Fans of Leeds and Reading Festival face high hotel prices, spending nearly £700

Reading and Leeds Festival fans are facing exorbitant prices for accommodation if they choose not to camp onsite. With over 240,000 attendees flocking to Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds each year, these festivals have established themselves as the largest music-only festivals in the UK. The gates open on August 21 for early bird pass holders and August 22 for general camping ticket holders.

For those holding generic weekend tickets without the camping option, booking external accommodation becomes necessary. In the past, Festival Republic, the organizer of Reading and Leeds, has partnered with major hotel chains to provide offsite accommodation options. However, this year, prices have skyrocketed for the festival weekend between August 23 and August 26.

Major hotel chains like IHG (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza), Accor (Novotel, Ibis), and Hilton have more than doubled their prices for this period. For example, the Holiday Inn Express Leeds City Centre and Crowne Plaza in Leeds are charging £593 and £585 respectively, compared to significantly lower rates a week later. Similarly, hotels in Reading are also charging high prices for the festival weekend.

The festival lineup includes headliners such as Fred again.., Lana Del Rey, and Blink-182, along with other popular acts like Liam Gallagher, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Gerry Cinnamon. In addition, a new live stage for digital content creators has been announced for this year’s event.

Tickets for Reading and Leeds Festival, scheduled for August 21-25, are already on sale. For more information and ticket purchases, visit the official website. Accor and Hilton Hotels have been contacted for comment on the surge in prices.