Leeds Festival for a 17 year old

[Throwmoneyatit]

Good evening everyone!

I need advice! Talk to me about Leeds Festival please!

I just want to start by saying that when I was 17, I was horse obsessed and didn't like to go too far from my horses so I've led quite a few sheltered teen years!

My son has asked for a ticket to Leeds Festival for his birthday. He will turn 17 a month before.

The thing is, I'm 3 hours away from the site and I'm working that weekend. Obviously if there were any problems, I'd leave work or pay for a taxi home (ideally neither of these things but this is where we are on emergencies).

There is return coach travel available to the Festival from a city about an hour away from me so it would be train and then coach. He knows how to catch trains, buses, read timetables etc.

I've taken him to Highest Point every year (and I think this is where he got the festival bug), went to Kendal Calling last year with his girlfriend and some friends. There was a parent at this festival and I'm less than an hour away, in the event of an emergency.

He has saved up and bought a ticket for Kendal Calling again this year, saved his spending money, bought a tent etc. He's an apprenticeship and works really hard. He will continue working during the holidays and has booked the weekend of Leeds Festival off.

He is kind, considerate, well mannered, reliable and sensible. I'm biased but I am so incredibly lucky to have a son like him. We are close and he tells me a lot. Dh thinks because of how he is as a person, he will be absolutely fine but this is our first child and I don't know if it's a sensible idea due to my teenage years.

He will be attending the events with his lovely girlfriend and their friends (mainly couples) who have a similar mentality to my son and I've met them all. They're all fabulous 17 and 18 year old.

I would book the train, coach, festival ticket and the powerbank swap scheme.

I know I can't have absolute certainty, and I don't know if I'm thinking too much as I suffer with diagnosed anxiety, but is Leeds Fest OK for a 17 year old?

Mine will be allowed at 17 OP. Not 16. He works. Let him go.

He'll be fine, he's nearly an adult and it'll be good practice, will learn new skills, independence etc.

I had just turned 17 when I went to Glastonbury for the first time and I would have let my kids at that age if they had wanted to.

As long as he has plenty of money and reliable transport I would let him.

He sounds well versed in festivals and a sensible lad just prepare him for a lot more carnage than he's used to if he's used to Kendal Calling. It's feral compared to that 😂 lots more pickpockets / thieves too so more care taken with phones and valuables.

All that definitely happened when I went!

Have to say this was many years ago, 2000 onwards to 2006. However, I went to the 1st Glastonbury in 1970 something when I was 16, my parents had no idea. I’m still alive at 71!

It is absolutely true.

My son went for the first time when he was 17 on the last night the destruction was shocking. Tents were set on fire, belongings pillaged.

My sons tent was targeted. His new camping stove was vandalised, his clothes strewn around. His borrowed tent was slashed and jumped on until flat.

He slept in an abandoned tent the last night and because his phone charger was gone, he couldn't ring us. We drove there and tried to find him. Eventually a stranger lent him his phone. When we found him, he was so upset.

Absolute stressful nightmare. I don't recommend it at all at that age.

You say you have no-one to ask - what about his friends parents?

Anyway it’s not notoriously unsafe. Lots of kids getting pissed yes, but that can happen anywhere!

Let him fly OP. Sounds like he’s a good hard-working lad who deserves some fun.

Edited to add - yes it has had bad incidents but its not always unsafe.

17 is almost too old for Leeds fest! My son went at 17 and 18 and said he was too old. He’ll be fine 😊

I really hope so! I'm sure he will! I love my memories of V Fest but I was a bit older, never been to Leeds/Reading. Wonder if he'd like his mum to tag along with the group?! 🤔😆

His friends are sensible, yes. I've known them for a good few years now.

Oh heck, didn't think about thieves 😂 ah well, the decision is done! He will have to keep things close!

He can make the decision himself, it was really whether I want to buy the ticket as his birthday present with being so far away. If he just booked it himself, I couldn't do much. I'd hate to pay for something that ended really badly and he has an awful experience. We had been settled on getting him through his driving test for as his present for a while so this is a complete change.

No advise, but sympathise, my 17 year old daughter is also going.

DD went at 16 and 17. It is a younger person festival now. She said there were drugs available but no one made you take them! She enjoyed it. (Without drugs!)
There’s a lot of help and support there if anyone needs it.
He’ll be fine.

Thank you!
He will have plenty of money that he's already saved and I'll give him some money too, I'm always contactable should he need more.
Hopefully he has the best time 😁

Bude rock '96 (or was it '97) fantastic line up, problem was I was 12. I probably could have heard it from my Grandparents house. But it was ok because I'd soon be 16 or 18 or whatever. Bude rock stopped not long after and the line up was rubbish after that year. Let him go.

He's the one who told me about the tent fires 🥴 I will definitely tell him to expected the unexpected though!
He always uses a cross shoulder bag anyway that zips at the front so at least his phone can be kept safe!
Thank you 😁

Why though?! 😆

My 17 year olds going!

There'll have been less security then I imagine!
Haven't been to Glastonbury but it's still on my list 😁

That sounds absolutely horrific. Does he know why his tent was targeted or is it just random? He wasn't in it was he?
I hope it hasn't put him off doing anything like that since, poor lad!

Aw, oh he will.

Obviously that was just my point of view and own opinion, not everyone would say the same and I definitely would have worries about my own too. Just thought I'd get my point across to hopefully add weight to what everyone else is saying and put your mind at rest a bit. X

He will be absolutely fine. We went on a 2 week Greek holiday at 17.

Reading and Leeds festival are mainly full of 16/17 year olds celebrating their GCSE results. They do need to stick together though and never wander around alone if they can help it even to the loo. There are more security and welfare officers than ever before the last couple of years to keep them safe and looked after. Tell him to camp in the fields furthest away from the stage that’s important because it’s away from people walking through to the stage and getting over excited. He’ll have a fantastic time and they have the Red Cross there and all that kind of stuff. And the towers the welfare etc dotted about. If he needs a tent then the 3 man tent from decathlon is perfect for one or 2 people only no more with all their stuff. A torch is handy and definitely a decent size power bank. If they still do the silent disco then they need to book their headphones well in advance before they sell out. They pick them up when required. It’s a kind of rite of passage really for teens all over the country. Lots of DC catch the coach that they organise or get trains. He’ll be fine I’m sure. A camping chair is good to take and a trolley to cart stuff to the campsite with bungy’s and a torch.

I know his girlfriends mum, the others are from secondary school and I've never really had any dealings with them. Girlfriends mum basically said that it's their own fault if they get into trouble which wasn't much help for me!

He's fantastic and I can't complain about anything (apart from always slamming the front door)!

Thank you 😁

I went to my first festival when I was 17. My parents were extremely strict and would never have let me go. I went with my friend and I told my parents I was staying at my friend’s house. We had an amazing time. It was one of the highlights of my youth. I can still remember it clearly and I remember the bands that played.

Let you son go @Throwmoneyatit , he’ll be fine.

The tickets do eventually sell out so if he hasn’t yet bought his ticket he needs to asap