Reading Festival - the teen is going how bad is it

[SouthWestmom]

Ok ds is going with three mates and taking tents (two in each).

They've bought weekend tickets.

I'm trying to persuade him to get some gold toilet and shower package but he won't unless they all do 'and they won't sell out'

Do they pay for a camp space? Pitch?

How violent is it? If at all?

I listen to it from my back garden.

AFAIK violence isn't an issue, but I've never been (as I can hear it from my garden. I'm not offering that to your teen though. Sorry )

If it's like the festivals I have been to the camping space is included in the price of the weekend ticket.

Thank you. Maybe you could be his emergency contact 😂
We have the Rambling Man one near my mum - full of mainly middle aged people and not comparable

Camping space included in price of ticket and really not worth paying for the "golden throne". Spend the money on phone charge instead.
Orange zone is pretty bumptious and good fun, yellow right next to the arena, red fills quickly as close to the shops, green is quite chill, purple busy, brown quiet, white actually in another county

They won't have an allocated "pitch" you just find a space and pop your tent up in between everyone else's - they'll want to arrive as early as they reasonably can to get spots together I'd have thought

They don't need to pay for camp pitch. They'll want to get there early to get the space closest to the arena. It used to be violent when I went back in the late 90s but a friend of mine who works as security there every year says its nowhere near as bad as it used to be. A lot younger crowd with lots of teens, not quite the rock festival it used to to be. You can't take food/drink into the main arena (where the music is) which makes people neck as much alcohol as possible before heading in and getting really drunk quite quickly in the process. I'd be surprised if under 18 were to get served at the bar since the tightening of the law but its easy to get hold of alcohol and probably drugs elsewhere on site.

@Noeuf I spy a business in the making! I'll charge parents to be their DCs emergency contact for the weekend

It's messy that's all I can say.... showers won't be on the agenda and the rent probably won't return 😂

Tent !

My 16 year old DS is going too , I'm having small kittens yet everyone else around me ( inc my protective DH and my Mum) think it's a great idea! So I'm just grumbling away to myself.

He's sensible, can't imagine him to be the type to do drugs etc . It's the girls that worry me...

So I'm just going to loiter here awaiting tips from other posters..

I also live very close !
It’s fine

Like every other festival they need to be sensible and look out for each other
Can’t remember any serious crime happening
And there’s all sorts of charity / church Groups there as well as the paid Marshall’s
So if help is needed it’s available

You turn up and find somewhere to camp.

Violence isn't so big but general dick heads are there ( although these are mostly the teens who are unattended for the weekend)

Under 18s will have a u18 wristband so cant get served alcohol on site and I recall large quantities being confiscated from the campsite too.

I tend to put up a tent but don't stay there because of all the teens there. But I'm local. I use my tent to store beer and have tactical naps.

Whatever else they do, TAKE ALL CARDS AND PHONE AND ANYTHING THAT WOULD MAKE LIFE HORRIBLE IF IT WAS LOST WITH YOU.

Rant over.

oh they'll just arrive and pitch where they can
I doubt they will use the showers, and the fancy loo package would probably be wasted on them.
I went to Reading when I was 16 and we all walked into town and used the bogs in M&S...

My DS has been last two years. Tent doesn't come home, they don't shower and are very smelly.

My DS says there are lots of drugs and drunk young teens. He has a medical condition that prevents him over indulging, so may mean he notices more.

He always seems to come back in one piece, full of cold, tired and smelly.

@Dazedandconfused10 a literal beer tent
Am I the only local who has never been?

Sorry that's not 100% clear... If it would make your life more complicated because it has gone missing due to an utter toerag grabbing a bag running and then checking it and only keeping the cash and chucking the unwanted remnants over a hedge.... take your cards, diary, important medication, anything else that will make your life unnecessarily more difficult, with you.

It’ll be fine
If you’re really worried you can make sure he knows we’re the medical and help tents are
And there’s normally some quiet space in those tents if anyone’s had a bit too much fun

Stick with his mates
Don’t spend money on the toilets etc And no one will bother showering.
It’s all going to be dirty and disgusting and a very good experience for him
Part of growing up I reckon!

Do spend money on the phone chargers though!
Don’t take anything valuable and the last nights normally the worst and most feral but still not so bad

Never really seen much violence or serious problems
Just kids being stupid

Assume he wouldn’t tell you anyway, but most of the drugs there will be crap and mixed with stuff he doesn’t want to take. Best to advise against it, and just take enough beer money.
Obviously some always will do it, but it just seems to be a slightly higher risk there (at all festivals really)

I always thought Leeds and reading were a younger more mainstream crowd anyway
It’s just a bunch of kids wanting to have a festival experience really
Try not to worry too much

Not Reading but my son goes to Leeds and they stay off site, they found a lovely Air B&B last year which they've already booked ready for this year. They said that they've walked through a camping area on the way in and it was grim.

Pretty sure my DS went in white field which was ages away from the stage, but no queues for the showers and fairly quiet at night. No issues with violence.

Argh still haven't made it clear... everything really important goes with you and IS NOT LEFT IN THE TENT.

This rule works at all festivals including the one I've just booked for us Grannies ... Green Man woo hoo!

Gosh thank you, come back to some really reassuring replies. He's not wrapped in cotton wool but it's the first unsupervised away from home thing. Plus he is still at the teenage macho bloke stage where he might not back down if someone bumped into him or was rude and could end up being hurt.

I'm not too worried about drugs, naive mother that I am. I know some of his friends smoke whatever we used to call weed/hash back in the day but so far no signs and not the ones he's going with.

I'm just very worried about fights, alcohol poisoning, being attacked etc.

Sounds like they need to get there early to avoid white!

I think they've bought early access passes?

Porpentina - tenner to charge their phone back up, tenner to be an emergency contact (per 24 hours), etc etc 😂

Minnie if those bum bags as shoulder bags are still in fashion then I promise to tell him to keep everything in it

I'd also suggest getting him to put his sim in an old handset and leaving the one he actually likes at home so it's not as much of a disaster if it goes missing - and perhaps making sure he and his mates have each other's parents phone numbers in their phones in case one of them loses a phone they can still sort themselves out

@PorpentinaScamander the best beer tent on the site as no queues!

I dont think I'm going this year but I did go last year