From Main Stage Anthems to TikTok Takeovers: What Will Crown Reading & Leeds 2025?

There’s a unique kind of electricity that surrounds the Reading & Leeds announcement each year. It’s a forecast of the cultural weather for the August Bank Holiday, and for 2025, it’s predicting a beautiful storm. When I saw that the theatrical pop coronation of Chappell Roan would share a weekend with the profound, earthy force of Hozier, I knew this year was different. The addition of over 80 new artists, including Leigh-Anne and Brittany Broski, only confirms it: this is a festival that is deeply invested in the beautiful, contradictory, and utterly fascinating chaos of right now.

Reading Festival 2024 (Photo Credit: Luke Dyson)

The top line of this festival is a masterstroke of beautiful contradictions. The decision to place the ferocious, genre-defining metal of Bring Me The Horizon in the same ecosystem as the theatrical, queer-coded pop coronation of Chappell Roan is a booking strategy that trusts its audience to contain multitudes. It understands that the modern music fan is not a monolith; they are capable of appreciating both a visceral mosh pit and a heartfelt ballad within the same weekend.

Beyond the titans, the new additions offer a compelling roadmap for the future. The booking of Leigh-Anne is a significant investment in a formidable British artist embarking on her solo career. She is joined by a rich portfolio of future-facing acts, from the record-breaking pop success of Skye Newman to the genre-obliterating indie rock of Bartees Strange.

The festival is also making strategic bets across the board. The Main Stage gets a dose of Houston emo-pop from Waterparks, while the pioneering Chevron Stage pairs a prolific dance hit-maker like Charlotte Plank with the woozy, sun-drenched soundscapes of Still Woozy. For those looking for the next wave of indie, the bill is stacked with talent like Overpass, Nxdia, and The Pill, while the booking of Chloe Qisha for a headline set on the Festival Republic Stage feels like a deliberate preview of future main stage glory.

Bring Me The Horizon at Reading Festival 2022 (Photo Credit: James Bridle)

Reading & Leeds 2025 (Courtesy of Reading & Leeds Festival)

For me, the most telling evolution is the festival’s investment in culture beyond the traditional band structure. The expansion of The Aux Stage confirms that Reading & Leeds views digital creators as headliners in their own right. Securing internet royalty Brittany Broski for her debut festival shows, and placing her alongside UK podcast titans JaackMaate’s Happy Hour and Old & Bald, is a deep acknowledgment of where cultural currency is actually minted in 2025.

Similarly, the introduction of two new dedicated electronic stages. The Smirnoff Stage (Reading) and Reload Stage (Leeds) is a long-overdue and brilliant move. It elevates the after-dark experience from a sideshow to a core offering, creating vital infrastructure for the UK’s vibrant underground with DJs like Riordan and DJ Semtex. It is a sign that the festival is finally embracing a 24-hour cultural cycle.

Leeds Festival 2024 (Photo Credit: Sam McMahon)

Festival fashion is a language, and Reading & Leeds speaks a dialect all its own. Forget the polished, boho-chic of Coachella. The R&L aesthetic is grittier, more eclectic, and brilliantly weather-dependent.
It is a pragmatic yet creative blend of bucket hats, vintage football shirts, oversized band tees, and durable boots, all accessorised with a high probability of rain-induced glitter-smudging.

This year, I predict a fascinating clash of styles. Expect to see the theatrical, glam-camp energy inspired by Chappell Roan‘s fanbase alongside the distinct streetwear influence of Travis Scott‘s followers. It’s a space where individual expression and communal trends collide in a vibrant, chaotic, and uniquely British way.

Skrillex at Reading Festival 2024 (Photo Credit: Luke Dyson)

Reading & Leeds have made significant strides in addressing the less glamorous side of festival life. This year marks a historic overhaul of the festival’s camping offering. Five new, distinct campsites have been introduced, each designed to improve the overall experience with a strong focus on sustainability, safety, and creating more inclusive communities. This includes initiatives aimed at creating more inclusive spaces and reducing the environmental footprint of the event. It’s a welcome and necessary evolution, acknowledging that a modern festival’s responsibility extends far beyond the music itself. You can find more details on the new campsites for Reading and Leeds here.

Reading Festival 2024 (Photo Credit: Luke Dyson)

To understand where a festival is going, it helps to know where it’s been. Last year, I had the privilege of covering the festival, and I described the experience as a “vibrant, chaotic snapshot of youth culture.” It was a weekend of both hedonistic release and surprising intimacy, a theme that seems poised to continue with this year’s even more eclectic lineup.

Reading Festival 2024 (Photo Credit: Luke Dyson)

First things first: getting in. Tickets for both Reading and Leeds are on sale now and, as always, moving fast. While prices fluctuate based on tier, you can expect to invest around £115 for a day ticket and in the region of £325 for a full weekend pass, plus the inevitable booking fees. Given the sheer volume of world-class artists on offer, it remains one of the better value propositions in a very expensive festival market.

You can secure your spot at the official links below:

• Reading Tickets

• Leeds Tickets

Reading & Leeds 2025 is shaping up to be more than a collection of great artists. It’s a place where one can witness a rock god, a pop icon, and a TikTok creator hold equal weight, and that feels authentically like 2025. It’s this blend of high art, hilarious hedonism, and forward-thinking cultural curation that makes the festival an essential event to cover, deconstruct, and understand. I, for one, can’t wait to get back into the beautiful madness to make sense of it all.

Lana Del Rey at Reading Festival 2024 (Photo Credit: Mateusz Niesmialek)