Reading Festival close flooded campsites

Parts of the Reading Festival campsite have been abandonded, due to being still waterlogged after the recent floods.

BBC News reports that tther areas may be still “boggy”, fans have been warned.

But the main arena, which will host bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is “fine”, organisers said.

In a message on the festival’s website, organiser Melvin Benn said it had been “a challenge” to recover from the floods, which resulted in waist-high water in some parts of the site a month ago.
“We have recovered to a large extent but not fully and a fair amount of the site is still not campable today,” he told fans.

Most of the camping areas will be open, but some parts will be closed and others will still be soggy.

“The summer has been bloody awful,” Mr Benn said, praising Reading Borough Council, the Environment Agency and the site crew for helping to reduce the river level next to the festival.

“We will be able to stage the world’s greatest rock festival despite what climate change and the weather have thrown at us,” he said.

“I always said the festival was more important than the weather!”

Reading Festival takes place this weekend at Richfield Avenue in Reading, at the same time as Leeds Festival which takes place at Bramham Park, Leeds, with the bands swapping venues over the course of the weekend.

The lineup includes headliners Razorlight, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Smashing Pumpkins.

All tickets have sold out.