The Carling Weekend

Reading and Leeds Festivals
Reading Main Stage in 2007 (Top) Leeds Main Stage in 2006 (Bottom)
Genre	Rock, Alternative, Metal
Dates	August bank holiday
Location(s)	Reading and Leeds, England Beaulieu Jazz Festival (1955-1961) Various as National Jazz Festival (1961–1970) Reading (since 1971) Also at Leeds (since 1999)
Years active	1955–present
Attendance	90,000
Website
http://www.readingfestival.com

Reading and Leeds, England

The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual rock music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm on Richfield Avenue in central Reading, near the Caversham Bridge. The Leeds event is held in Bramham Park, near Wetherby, the grounds of an historic house. Campsites are available at both sites and weekend tickets include camping. Day tickets are also sold.

The Reading Festival, the original and senior of the two, is the world's oldest popular music festival still in existence and has hosted many of the UK's most famous acts over the years, including The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, The Who, Cream, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Genesis, Iron Maiden, The Jam, The Police, Status Quo, The Pogues, Blur, Pulp, Muse, The Cure, Radiohead, Biffy Clyro and Oasis plus top overseas names such as Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, AC/DC, Metallica, Guns n' Roses, Eminem, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers. It has had various musical phases over the years, as detailed below. In the twin-site era, rock, alternative, indie, punk and metal have tended to dominate.