that collapsed within six days of submission — and why warning signs were ignored before it was submitted.

An investigation by The Reading Reporter has revealed that Reading’s expression of interest for UK City of Culture 2029 was rejected on 18 March, just six days after a planning meeting held in the Council Chamber. The report also reveals that the decision to submit the bid was made close to the deadline, meaning the bid-writing process was rushed. At the same time, competitor towns had spent considerably longer preparing.

Liberal Democrat councillors are questioning why the bid went ahead at all, given that participants at the planning meeting themselves identified significant risks — including “bid failure fatigue” among residents from previous failed bids, the risk of damaging Reading’s cultural sector if unsuccessful, and the likelihood that residents would view it as a waste of money. Those concerns proved well-founded.

The bid also involved the hiring of an external facilitation company, Golden Sankofa, to run the planning meetings — at an as-yet undisclosed cost to the public.

Most strikingly, the bid was pursued at the same time as the Council cut its culture budget from £3 million to just over £2 million — a budget that also has to cover parks, leisure centres and libraries. Reading Liberal Democrats are asking how the Council can justify the time and expense of a high-profile bid while simultaneously reducing the very investment that would have made Reading a more credible candidate.

James Moore, Reading Liberal Democrat Councillor for Tilehurst, said:

“Residents deserve to know how much of their money was spent on a bid that those involved knew was a risk — and that was apparently written in a rush. The warning signs were there before the bid was even submitted, yet the Council pressed ahead anyway.

“At the same time as pursuing this bid, Labour cut Reading’s culture budget. You cannot credibly pitch yourself as a City of Culture to a national panel while cutting the funding that supports culture in your own town.

“We’re not opposed to ambition for Reading. But ambition has to be backed by a plan, proper preparation, and a realistic assessment of whether the time and money involved are justified. This bid had none of those things.

“We are calling on the Council to publish a full account of the costs involved — including any external consultancy fees — and to explain what steps will be taken to ensure public money is not wasted in this way again.”

Reading Liberal Democrats are also noting that a 10-point recovery plan has been produced following the bid’s failure, but that no date has yet been set for the next meeting to take it forward — raising further doubts about whether the Council has a coherent strategy for culture in Reading