Reading Festival at 16...

[asneakysnickers]

Hello
DS has just asked if he can go to Reading Festival.
He will be 16 and just free of GCSE's.
When he was young we went to lots of folk festivals (a bit quieter!) and we went to Reading together a few years ago.
He's a sensible chap and has an assortment of friends, both male and female, who don't know one another.
I'm not worried about him doing anything untoward, but I am worried about other people! Has anyones teen been recently who can allay my concerns?! Thank you

[GreyGardens88]

Too young, he'll be surrounded by drugs and alcohol all weekend

[Bostin]

I guess it would depend on who he is going with.

It’s not one of the family friendly ones though which would concern me.

[JessyJames]

I've just bought my 16 yr old a ticket. He's going with friends, not sure how many yet, no more than 6 in total.

[JuniLoolaPalooza]

Do they still trash the site on the Sunday night? I wouldn't mind them going if they've been before but I'd really worry about the Sunday night thing. I went in 2004 aged 23 and it terrified me.

[asneakysnickers]

Gosh, trashing the place sounds alarming!

[JessyJames]

I have no idea about trashing the site, I last went in 1978!
I will be collecting him soon after the last band finishes.

[becca93]

trashing the place is still a thing, they call it the Sunday riots, they destroy people's tents and basically make it feel horrible. I'm 24 now and went to reading last year, I don't think I'll ever go again. it was full of teenagers showing off how much ketamine they'd taken x

[AtiaoftheJulii]

There will be loads of post-GCSE 16 year olds there. Ds went last year, it was absolutely fine.

[fastfrank]

I started going to heavy metal festivals at 16. No I wasn't involved in riots, no I didn't do any drugs. If your child is sensible he will be fine! Let him go, have a bloody good time and enjoy his youth free of exam worries and all the other teenage shit. He'll thank you for it when he's older. Festival days were the best of my life.

[JuniLoolaPalooza]

If you went to Reading a few years ago OP I'm sure you would've noticed it! When I went there were fire engines on site, explosions the lot. It's horrendous. I think it depends on which campsite you're on. I can't remember the names but I think say Blue & Orange are next to each other and Green is slightly separate so not quite so bad.

[partypooper40]

Good god no. I went a few times to Reading and the drugs and booze were mental. The exploding gas cannisters were the worst thing.

Glastonbury was tame in comparison.

[Mammatron]

I was going to mention the Sunday riots too! Great fun until you get to the Sunday! I’ve been to many festivals and felt safe in all of them except for the Sunday night of reading. I’m not sure how it’s not covered in the media more!

[curtainscalling]

I started going to festivals at 15. I went to reading last year and it was full of kids your DS's age. He will be fine as long as he is sensible. Let him have a good time! You need to let go sometime and you will create a bond of trust and respect between each other

[asneakysnickers]

We didn't see the chaos when we went, we were on day ticket! Blimey - it sounds really frightening.

[JuniLoolaPalooza]

Ah, day tickets is quite a different experience I'd imagine.
If it was me, I'd say fine, but I'd want to pack them up on Sunday morning and pick them up after the last gig or something. Bit of a bastard to be up so late but it was horrible feeling trapped on the campsite just waiting for morning. I don't have teenagers (yet) so don't know if I would when the time comes but a bit of a compromise maybe.

[nc1984]

My daughter and her friends went to Leeds festival at16 - it's seen as a kind of starter festival and loads of post GCSE kids go. No trouble, and they had a great time.

[whichwayisout]

I went to t in the park at 16, was great 😁

[Ploppymoodypants]

Yep Sunday night is scary. When I was there (10 years ago mind!) they had the Sunday riots and people were lighting aerosols and throwing them into the tent area. (Also throwing bottles of wee and worse). There were people asleep in tents which then caught fire! It was scary (and I was a seasoned festival going mid twenties adult with a group of reliable friends). But it was scary and we ended up just literally staying awake on high alert and sitting outside tent in not brilliant weather just waiting for morning so we could safely leave. Glastonbury is by far the best and safest of the big ones for a first time although not on this year.

Day tickets maybe, but camping I think is too young for Leeds or Reading. And to be honest they are not that nice as festivals go. C commercial, arena sytle where you camp and then go into arena for music and get ripped off £££ for drinks after massive ques.

I would find a friendly, smaller local one with a happy chilled vibe. But obviously you won’t get the big mainstream headliners. So depends whether he wants Festival experience or the big bands.

Either way home he has lots of fun and stays safe.

[ArbitraryName]

I went to reading at 16. Some of my friends went the year before too. We were all fine. We had to travel down from Glasgow on the train. It was all quite an adventure.

I don’t remember any site trashing. Or anything much untoward happening.

[ArbitraryName]

When did the site trashing start?

I honestly have no memory of any such thing in the late 90s.

[abitwrong123]

Ďd16 went to reading last year. It's actually fine as long as they read up on which campsite to stay in. Some are rowdy, others not so bad at all. I was really apprehensive about it but she was completely fine. As long as they are in a group of friends who will look out for each other it's really not so bad as the stories. I have been in my younger days and it is better organised now and probably slightly tamer. She had to text me every day to let me know she was ok, she stank to high heaven when she got home but other than that there were no issues.

[thepatchworkcat]

I used to go to Leeds a lot which is the sister festival to Reading and also had scary experiences on the last night with people setting fire to tents, gas canisters, generally trashing the camp sites. Have to say it seemed like the younger people doing it to be honest though! (I was late 20s last time I went and I felt too old ). I don’t have a 16 year old but if I did I’m not sure I’d say yes tbh.

[NickMyLipple]

I started going to Reading when I was 16. I remember it being amazing for the first couple of years, but the riots on Sunday became extremely dangerous for everyone - there were gas canisters in fires, tents set alight with people in them and full on stampedes.

I would not be letting my 16 year old go, that's for sure.

I would consider a different festival though with a different vibe - Glastonbury, Isle of Wight and V Fest would be much more preferable for me.

[JuniLoolaPalooza]

Arbitrary I went in 2004 and it seemed it was quite standard to trash the site by then, but the levels of fires etc seems to get worse each year. I remember walking out at 9am to avoid the queues and the whole site was just fumes from where they'd been burning the portoloos. Our tent was almost burned by people lighting a fire next to it and throwing canisters on.