Leeds festival my 16 year old DD wants go, what do you think?

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She'll be 17 the day it starts. She wants to go for the four days with lots of her friends, a mix of boys and girls.

She's a good kid, she's in sixth form doing really well. Never gives me an ounce of trouble and is sensible.

Four days away in a tent with no showers etc is my idea of hell! I think she's a bit naive about how rough the camping will be. Plus it's a 3 hour train ride with all their kit, or parents might take them.

I know they'll party hard and drink loads and they'll have the best time.

I'm just wondering if it's a safe event and I can stop worrying.

They aren't different now. They were just as bad in the 90s. Loads of drug arrests etc that I discovered about only when I got back! Seriously I saw nothing all weekend although a friend took E and freaked out but that's another story. My husband is a policeman and has been involved with policing a festival local to us. If anything, I'd say they're safer now.
Biggest difference is the entitlement and litter. People used to take their tents home afterwards not just leave them for someone else to deal with!

You are right. There are drugs and predators everywhere. Fortunately, at the festival, there are also strong security measures and facilities focused on providing places of safety for women and girls in particular. Everywhere else in life you take your chances.

Unless you plan to lock her up until she's "safe to go out" then these places are no riskier than anywhere else, and, in some ways, less risky. If she is sensible, then she will manage herself well, and have the time of her life.

If Leeds has the same vibe as Reading then yes from me. We live 40 miles from Reading and it is a right of passage for the kids here to go.
They go to school in the morning with their camping gear, pick up their GCSE results and literally go to the festival from there in their droves.

My two sons went and one of them is appearing this year as an artist.

It is a very young festival and well managed, I guess that Leeds is the same.

Boomtown would be a very different story!

They are very well policed, everyone gets searched as you go in. A previous poster said you can’t take alcohol in- you can just as long as it’s not glass.
my DSS went to Leeds fest for the first time after his gcse results, just a day ticket. We’ve then bought him weekend camping tickets the next two years after.
he loved it, BUT you don’t sleep , you stink, you’re clothes stink:.. he went with a group of boys and girls but you party on through the night.
it lashed it down one year and was really hot the next.
food is so expensive - we are talking 10-15 for a burger etc…..
He has the best memories from it and for us we would never have stopped him going (we live locally to Leeds).
youve just got to speak to your DD re drugs, don’t take them, touch them or carry them for anyone else. People die at the festivals each year, so it’s a real risk.

T he last time a youngster d ied there the inquest judge roundly criticised under 18s being there without adult supervision

Age 18+ can bring alcohol in.

Many go at 16, right of passage. My dd did reading at 18 and all was fine, about 30 from her year went

We went when we were 21, mainly just because we'd never been.

Fortunately, my friend is incredibly feisty so when a group of pissed lads were trying to find a tent to set on fire and kept pointing at ours, she scared them off pretty quickly.

It's an amazing experience but it's the other people that ruin it. Too many sleezy lads trying to creep into tents or grope you at the stages. Loads of people on the rob too, opening tents at night and grabbing what they can. We all bought cheapy PAYG phones.

I did love the whole thing but just from what I experienced, I wouldn't let someone younger go.

At 17 can you really stop her though? Is she asking for you to pay for it - in which case fair enough, you can decide if you want to pay for her to go. But if she is 17, paying for it herself then I think it's a case of talking through with her your concerns, thinking about strategies to manage this etc. She will be at uni the following year and you won't have any control over her choices, decisions. My DSD went at the same age, yes it's anxiety provoking but that doesn't mean you don't allow them that freedom.

You can't really stop her and things like finding the camping hard - and probably unhygienic- are great steps to growing up.

I would sit her down and have the drugs talk though, possibly multiple times. We are fairly light on DS17 about drinking. We accept that he does it and try to steer him towards beer rather than spirits, obviously driving after alcohol is a complete no no. But we save most of the lecturing for drugs as the implications of taking them or getting caught with them are so much greater.

I went and I was 18, the toilets got set on fire and armed police arrived. It was really scary.

If the friends are a trustworthy lot and they are all allowed to go then difficult to say no I think.
I’d be on standby to collect though in case she didn’t like it.

my festival veteran DH says it’s a lot “rougher” than glasto. His experience is out of date though.

We have done loads of festivals with the DC over the years so they were both experienced festival kids, used to camping and knew what to expect. They both went to Leeds with their friends post GCSE and hated it. Loads of drugs, tents getting robbed and set on fire. They had friends who ended up in the medical tent due to drug taking. They were fine but both said never again.

Like lots of people there, my friends and I collected our GCSE results and went straight to Reading. We had a blast. This was in the 90s so no mobiles, much less caution over underage drinking and less security. It was fine. I loved music and there was a brilliant line up. I saw gigs that are now considered legendary, and yes I drank and smoked some weed. But I was in a big group of friends and we took care of one another and no one got ridiculous. It’s one of my best memories from my teenage years.

Back in the 90s we all went to festivals ..without phones! At 16 post gcse. Starting with glastonbury. So that was 4 days no contact with home or with your mates if you lost them. They were just as rife with drugs and booze then i promise.

17 is time to make your own decisions in life Id say.

In the 80s, a school mate and I cycled around Holland when we were 15, which was 14 days with pretty much no contact. It was a different era.

Agree with PPs asking what can you really do to stop her (unless of course you’d be paying). DD went at 16 after she’d just finished her GCSEs, she is very street smart though. There is literally security everywhere at these events now. Also find it interesting that a PP says they’d prefer their DC to go to Glasto at this age rather than Reading/Leeds. Completely disagree, Glasto is so huge it can be massively overwhelming and disorientating. Leeds is relatively small and you can’t even take drink into the arena (where all the performances are) whereas at Glasto you can keep chugging all day!

Round here everyone goes to Reading summer of GCSE results. I let my 2 go. Did tell them the first day I didn’t hear from them by lunchtime I’d be there so I had a daily text.

My youngest son went to Reading a few days after he turned 17. Absolutely loved it. Came home shattered. Went a few more times after that. Different for a daughter, I know x

Leeds is rough. I try to put her off but would probably cave if her friends are really solid. It is a right of passage for that age group unfortunately.

Yes to the drugs talk, never leaving anyone alone or with a stranger - including trips to loo. keep all your valuables on you (put at bottom of sleeping bag overnight). Don’t accept anything food or drink from anyone.

The Leeds one is not like Glastonbury.
I'm not far from it.
Loads more families go.
My eldest went age 17 with a group of friends.. honestly they're not bothered about hygiene for a few days.. all in same boat.

Reading and Leeds have changed dramatically over the past 30 years. Reading used to be a real music-lovers festival, a rockier alternative to Glastonbury. Now it’s just drunk idiots. DS and his friends say that no-one who is actually into music would be seen dead there. They are planning a trip to Hellfest instead.

Of course you can stop her while she is a minor living under your roof!

This is what the coroner had to say
*Mr McLoughlin issued a similar warning following the death of 17-year-old Anya Buckley, who died after taking drugs at Leeds Festival in 2019.

He issued a report that warned there was a risk of future deaths, and said he was concerned about under-18s being allowed at the festival without an accompanying adult.

Unaccompanied under-18s were "particularly vulnerable" at the event, the Celino family's solicitor Sarah Barlow said.

She said the family had concerns over the large number of 16 and 17-year-olds at the festival - believed to be around 18,000 a year.

The timing of the festival, which begins on the day GCSE results are released, could create an "atmosphere of excitement" and make under-18s more vulnerable, Ms Barlow added.

The family also had concerns that young people were not old enough to buy alcohol, but did have access to drugs.

Organiser Festival Republic said it had given "anxious consideration" to whether under-18s should be allowed at the event without an accompanying adult.*

Our dd went after GCSEs, as did seemingly most of her year group at school. DH and I drove her to Leeds station to get the bus to the festival, and we stayed in Harrogate for the weekend. I felt more relaxed knowing I was nearby in case there was an emergency.