Sunday night Reading festival nightmare - do they even care?

[itsallabittiring]

I wanted to ask about the experience people had on Sunday night in the campsites. My daughter, who is 18 and fairly streetwise, said it was absolutely terrifying as people were going round blowing tents up using aerosols. There was also a massive fight right next to them and then a stampede of people trampled over her tent. They seriously feared for their lives. Until then they had had quite a good time, although some men camping nearby had been threatening on and off so they felt a bit unsafe at times.
Security guards were next to useless apparently and a few of them were apparently clearly on drugs and were asking people for 'Ket'.
It literally sounded like the most unsafe place you could probably think of - they had to take it in turns to stay up and not sleep to try and stop themselves getting blown up. She said it felt so out of control and everyone was drugged up and didn't care.
I would seriously think twice if you think your 16- 18 year old could cope with that. I know my daughter and her friends will never, ever go back. I think it is pretty appalling how scenes like that are allowed to happen. If your teen does insist on going maybe ensure they aren't there for Sunday night which is when it all really kicks off in a nasty way.

I am really shocked reading this. So sorry for all the young people who ended up having frightening experiences. I had a friend who used to go to Reading Festival, but she stayed with family there and didn't camp, which is possibly how shes never mentioned this. Im not a fan of outdoor venues, so fortunately have never experienced the horrors being described here. I do know a few youngsters that stopped attending T in the Park because the drug taking and fighting got so bad. I just cannot get over the amount of people who take drugs nowadays. It seems to be everywhere. Regarding gang rapes if nothing is done about this, sadly, I think sexual predators will make music festivals the place to go. For their own sinister purposes. The police need to be sending in plainclothes and investigating all that has been described on this board. Mind you if these same incidents were happening in a pub, it would lose it's licence.

Reading has had a rep for being a bit rough for years unfortunately. The organisers do have a responsibility to get some decent security though. It’s not really enough to just fill it with volunteers after a free ticket. I’d also question the bag searching process. There must be sniffer dogs etc at the entrance so how does so much get through? How has it become normalised that tents might be put on fire etc?

I did Glastonbury and enjoyed it but found it quite overwhelming as someone in their 20’s. I don’t think the big festivals are the best place for young teens.

So glad my DS decided not to this year

I had no idea

someone will definitely get seriously injured or burnt alive at some point
Are you going to report it to the police or HSE or someone or do they not care?

@beboopbadoop

Plus if you think reading is bad, don't let them go to Boomtown!

I was apprehensive about stewarding Boomtown but it seemed totally fine to me although I was mostly on stages and only had one shift in a campsite (fire towers have a great view there!). The main thing I had to deal with was lots of public urination! A few people have mentioned Beautiful Days which I love and is one of my favourite festivals too but it’s also the only one where I’ve been offered drugs on shift and the only one where someone tried dealing drugs right in front of me. There are drugs at every festival.

I showed this thread to DD this morning (she left on the Sunday night as per my post above).

She said security was a joke. They are 100% there for the free pass and she said they were all opening smoking weed and taking pills.

I am very tempted to share this thread with Reading local press.

the only time i camped there it pissed down all weekend and was a quagmire, so some of this stuff was negated, but it IS a very young festival. The other time I went, we managed to book early and get a hotel in Reading, but that was also a pain in the arse to get to in the middle of the night.
Also the only festival where security approached us whilst just chilling sitting watching a band because dp was smoking a rolly and they wanted to check him for cannabis I hardly think the cannabis smokers are the trouble makers.

There are some lovely festivals out there that are much better for a teenagers first festival experience tbh, and quite honestly, I think 16 year olds can do all sorts of things alone, but I would probably think an adult who can do some light supervision for safety reasons would be better.
If not, then I think in every camping area there are vantage points where security are, near exits and entrances and also often in other parts, and it is worth trying to camp near them if you want people to be a bit better behaved, or camp in one of the camping areas thats a bit further back and more of a walk to the main arena, as would certainly be less lively.

@DrHildegardeLanstrom HSE have overiding control on all HSE incidents or near misses, of which this does sound like there were many.

@CatMandarin I have emailed Reading festival on their generic email but don't expect I will hear back. It really does seem they expect this to happen and judging by the type of security they hire they are obviously in it just for the money, mainly from naive teens (or their parents)..
I'm not sure who else to contact; my daughter would hate to make a huge fuss publicly about it and be named etc. despite the horrific night they had. She's moved on and seems unscarred by the whole thing, which is great, it's me who's really furious/shocked and I genuinely wanted to warn other parents about this as I wasn't previously aware.
I did find out she was in yellow camp somewhere and she said it seemed to be mainly all happening in their part of the campsite and she had heard that it wasn't so bad at all in others. Still doesn't make it right though.

@Bunnycat101 My daughter didn't have her bags checked, although some did.....

What a shame. I do know lots of ds's friends that went this year.

@MrsFlinch

I had absolutely no idea this kind of thing went on! Dd 18, wanted to go last year but I put my foot down as I didn’t think she was ready for it. She had planned to go this year although I still wasn’t keen for her to go I couldn’t really stop her but thankfully she couldn’t afford it. I’m relieved now that she ‘didn’t’ go after reading this thread,I’m not sure she’d have coped!

If she wants to do a festival next year ill definitely be discouraging Reading or Leeds!

I don't think its a 'starter festival' if you are camping. Its absoluetely fine if you have day tickets.

I wouldn't stop older teenagers going completely - including girls. It is a real life experience and brilliant fun. The first time I went to Reading I was 19 or 20.

I would say, its best to go with a large group of around 12 minimum - who are fairly street wise / sensible.

I genuinely had a good time and didn't have any trouble at all. It was just the atmosphere - its more lager lout than hippy compared to other festivals. Its definitely in part because its the easiest festival to get to via public transport and is in a town. (also see Leeds). I also think that there is a lot to be said for leaving late on Sunday night anyway as its the last night thats worst.

I would say V is probably the one to start with camping as Glasto is just so enormous and overwhelming in its own way. But I would say going to a large outdoor one day gig / festival first before camping when 15/16/17 is the way to go.

@SnotandBothered Just read your previous post; pleased your sensible daughter got out of there whilst she could and avoided a terrible night.
I totally agree - it is an absolute disgrace.
I really hope people vote with their feet and just veto it - why should they get people's hard-earned money when they clearly couldn't care less about young people's or anyone's welfare?

i remember as well that a lot of people decided that it was "cheap" to take your stuff home with you, and would buy a tent, and then leave it behind and then mock the idea of people going and seeing if they could salvage stuff and they would do stuff like do a shit in their tent, then leave it behind. Grim.

[quote Fishocado]@DrHildegardeLanstrom HSE have overiding control on all HSE incidents or near misses, of which this does sound like there were many.[/quote]
They really don't. This is a leisure activity as defined in schedule 1 para 9 of the appropriate legislation
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/494/schedule/1/made

Also the LA issue the licence for the event which will probably be a better angle for a complaint

@Branleuse

i remember as well that a lot of people decided that it was "cheap" to take your stuff home with you, and would buy a tent, and then leave it behind and then mock the idea of people going and seeing if they could salvage stuff and they would do stuff like do a shit in their tent, then leave it behind. Grim.

Yup, everyone left their tents and all rubbish there too apparently. Mine brought hers home despite a pole being broken (due to the stampede of people over it running to a fight in the next tent), we will replace the pole and use the tent again. They'll probably all to go straight to landfill as they were no doubt mainly burnt/destroyed/disgusting. I thought youngsters of today were green - seems not when it comes to festivals (perhaps not all....), anything goes, stuff anyone else or the planet....

I don't think complaining to Reading festival themselves will help. It would have been good for this to be clamped down on by police or HSE before someone dies or is seriously injured. But it seems that is what it'll take for anyone to care if no one reports it or is interested.

@DrHildegardeLanstrom

Also the LA issue the licence for the event which will probably be a better angle for a complaint

I can almost guarantee the LA won't take any action. The festival is very lucrative for them so it's not in their interest. They will only take action if something happens and someone is badly hurt or, worse, killed. Otherwise it's all just hearsay

My dd17 went this year from early Thursday morning to early Monday morning. She had an absolutely fabulous time and loved every minute. She went there for the music mainly and enjoyed most of the acts. She didn't get drunk, much to her disgust 😃smoked a bit of weed and said that drugs were being offered everywhere. She might of taken some who knows but she's come back alive! She was in the yellow site and did not see any fires at all. There are between 80 to 100,000 people there there will always be some dickhead's but equally there are plenty of nice kids too.

I first went to Leeds Fest when I was 16 in 2011 and it's been the same every year. They blow up tents, set fires. It's awful.

Every time I went after that we left on Sunday evening (8pm ish)

This just sounds bizarre. It's been going on since the 90s and nobody has ever stopped it? Why on earth are the people concerned not prosecuted for arson and intent to kill?

I'm very glad my dc have no interest in festivals!

V at Stafford was probably the one I'd call the tameist. Its also the one I'd call the lamest and most middle aged.

@RedToothBrush NME and Melody Maker used to be absolutely scathing about V Festival in the late 90s. They were particularly critical of the presence of special tents to charge your mobile, which they considered the ultimate marker of corporate sell-outs. How much has changed.

V Fest wasn’t held in Stafford it’s Weston Park in Shropshire. We were one of the closest supermarkets to the festival and used to get hoards of teenagers buying a vast supply of crisps, booze and condoms on their way there and then returning on their way home to wash their feet in the sinks and buy lucozade and paracetamol .

As to how they get drugs in some of the local naughty boys would pop their supply in a kinder egg inner and pop it up their back passage. We used to wonder what some of them wanted all that KY Jelly for until we were enlightened.