To ask you to remind your festival-going teens that people live in Reading?

[BerkshireGal]

So, festivalgoers have started to arrive here in Reading and I hope they have a great time. It’s stopped raining and the forecast is dry for the weekend.

BUT I just went to post a letter and there was already a large police presence at Tesco, I’ve been hearing more sirens than usual and the roads are full of people driving like twats/blaring music through residential areas/honking horns etc.

I’ve fortunately been able to book to go away from tomorrow until Monday but that isn’t an option for everyone - the festival is located in a densely populated area which is not well off (on this side of the river anyway). We can’t do much about the bass shaking our houses but MN, can I ask you to remind your teens to behave considerately towards locals while they visit our town?

Good luck with that OP!

I will cheer you up ... one year when my DD was a toddler, she and I were on a train with a load of the Reading festival crew...very much a "morning after" vibe in our packed carriage. I got a seat and DD perched on my lap, obnoxiously recited nursery rhymes and let off noxious farts most of the journey. I've never seen a more depressed group of teenagers!

30 years of Festival....

😂 amazing!

I suspect anyone arriving tomorrow and hoping to buy booze in Tesco might come out depressed, having seen the enormous queue and hordes of teens outside with bags of cider. Last year Lidl sold out of crisps ☹️

Longer than that I think, it’s been going at least since the 70s. But it’s easy for teens to get carried away with the excitement, so worth a reminder every year.

And Mr Brightside wasn’t written back then. Nowadays I can hear them singing it at the silent disco from my living room. Hence going away once the music starts!

Sympathies, OP.
I'm on an annual Carnival route. I've decided to escape random people pissing in my garden and the annual shooting/stabbing round the corner this year by going away - I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet!

We live by boardmasters, most of them behave but a few always have to cause trouble. I think a lot of holiday makers and festival goers forget people actually live there as well!

Yes, exactly! We live about 800m from the main stage so expect noise from the actual music. But I could live without the people driving down the road honking their cars constantly as they go, while I’m trying to wfh!

A large police presence doesn't mean there's actual bad behaviour. Police seems to have lost its way a bit.

Not denying your experiences of the festival however!

Absolutely. We popped to Aldi last night and we had to get our trolley from in the store and couldn't take it out to the car after because the festival goers steal them.

I can't wait to leave Reading tomorrow for the weekend.

Surely 95% of their time is spent on the actual site and nowhere near the locals?

True, TVP do tend to go for safety in numbers. My neighbour was arrested and they sent 8 armed officers to get one woman!

I guess it's a bit of a taster for us of what it can be like in the always popular holiday spots! I just hope they all stay safe and sane, dream that they take away all their rubbish, and am grateful it's only for a few days. . .

And will definitely go anywhere but Reading or Caversham to do my shopping.

Good luck with that. The shops and restaurants on Caversham road, just by the Moderation, are selling boxes and boxes of cider and beer. There's no way people are going to be quiet in general after drinking all that, so get your earplugs in and try to sleep. That's what I'm going to have to do as well.

I think after tonight, the roads will be quieter as everyone will have arrived and they won't be driving again till Monday

My DD has gone for the first time. I would be upset if she were to actively upset locals. Though she’s not likely to TBF. At least Rage against the machine have been swapped out for the 1975’s!

Yes and no. The actual site in itself is near locals - my house is actually closer to the arena than some of the campsites. And they come out to go to supermarkets, phone repair shops, vape shops etc. Plus there are day tickets so it gets spread out with those people arriving at any point in the weekend.

My DD has gone for the first time thus year - her group weren't planning to leave the site and if they do hopefully they will be respectful and just want to find a decent toilet

Yes, I used to live in a popular tourist city and it was a nightmare. At least festivalgoers have never taken my photo or a photo of my house!

I hope she has a great time 🙂
There are toilets at the nearby supermarkets and pubs but I’d warn her not to wait until she was desperate as the toilet queue at Tesco was enormous, it took me a minute to figure out that’s what they were queuing for as I went past!

Gosh, I think I'd be flattered!

... and it's fabulous! Town is heaving, supermarkets, pubs, fast food & restaurants all full - exactly what we need.

I hope it dries up for the campers though (my lot are going on Sunday only this year. They avoid camping by dossing on our floor - I think we have 8 staying over on Sunday night!).

The problem is that they decide to find a decent toilet in M&S or John Lewis and end up tracking loads of mud through the shops to get there. Result of which is that regular shoppers either have to traipse through it too or, like my parents, just don't bother going in any more.

@theknave Surely you mean your parents stop going into M&S / John Lewis during the actual festival rather than boycott it completely

We went to Boardmasters in 2015 as a last hurrah before wedding/kids etc. We walked from the main site to Watergate Bay to watch the surfing competition (the buses we're heaving, hot day, lots of traffic so we opted to walk it instead, much nicer!). A friend tripped and cut his big toe (cider and flip flops don't mix) and a local called out to us from his house and offered a plaster 😆 We always talk about the nice man in the coastal road house!

😂 what do Rage have to do with anything?!

Just those words 'The Moderation' and I'm right back there.

We used to hire a boat and sail around for 3 days, head to the festival site for Thursday afternoon, meet up with friends camping (usually give them my special weed brownies when they arrived, cooked in the boat's crap oven) and then go to the Moderation on the Thursday night. Oh my god, has it been nearly 30 since since I was last there?