There are some festivals where taking small children for the weekend seems like a fairly pleasant idea – Latitude is the one example that seems to crop up most often. There are plenty of parents who attend Glastonbury with youngsters too, which is my idea of a nightmare, but fair play to them.
It’s safe to say there won’t be many toddlers camping at Reading or Leeds. And that’s what makes it a perfect Dad Gig for August – the chance to relax and enjoy the festivities without having to worry about your young daughter being knocked off her feet by an errant bottle of urine.
I have been to Leeds Festival in the company of a child before and she had a lovely time, but she, like me, lives reasonably close to site and could escape before the familiar rowdiness begins.
This year’s line-up, shared over the August Bank Holiday weekend between the two venues, is not overly thrilling, but the chance to see the world’s most bizarrely-scheduled musical sandwich, in the shape of Jamie T before Kendrick Lamar, followed by the newly-reformed Libertines, is sorely tempting. That’s the Friday night at Leeds and the Sunday at Reading and, even if you don’t like any of those acts, it will be fascinating to see how many of the crowd stick around for the whole mismatched trifecta.
The Maccabees and the Cribs will be worth a look, with Metallica and Royal Blood likely to make a decent noise on the rockier of the three days. Comedian Adam Buxton plays the Alternative tent and is always good value.
The two sites kick off the action on Friday 28th August.
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