The Reading & Leeds Festivals are all set to go for 2022, with part of the line-up ready to be announced next Wednesday (8th December). The dual festivals are one of Britain’s most popular and well-known, with Reading being the world’s oldest popular music festival that’s still in operation today. Without giving too much away, festival director Melvin Benn has said that “three of next year’s six headliners are in place”, describing them simply by saying “some of them have guitars”, and only one of the acts booked have headlined at the event before.
LINEUP COUNTDOWN – Announcement coming on Wednesday!
Final chance to purchase LAST few remaining First Release tickets before price increase, general release tickets and payment plans available from Friday 10th December! Watch this space… pic.twitter.com/0sVyNUSeKy
— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) December 3, 2021
The festivals, which were cancelled back in 2020 due to the pandemic, have seen a whole host of famous names in their line-up, with some of the most influential people in the business appearing on stage. Last year saw host to the likes of Liam Gallagher, Biffy Clyro, Stormzy, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Disclosure and Post Malone.
Despite some cancellations last year due to covid travel restrictions (namely Queens of the Stone Age and Machine Gun Kelly), Benn has said that this year’s line-up will not be influenced by this, pointing out that keeping the festivals relevant in their choices was much more important. NME reported him as saying “What we want to do is book a relevant festival every year, and not just rebook the acts who have cancelled .… We will always intend to be relevant to an incredible audience. We don’t rest on our laurels, we don’t book for the sake of booking, we book for the sake of what works for our audience. The direction moves wherever music goes.“
Despite this, the festivals have on occasion re-used acts that couldn’t make it one year, namely Liam Gallagher and Stormzy’s return as 2021 headliners after being due for the cancelled 2020 event. Also, hopes are high for a certain indie-favourite music group making an appearance. Rumours are up that Arctic Monkeys may be among the set-list, what with having a space in their schedule just around the time of the August bank holiday when the event takes place. They’ve also recently announced their place in a number of European festivals as well as their own headline sets. Primed for a new follow-up to their 2018 album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, hopes are up that they may make Reading & Leeds another part of their activity next year. On this possibility, Benn has stated that “Arctic Monkeys are a law unto themselves and when they decide next to play live is beyond me, if I’m honest”.
For those interested in one of the biggest musical events of the year, tickets are due for general sale next Friday 10th December and both camping and day trip options will be on offer. For those wanting a bit more info about tickets (or just about anything to do with the festivals), you can look at the official website here. So if you have next August 26th-28th free, maybe consider getting yourself a tent and coming down to watch some of your favourite bands back in action!
