Footage has been posted of huge amounts of tents being left behind at this year’s Reading festival following heavy rain.
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Acclaimed drone videographer the Big Ladder Photographer – real name Chris Gorman – shared the aerial before and after footage of Little John’s Farm on Richfield Avenue showed a swath of masses of tents strewn across many fields on site along with rubbish left behind following heavy downpours throughout the weekend, despite calls from organisers for fans to take their tents home ahead of this year’s bash.
The closing night in particular saw a torrential downpour during Florence + The Machine’s headline set and then further heavy showers in the early hours of Monday morning – prompting many festival-goers to abandon their camping gear.
According to official guidance ahead of the festival: “A typical tent contains the equivalent of around 8,750 plastic straws or 250 plastic pint cups. A tent left for general waste emits the same amount of CO2 as driving a petrol car for over 100miles.
As an incentive the festival’s Take It Home Rewards awarded fans a voucher for Co-op when they showed their packed up tent to the campsite team, ready to be taken home.
Organisers also made an environmental commitment with a particular focus on The Campsite Clearance Commitment pledge which was described as a “brand new initiative implemented at both festival sites which commits to the Festival Campsites being cleared and returned to their natural state within two weeks following the festival”.
Litter picking volunteers were also present on both Reading & Leeds sites while new campsite Repariums stalls focused on “extending the lifespan of campsite gear by fixing items rather than allowing them to be discarded” with festivalgoers urged to “bring broken or damaged items to the hub to be fixed by a group of volunteers, including campsite gear and clothing”.
All drinks from bars and food vendors were also served in aluminium cans, paper cups, or recyclable tetrapak.
Fans were also urged to flush only toilet paper, pee and poo – down the loos this year after Thames Water said workers found everything from wet wipes and clothing to tents and camping chairs in festival toilets last year, according to BBC News.
Throughout the weekend fans had to brave downpours of rain as the likes of Florence + The Machine, Charli XCX, Fontaines D. C., Dave, RAYE and Chase & Status performed alongside Skepta, Sombr, Role Model, JADE, Kneecap, Geese, Skye Newman, Holly Humberstone, Gurriers, Westside Cowboy, Declan McKenna, Maisie Peters, Paris Paloma, Overpass and Duke Dumont.
Chase & Status brought Reading 2026 to a close with a star-studded headline set on Sunday night (August 30).
The UK production duo were the final act on the festival’s main stage – now known as The Grid – at Little John’s Farm, following on from co-headliner Florence + The Machine.
They were joined by ArrDee for ‘Liquor & Cigarettes’, NADIAH for ‘Count On Me’, D Double E for ‘Levels’ and Novelist for ‘NRG’ in the first half of their set, which took place against a torrential downpour for the Reading crowd.
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