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?

I'll definitely be too old then 😂
Thank you x

Thank you! I hope your daughter has the best time!

Make sure he sticks with his girlfriend as much as possible unless they want to go off in separate groups on occasion. It’s not the time to get into an argument and for one of them to walk off in a huff alone.

Thank you!
I hope my son really is as sensible as I think, like your daughter was!

Sounds brilliant! I'll buy him his ticket, I couldn't live with myself if I bought him something that caused him harm but I will take my thinking cap off about this and wish him a brilliant time 😁

I hope they enjoy every second! X

I went to Reading and had great fun and saw amazing bands at that age. Great memories! It was fine.

My DD went age 16 or 17 straight after GCSES and had a great time. She felt she was too old to go the next year and they went to Boomtown which they preferred because there’s more to do than just the music stages. This year age 19 she travelled around Europe with her BF so they grow up quickly and are far more capable than we give them credit for. Leeds and Reading are perfect stepping stones for holidaying alone without parents and just navigating everything themselves

I needed opinions really! I needed to know I was overthinking it all and that he would be fine! Also some good advice. I just feel very new to this stage in motherhood 🥰

Yes it can be hard. Mine are a little older and it gets easier, although you never stop worrying!

Slightly longer than Friday to Monday then 😆 I'm sure he will, and I hope he loves every second!

Thank you so much! This is all incredibly helpful and has settled me a bit more! I will tell him all of these tips, and thanks for the one about the field!
We have all the camping stuff for him to pick through and he's bought a tent, I'm unsure which one though. He and his girlfriend picked one together ready for Kendal Calling which is only a couple of weeks ago.
I really hope he loves it! Thank you!

He's going 😁 he doesn't know I'm getting him it for his birthday yet, he's not home!
I want him to have these amazing memories like you have! I went to V Fest a lot, I loved it 😍
Thank you x

I've costed it all up so I'll be putting it in his bank, once he's home and I've told him what his present will be! I'm excited to tell him now!

I will do this, definitely! Can you imagine an argument 😳 Thank you!

The line up looks fabulous! Although from this thread, I'll definitely be too old 😁

Thank you!
He's doing so well, I'm very proud of him for who he is becoming. He had a rough couple of years and he astounded me with his maturity. He definitely deserves some good times and good experiences. Maybe I am a little protective but even at 6'3", he's still my little boy!
Your daughter sounds like she's enjoying every second of her life! It's the best way! Happy travelling 🥰

I just feel a bit lost with motherhood at the moment - maybe I should start a new thread 😁 I have 3 children. My youngest has just finished primary school and all of a sudden (it feels) my life as a mum has shifted a little and I really miss them being small! Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited to see what happens and who they become in the future but tonight for instance - none of them are here and it's me and dh rattling around together! They're growing up and they don't need me as much 🥰

Heck, that escalated 🤣

I clicked YABU as he will have the time of his life if he goes! Please don’t deny him that!

My first ever festival was Leeds fest, the same age as your son!

Ahem

So I won't divulge the erm....full details of my escapades 😳🤫 (a lady doesn't tell 😭) but actually I did very much enjoy the experience. I went with a friend from school (back when a weekend ticket cost £150!) and her bfs friends. And actually did then meet my bf of the next 3 years there ☺️

I will 100% admit I did not take enough money. Genuinely I had £30....for the entire weekend (but I did find...ahem resourceful ways to get food and drink) so please make sure he has a lot more than that!! Honestly food is not cheap and whilst most people will kid themselves into taking food and camping cooking equipment I'll be honest..most likely won't use it (or tbh 2/3rds of the stuff you actually pack 🤣) , I'd advise budgets at least £20-30 a day for food if I'm honest.

Drinks are likely to be very expensive in the arena, if you can find a way to smuggle booze in....that's the cheapest option....

Phone signal can be notoriously terrible at festivals, so my advice for him and his friends is have a set meeting point, somewhere easy to find. That first year I did get separated and had a panic attack but the people in the orange mobile (EE now) tent were most helpful and helped me find the friends I was camping with.

Please be aware it CAN get somewhat rowdy on the Sunday, and not to alarm you but the last time I went in 2007, it did get a bit out of hand with ppl setting off gas canisters in campfires etc 😬 and also be aware that there is an increased chance of theft with any festival (that said I don't advise padlocking your tent as that if often taken as an indicator to thieves you have valuables worth nicking in there).

At the end of the day, he's 17, he's possibly going to get drunk, but if he has good friends who look out for each other and he paces himself he will hopefully have a great time! They do have a great medical team and actually often some kind of mental health/pastoral team so if at any point he or his friends do indulge or maybe struggle a bit they are there to help and they absolutely will, so pepas use them if needed.

Edit: also if it reassures you in anyway I'm now almost 40, and life has been fine!

I went at 17, Reading. A long time ago now! My mates tent got robbed but other than that we survived.

Would advise him not to camp anywhere near toilets and far away from the main stage as others have said as it's louder and more people passing through the closer you get to the arena.

I have 3 too but a bit older than yours OP. Two of mine have been to Leeds fest and come home safe and sound…I was less worried the second time! He sounds great and it sounds like you’ve done a great job with him. Hope he and his friends have a fab time.

Yes he will be fine I got the boat to the UK and my boyfriend drove us to Glastonbury when I was 17.

I wouldn't deny him anything really, he deserves every good time he has, and more! It was more of whether I buy him the ticket for his birthday, or continue with our original birthday plans 😁

😉😉 I understand 😜 those were the days, eh? Going out with a £20 and getting home absolutely hammered with a takeaway and a tenner left 😂 you did well off £30 🤣

I have thick, long hair and high styles suit me. I used to wind a bottle into my hair and backcomb around it. I'll have to see if I have a photo anywhere, it was a bit of a party trick to be honest 🤩 my son has a mullet so will have to think of a new hiding trick! My dh said to take it in a water bottle, he's never been to a festival 😆

Back to it, yeah, tickets cost considerably more although the bell tent experience looks amazing! He has a few hundred saved and I will top up. I'm thinking it may be worth taking a card alongside his phone incase one or the other gets lost. I suppose if the worst comes to the worst, I can put money in his girlfriends or a friend's account. I've just thought it may be an idea to put each others parents phone numbers in each others phones incase of a problem arising.

I'll tell him the points you've brought up, like a meeting point etc, that's such a good idea. Maybe a small fire extinguisher in his backpack?! I'm only half joking 😂

I imagine he definitely will get drunk. I just hope they have the best time and have loads of funny stories and pics to show me when they get back!

Thank you so much x