Some good news for teenagers … festivals will take place

READING and Leeds festivals, which have been a rite of passage for hardworking students to celebrate the end of their A-levels and GCSES, will go ahead this summer.

Organisers shared the news on Twitter after the twin events – known for their mix of rap, rock and pop – were cancelled last year due to social distancing measures. Now, students who have had to endure online classes and homeschooling, will be able to let their hair down, with the festivals set to take place between Aug 27 and 29.

They are the first major festivals in the UK to announce they will go ahead in 2021 after the Government said on Monday that it hopes to lift all remaining restrictions on social contact by June 21 at the earliest. This would mean larger events can be staged again.

Confirming their 2021 events, the official Reading and Leeds Twitter account posted: “Following the Government’s announcement, we can’t wait to get back to the fields this summer.

LET’S GO.” Reading will return to the Richfield Avenue venue while Leeds will take place in Bramham Park.

Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, Post Malone, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Disclosure and Queens of the Stone Age are all scheduled to headline across the weekend. In January Glastonbury was cancelled for a second successive year after organisers said they had tried to “move heaven and earth” to make it happen. Organisers from the Isle of Wight Festival, scheduled to run from June 17-20, will make an announcement next week on whether the festival will take place this year, after revealing they are “exploring options”.

Greg Parmley, chief executive of Live, a trade body for the live music industry, said the green light from the Reading and Leeds festivals was “a great moment that will give people hope of better times to come”.

But he added that with the Government only committing to provide a week’s notice on the lifting of all restrictions, “for many it will just be too late, and we will see further cancellations”.