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Original poster

Just turned 17yr old going to Leeds Fest

144 replies

ShittingHell · 25/02/2021 14:08

She has never camped, hates sleeping out, loves home comforts etc etc but her mates are going and apparently it will be brilliant. I have no experience of it at all. Who else has let their younger teens go? Were they ok?

OP posts:
Youllbeoldertoo · 25/02/2021 15:00

@KarenMarlow3

Good for you Covid police.

SmallPrawnEnergy · 25/02/2021 15:03

What kind of 17 year old is she? R&L are utter cesspits, full of twats, lots of drugs, pickpockets etc. Could she be safe and sensible?

A smaller, more laidback festival would be better for a first timer imo, but that's your call.

RevolutionRadio · 25/02/2021 15:03

I went when I was 22, and I felt so old.

It was full of people who'd just finished their GCSEs and a levels, I was 5 years too late!

Shrivelled · 25/02/2021 15:05

Festivals are what you make of them. If your DD is a crazy drug taking party animal then she’s going to have a wild time. If she’s more sensible and just drinks in moderation then her experience will be a lot more tame.

askmeagainin5 · 25/02/2021 15:06

DD went at 16 and had absolutely no issues. She had to stop going at 20 because she said she felt too old Grin I think almost everyone there is 16/17.

TinyGlassOwl · 25/02/2021 15:06

DS was was due to go last year though but of course it didn't happen. He would have only just turned 17 too.

He is SO excited about this year, and tbh I'm excited for him! They will all get filthy, dance, stay up all night, probably drink too much and generally have a whale of a time. It's a right of passage and a much-needed blow-out after this shitter of a year.

I quite fancy a festival myself this summer actually...

PleaseReferToMeAsBritneySpears · 25/02/2021 15:07

All my friends' children go to Leedsfest the year they do their GCSEs so they're 16. It's a right of passage among the locals. (Mine didn't!)

TinyGlassOwl · 25/02/2021 15:08

*rite Hmm

PleaseReferToMeAsBritneySpears · 25/02/2021 15:10

Damn you auto correct!

TinyGlassOwl · 25/02/2021 15:11

Oh noooo, I was correcting my spelling not yours @PleaseReferToMeAsBritneySpears! Grin

PleaseReferToMeAsBritneySpears · 25/02/2021 15:13

😂

SortYourLifeHelp · 25/02/2021 15:14

I was 15 when I went to Reading festival (Leeds festivals spouse), and it was brilliant.

At 17 she's practically geriatric.

SomersetHamlyn · 25/02/2021 15:16

I went to Reading and Phoenix at 15 and it was a lot tougher then - no mobile phones, no cash points, not a nice sanitised experience. She's old enough to get married or join the army or be a mother. Are you generally very overprotective?

SooMoony · 25/02/2021 15:18

My daughters went together aged 16 and 17 and had a ball. Both in their 20's now and claim to be too old for that kind of festival. Festivals are fun! You don't have to be a hardcore outdoorsy camper either.

mimbleandlittlemy · 25/02/2021 15:20

As others have said - Reading (sister festival to Leeds) is a rite of passage in the South East. They pick up their GCSE results laden down with rucksacks and camping gear and head straight off, so they are all aged 16 or so.

minniemoocher · 25/02/2021 15:23

Dd went at 18, loved it. But she went with good responsible friends.

notalwaysalondoner · 25/02/2021 15:24

Everyone at my school went at that age, as long as she’s got a nice group of friends and you trust her to not do hard drugs or have unprotected sex, I wouldn’t worry at all.

massistar · 25/02/2021 15:30

My DS who will be just turned 16 is going to Reading. I'd been half hoping it'd be cancelled so he'd be 16. Given they've been locked up for a year I think they're going to go wild. I went to Reading back in the day when I was 17 and had an absolute ball. At least now they've got mobile phones if anything bad does happen?!

SassenachWitch · 25/02/2021 15:31

I’m wondering if your DD is friends with mine 😂

My DD will turn 17 the weekend of Leeds Festival and asked yesterday if I’d let her go with 2 friends, my initial thought is NO WAY! She’s quite a young 16 year old, and I’ll never forget when my brother went to Leeds Festival when at 17 and went missing for 3 days, it was so traumatising as a family, in his drunken stupor he’d made new friends and decided to doss with them until he sobered up!

Oblomov21 · 25/02/2021 15:37

I booked a Reading ticket for Ds1 today. He was supposed to go last year after finishing GCSE's with a big group of friends.

I was surprised at them allowing festivals. But I actually think it will be much better by the end of Aug 21. If not we'll get a refund. What's the risk?

TakeTheCuntOutOfScunthorpe · 25/02/2021 15:38

I would have gone at that age but I would be scared to let my children go. But that's just being a parent.

It's important that her expectations are kept realistic. It will be hot, sweaty and smelly, the camping and toilets will be atrocious and she will be exhausted.

Plus make sure she understands the risks of drugs - they will be readily available, not just cannabis and ecstasy and LSD, but harder drugs too. And that she doesn't get too drunk - it's easy for a 17 year old to drink too much and pass out or be separated from her friends, especially if she hasn't eaten or slept properly for a couple of days.

Festivals are a magnet for opportunist rapists and gropers - not to mention the pickpockets and thieves. Make sure she knows that anything she takes, she may lose. I'd get her a rubbish £10 emergency mobile, don't let her take an expensive phone or camera.

Other than that, she'll probably have fun.

MojoMoon · 25/02/2021 15:40

She is 17, not a younger teen! She only has two years of being a teenager left.

Loads of 16 year olds go - I went at 16 many moons ago.

userxx · 25/02/2021 15:40

I went when I was 22, and I felt so old.

I went at 35 and felt like an OAP . Had a fab time, showed those youngsters how it's done ;)

Allywill · 25/02/2021 15:41

My daughter went after GCSEs and she’s a summer born so was just turned 16. I was nervous but she went, she enjoyed it, she came back fine if somewhat dirty wet and hungry. I did know of an adult friend who was also attending (completely separately) so I ensured my daughter had her mobile number in case of emergency - that made me feel slightly less worried but nothing arose anyway. I feel for you - I didn’t relax all weekend but it was fine. She’s in her twenties now and been to several festivals but I don’t worry so much now! Oh tell her not to put her tent at the bottom of a hill. My daughter did and the tent flooded. Leeds is notorious for rain.

doodlebug33 · 25/02/2021 15:42

I went to Reading at that age - albeit about a million years ago. It was amazing, and I was fine. I'm letting my DS go to Leeds this year, who turns 17 in April.
If nothing else it might make him appreciate his home comforts a bit more 😂