With Glastonbury on a fallow year, Reading and Leeds is going to be Britain’s largest music festival of 2026. Those are some pretty big shoes to step into. Will it be able to fill the UK’s Glasto-shaped hole? Well, you be the judge – the festival has just dropped its first wave of names for next summer.
R&L’s first announcement of acts including six major headliners, as well as Leeds’ first ever Thursday headliner. It’s the first time in 25 years that all of the festival’s headlining music artists have hailed from the UK and Ireland.
Tickets for Reading and Leeds 2026 are going up for grabs this week, so here’s all the essential info you need if you want to be there.
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When is Reading and Leeds 2026?
R&L 2026 is taking place from on the August bank holiday weekend. Next year that’s August 27 to August 30 2026.
Where is Reading and Leeds 2026?
Leeds Festival 2026 is happening in Bramham Park while Reading is taking place at Richfield Avenue.
Reading and Leeds 2026 headliners
Leading next year’s festivals are Charli XCX, Chase & Status, Dave, Florence and the Machine, Fontaines D.C and Raye. At the moment R&L marks Charli’s and Fontaines DC’s only UK festival appearances in 2026, and Chase & Status’s only live performance of the year. And in Leeds only, Kasabian will be the first ever Thursday main stage headliner.
Full confirmed line-up so far
The other acts that have been confirmed are Skepta, Sombr, Role Model, Jade, Josh Baker, Kneecap, Kettama, Chris Stussy (Reading only), Geese, Skye Newman, Adéla and Keo. Loads more still to be announced.
Here are all the names confirmed so far:
- Charli xcx
- Chase & Status
- Dave
- Florence + The Machine
- Fontaines DC
- Raye
- Kasabian (Leeds only)
- Skepta
- Sombr
- Role Model
- Jade
- Josh Baker
- Kneecap
- Kettama
- Chris Stussy (Reading only)
- Geese
- Skye Newman
- Adéla
- Keo
When do tickets go on sale?
General sale for Reading and Leeds 2026 kicks off at 12pm on Wednesday, December 3. You’ll be able to purchase tickets on Ticketmaster here.
Is there a presale?
A presale for PayPal customers went live at 9am on Monday, December 1. A second festival presale launches at 9am on Tuesday, December 2. You can sign up for early access to Reading here and to Leeds here.
How much will tickets cost?
In the first release of tickets, this is how much each ticket type will cost.
- Weekend camping: £325
- Weekend and early entry camping: £361
- Weekend non-camping: £295
- Friday and Saturday non-camping: £230
- Saturday and Sunday non-camping: £230
- Friday, Saturday or Sunday day: £125
- Thursday day (Leeds only): £55
If you want to add a bit of luxury to your R&L experience, VIP upgrades are available from £57.50.
Already gearing up for festival season 2026? Other UK line-ups that have been confirmed so far include Boardmasters, Isle of Wight Festival, State Fayre, Roundhay Festival, BST Hyde Park and All Points East.
Plus: Take a look at Time Out’s 25 best albums of 2025.
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