To worry about PFB going to Reading

[KingscoteStaff]

DS is planning to go to Reading Festival after GCSE results day. He would be going with 5 friends and would know quite a few other people there too.

He has never been to a festival. He has never been to a pop concert! He has slept in a tent once, at PGL in Year 6.

Now I was feeling very positive about this new experience but over the last fortnight it seems that everyone I talk to has a Reading Horror Story. Apparently:

1. He will drink far too much, vomit in his sleep and asphyxiate.
2. He will take drugs for the first time and become instantly addicted.
3. While drunk/high he will have a terrible, life-changing accident.
4. While drunk/high he will forget to take his asthma medication and have an attack.
5. Unknown scary people will set his tent on fire.
6. Unknown scary people will attack him and steal his money/phone.

Does anyone have any slightly less horrific Reading experiences and (even more helpfully) some Top Tips for successful 16 year old festivalling?

How sensible is he? What discussions have you had about how to keep himself safe?

I’ve nothing helpful to add other than in the same boat here but with Leeds. Think DS is going for the day only now.

I wish they’d make the festivals 18+.

It’s the blind eye to the prolific drug dealing with makes me angry. Especially after the tragedies of this weekend.

i read the title and just thought "But it's quite a good university?!"
I need to get out more

I went to Reading festival aged 16 and had a brilliant time. It was mostly about the music although we did get up to some shenanigans. But this was more than 20 years ago so what would I know. It’s a great memory though. I’d let him go with a friendly reminder to be careful.

Pretty sensible. Sportsman, so keen to keep healthy.

We've talked to him about avoiding drugs + drinking to excess.

We haven't talked about loonies setting your tent on fire as we didn't know it was a thing!

Neither DH or I have ever been to a festival so we don't have any specific advice for that scenario, just general stuff.

I went to Reading from 16-21 and I never had one horrible experience. I did vomit once, but in the daytime and I covered it with a plate and carried on with the fun. The only slightly horrible time was when the electricity went out in the toilets, so they had to close them completely in case people were sexually assaulted in the dark.
This was a while back I must add, as I am 30 now, but if you know and trust him and his mates, I’d trust they would be ok

My DS has decided not to go as the music lineup isn’t what it could be! However I did a bit of digging too and was told that often the last night the place can get trashed, people setting things on fire etc (not trying to alarm you as I would imagine the organisers will stop things if it starts to get out of hand) but I would think about leaving that evening rather than staying another night? Depends how far away you are

This reminds me of when I was growing up, my parents always seemed so relaxed about me going places I realise now I'm sure they were on tenterhooks the whole time.

The thing is yes I drank too much alcohol but I never once touched drugs, I wasn't brought up around them or to have any interest in them. Also I was confident enough to say no thanks and i never lost a friend because of this we all had our things we were into they smoked the odd spliff nothing class A!

The point is if he's sensible (as sensible a teenage boy can be!) he will enjoy the music and the atmosphere, and probably see others getting into such a state it will put him off excessively drinking/taking drugs anyway!

Can he/would he take a cheap phone instead of anything expensive in case t gets lost or stolen?

Other than that though I was fine with him going (he’s going to a different one now the music being more to his taste) Someone pointed out that at 16 he could join the army or get married!

It's a big group he's going with. He'll be ok. Make sure he takes his phone. (and a cheap spare?)

Worrying is the shit bit of parenting. We sign up for it on day 1 :)

All of that stuff does happen every year, but to a very small proportion of the people who go! Depending on how far away you are, he could always go for just the day/days and come home or to a friend's nearby to sleep - not that much sleeping normally seems to happen! The way I see it, if you go on a big night out in any big city, there's going to be x amount of people who get super drunk and go to hospital, x amount of people who get injured, x amount of fights... but it's usually not you! So long as your mates that you're going with are also sensible and you keep out of the way of the real "characters" at festival, most people are absolutely fine and have a great time.

“i read the title and just thought "But it's quite a good university?!"
I need to get out more”

OP- Reading is pretty full on for a first time festival goer - although none of my children’s friends have had any properly bad experiences. Have any of the group gone before?

I did my first reading at 16. A lot of the crowd will be post GCSE and A-level students. Not that many older people go to it nowadays.

In terms of security it’s a pretty safe festival. Staff are used to teenage behaviour and there’s plenty of welfare tents and first aid points. We managed to get our older friend to buy us beer for the campsite, but they don’t let you take it into the arena when you’re watching the band, it’s only bars in there, with ID checks etc. In terms of drugs, it’s usually all crap weed and legal highs. I imagine with the recent deaths they’ll be on top of it. Compared to some other festivals there are not as many dealers.

Yes, he does need to be careful with his stuff. Theft is rife at most festivals. He should sleep with his wallet and phone in the bottom of his sleeping bag, never leave stuff in the tent etc.

I felt the same last year. He was fine and so were all his friends. He did see a couple of scary incidents (girl having a fit attended by paramedics, drunk/drugged guy climbing the lighting rig and swaying over everyone) and drugs were widely available. But he seems to have mostly drunk beer (possibly smoked some weed) and came home very happy, perfectly fine and just filthy. No one had their phone nicked nor their tent set on fire. He did lose half of his dental retainer which he then found again at the bottom of the sleeping bag.

On the statistical side (well, more anecdotal since it's just me), I know dozens tending to the hundreds of teenagers in both my sons' years who've been as well as loads of our friends' kids from around the country and no one has got into serious trouble. One girl came home after a day because she hated it.

I live in Reading and have been to festival several times. I'm afraid it's become a post GCSE rite of passage and as such there's lots of kids away from home with alcohol for the first time so it does get very messy.

I would say as long as your DS is with a group of friends who all stay reasonably sober, obviously don't take any substances, don't have anything worth stealing and keep themselves to themselves they should be OK. There is always trouble though.

Maybe have a look at other festivals? There's loads smaller, less boozy teenager type festivals around which would be far safer.

its a rite of passage.

DS1 went at similar age - Reading is a good 1st festival - its very heavily stewarded, they have people in towers overseeing the camp site for any trouble all day/night long. Setting tents on fire doesn't tend to happen at Reading.

If they are 1st timers best to plan for the quiet campsite - less party central than some of the others.

He will be offered drugs - there is a lot on site despite all the searches going in.

Get a wallet that goes under his t shirt to keep money in, bring a couple of portable chargers for mobile. Don't expect to shower, and toilets are grim, but reading town center is close to nip into Macdonalds toilets.

Wait til he upgrades to Boomtown - now that's a worry!

I went to Reading when I was 15 for the first time, it was fine yes I drank and got high but I was careful.

My dc is also going after results he has been to Reading numerous times though with us.

The arena itself is pretty small, very safe campsites have loads of staff etc.
I've never felt any trouble there personally.

Oh apart from the year someone stole my shoes from outside my tent... That was an annoying walk back the next day.

Ok - list so far:

• Phone and wallet at bottom of sleeping bag when sleeping.
• Consider swapping for cheap phone.
• Another discussion about substance abuse in light of this weekend's events.
• Don't stay for last night's tent-burning shenanigans.

Have a chat about valuables. How will he keep them safe?

List contd.:

• Portable chargers
• Wallet under t-shirt (what is this? Like a shoulder holster?)
• Avoid loos - Use MacDonalds in Reading? (Lucky them)
• Consider using 'quiet campsite'

My Pfb went last year, straight from GCSE.

I can’t pretend I wasn’t anxious the whole time, but if they are sensible, and with friends who are sensible and not prone to hysterical fall outs etc (so will stick together and look after each other) they will be fine.

Dirty, tired, badly fed, but fine. Thousands upon thousands go and come to no harm.

Just make sure he knows how to preserve battery life on his phone and has a charged power pack.

I am, however, surprised that the organisers get away with such dodgy practices. U16s do get in with obvious trolley loads of booze, They provide NO tap water to drink in tne arena area (to preserve profits) and do check for water bottles (hypocritical and venally money orientated, given lax approach to drugs and alcohol) DS said many, many of the staff were off their heads.

Pretty shocking since it is THE festival for 16 yo.

My son and his friends walked into town to use the loo at Costa once a day and have a wash in the basins there! I'm constantly doing the 'don't take any pills because you don't know what's in them' talk. At Reading they do I believe have tents where they check that the drugs you've got are clean. Though I'm massively worried about drug use so I'm not condoning it at all.

Baby wipes to 'wash' with and anti-bacterial gel.

May not be relevant to festivals where there are always people about, but generally when camping don’t put valuables at the bottom of sleeping bags- it’s easy to slash the bottom of a bag and grab stuff.

Let him go! 16's way old enough to go to a festival! His primary school doesn't sound like it was too great, DD's going on her second residential trip in 2 years next month, and she's in yr5!

My friends’ adult children (approx 20-22 years old) we’re saying how they didn’t like Reading as the crowd was so young! I felt so old!

Take:
Spare loo roll,
Roll of bin liners always handy.
Wet wipes (closest thing to a wash all weekend!)
Sealable sandwich bags to keep phone in if it rains.
Portable phone chargers.

I’ve done a lot of festivals and I found a waterproof drawstring bag worn as back pack good for carrying valuables. It can’t be opened from behind without you feeling it tugging on your shoulders, and it doesn’t get in way of dancing. That or money belt.