Boardmasters or Reading festivals for post GCSE next summer?

[Kentmumof4]

My Yr11 daughter and friends want to go to either Boardmasters or Reading next summer (2026).

I need advice please from those whose daughters went to either or both this year.

Which is safer in your opinion? What problems did they encounter? Any tips?

Thanks.

Whichever means she is able to leave after the last act of Sunday night.

The lineup is very different, worth looking at past year's to have an idea.

Both have the same risks, but not staying Sunday night avoids lots of issues.

Which is easiest for her to get to and from? Reading is easy to get to by public transport so easy to escape from if needed. The biggest safety consideration is how sensible your daughter is?

I would say that neither is ideal for a first time festival goer. Reading is okay but the acts end really early for noise level reasons, so the campsites go a bit wild after midnight. My teenagers didn't really enjoy it.

Boardmasters is much less accessible and if the weather is too hot/too windy/to rainy then it can be quite challenging.

Out of the two I would go for Reading, especially if you live within a couple of hours. But as @BestWay said, how sensible your daughter is will be the key feature.

Wait until the lineups are confirmed and go to the one with the bands she most want to see?

Or am I old-fashioned?

DS1 went to Reading post GCSEs about 6 years ago but it didn’t seem popular with DS2’s year 2 years ago (we are in London so Reading is easy).
DS1 said to me previously Reading isn’t as teen friendly as it used to be.

Christ, the stories I’ve heard from Reading from friends whose older teens went…
My main considerations would be - who will she be with, how will she get home, can she leave early if she wants/needs to easily, which is easiest for YOU to get there if you need to do an emergency pick up.

There seems to be more drugs at Boardmasters, but I think that me mainly because it’s a more ‘monied’ crowd, and Reading is very boozy. Friend had to spend 5 hours in the earlier hours reaching his 17 year old son from Boardmasters… Reading would have been closer…

My dd went with her friend to Reading after her GCSEs last year. They stayed in an area with some sort of security. I was nervous but she kept in regular touch and they had a great time. She’s pretty sensible though as is her friend.

God neither. Weren't a load of tents set on fire last year? It feels like it's really more a place for post A levels now. I'd be more on board with a smaller festival like the Isle of Wight or day tickets to Hyde Park or similar.

There's also Latitude and go with them? Family camping area for folk that have children and teens. Obviously you won't see them for dust and they'll have their own tent. But you will be somewhere on the site if it all goes to hell in a hand basket.

There has been a lot of chat on our school parents’ WhatsApp about this - dd is in this year group. The received wisdom here seems to be that Boardmasters is safer for the post GCSE crowd, then they do Reading after A-Levels. Lots of the parents go and stay somewhere near Boardmasters for the weekend so they can parachute in if necessary.

Dd doesn’t want to do either, fortunately for me!

My DC have done festivals since small with me including Glastonbury and latitude. They both did Leeds post GCSE, similar to reading with their friends and said it was absolutely horrendous. Both said they would never go back. Too many drugs and people setting tents on fire. Going to lattitude and letting them do their own thing would be far safer and a lot more fun. It's pretty safe for teens to camp apart from their parents, ours did from about 15. They can't go to lattitude on their own as won't be allowed in.

Thanks - we've done Latitude and that was good but Boardmasters/Reading are the post-GSCE rite of passage.

Please keep the comments coming - really helpful, thank you!

Boardmasters is usually marked by mass train cancellations, resulting in three trains' worth of people with massive backpacks all fighting to get onto one train at Paddington - and giving their packs the size of a fridge freezer a seat of their own at the expense of the poor buggers who reserved disabled seats and end up sitting on the floor in front of the toilets.

So I've been to both but a while back (did Reading after GCSEs and A Levels) boardmasters after my degree. So this comes with a 15+ years element!

I would say Boardmasters felt safer, Reading was a keep your wits about you at all times including brushing your teeth and I went with a group of 12 friends (mixed sexes).

My DD did Reading after GCSEs, with a good (large) group and it was fine. She had a great time. Did Boardmasters this year at the end of yr12 and also had a great time.

She preferred the vibe of Boardmasters as it was a bit more chilled but it’s longer (she went Weds-Monday morning) and further from us. I was glad she’d done Reading first as it’s not far.

Depends on so many factors, group of friends, how far it is from you, weather and generally how independent and streetwise they are generally. My DD and her friends agreed on certain things like going to the toilet and showers in groups. They had drinks covers, knew where welfare help was, location-sharing. Also for Boardmasters the shuttle bus add-on to the ticket is essential as it’s so spread out and there’s lots going on across different sites. She loved it so much, she was really sad to come home and I think it will be a core nostalgia memory for her when she’s my age!

I went to festivals from age 16-28, did most of them in UK and some in Europe. So I think, to me, it feels quite a natural thing to do when you’re young. I also felt able to set ground rules and give safety advice.

I think the big difference nowadays is that you need to buy your tickets before the line-up is announced especially if you’re going in big groups. It gives you more options and you avoid things being sold out so I don’t advise waiting for the line up like we used to in “the old days”.

my very clued up neice went to reading after GCSEs, and ended up phoning her mum at 2am and askig her to come and get her, as it felt really unsafe.
This is pretty out of character.
I know my own ds a couple of years later chose boardmasters not reading.

Tickets for Boardmasters are opening on Thursday. DD planning to go after A levels. She went this Summer and loved it. Other DCs went to Reading and it was more frantic a few years ago.

DS did Reading after GCSEs then Boardmasters after A levels (and Boomtown 😨) and he felt safer at Boardmasters and enjoyed the vibe more. But he came home from there pretty disgusted at older guys predating on very drunk/high 16 year old girls. This probably happens everywhere and he was just old enough to notice and judge by 18.

I'm genuinely suprised that parents are involved in organising this. Surely if they are old enough to go they are old enough to research, plan, and book it! Did any of the parents organising this go to festivals at that age and did they get their parents to organise it?I

I was impressed by how well organised Reading was this year. We only went for the day though so didn’t experience early hours in the camp site. We took dd1 - 17 - who went off with her friends and dtds - just turned 14 - who stayed with us and we felt VERY old (43 and 45). Had a fab time though. Boardmasters sounds like it’s even younger and lots of immature teens trying drugs (we live in the south west) so I’m a no for my dc going to that one.

Boardmasters is quite a private school vibe. Upthread someone talks about weather conditions and mentions hot weather. As regular Cornwall surfers at that time of year, heat ain't often part of the equation for definite. Weather conditions have cancelled the music part of Boardmasters a few times. Winds high enough to stop the music but not interfere with the waves or the skateboard events. If going to the fest and needing a taxi to a campsite from rail station best book ahead.

Reading until quite recently was for older festival goers. Previous posters have one good advice re this festival. I'm not sure I'd recommend.

16 is on the young side to have zero parent support organising. My dd would also have needed my permission to go to a festival at that age.

They set tents on fire every year. For DD and her mates it was post A levels, which felt right. She said it would have been a disaster any younger.

Yes, I needed permission back in the dark ages as well, I went with a mixed y10 / y12 group. And my kids will need permission too (although it is a few years off). I just would expect them to come to me with a plan knowing what they want permission for.
And looking back it is crazy that my parents let me go to a festival aged 15 with a couple of crates of lager and no mobile phone (because they weren't yet a 'thing').
It was fun though!

It was hot the weekend of Boardmasters in 2024. I know because I was staying in the Scarlet Spa, in the next cove over, the same weekend and it took us over 7 hours to drive back to Wiltshire on Monday morning instead of the usual 3. So if you drive them, take snacks, water and a full tank of fuel.