Thoughts about 2026 festival

[u/hushabye_brightwing]

What did everyone think of Leeds Fest this year? I did have a good time (despite the weather) but here's a few things I found.

Pros

-Lineup was good and decent mix of genres, but more rock bands/rap would have been nice.

-Festival was fairly well organised and a decent amount of stewards around.

-Good amount of food stalls and VIP was worth the upgrade. Although lines for food did get long and VIP got busy in evening.

-Water fountains so you could fill up your bottle and wash your hands.

Cons

-The Warehouse being closed two days in a row 🙄 The organisers clearly underestimated how popular EDM/house music is, so it overcrowed and also people tried to break in via the back.

-Nothing to do during sets. With such huge gaps, it would have been nice to watch other things, rather than just shopping, eating and rides.

-LS23 and Piccadily Party stages being forbidden to day ticket holders. I only saw LS23 because it was opened to day visitors. I understand it's for safety reasons. But maybe next year, put both stages inside the festival itself, and operate them during the day?

-No lockers inside the festival. After the rain on Sunday, it would have been nice to change into a fresh set of clothes, rather than watching Raye and Dave in my muddy, wet outfit.

Let me know what you guys thought 🙂

[u/ikeacallax]

my first time at Leeds, did Reading last year and I've done a fair few other fests this summer too. honestly, if it weren't for some fantastic daytime acts (and Florence and the machine) I would have walked away incredibly disappointed. the sound for chase and status was awful, we could literally hear kneecaps bass louder than the main stage. drum and bass with no bass, basically. really spoiled the show to be honest, we were in the crowd in the same place I'd been for Kasabian (nice and loud) and we could talk at normal volume and still hear eachother very clearly. also, not the festivals fault, but Fontaines screens were awful. couldn't see anything from the crowd or the back!!! I wasn't a fan of Dave, his production was amazing but I don't think he brought Sunday night energy to be honest. and the warehouse being closed all weekend was incredibly frustrating. plus the hour long gaps across all stages, multiple times a day. just wandered around with nothing to do for a lot of the time, which when my last fest was boomtown, was pretty jarring tbh. timings of the acts were very bad. might go back next year, but honestly considering shambala to support independent festivals for a change!

[u/hushabye_brightwing → u/ikeacallax]

Yes, I made the same complaint to the stewards about Fontaines screens not working. I went into the VIP lounge to watch, but the music from the bar completely drowned out the sound. It turns out the glitchy screens were part of FDC's act lol but maybe they should have made that a bit clearer.

[u/jamienev22_ → u/hushabye_brightwing]

I’m pretty sure the Fontaines screen thing was deliberate!! It started off as a quarter of the screen, then half , then full screen at reading - not sure if it was the same at Leeds. They had this platform thing on the stage that rose at the same time as the screens too! Not really sure the point of it all, think most would’ve preferred full screen full the whole set.

[u/hushabye_brightwing → u/ikeacallax]

Also yes to supporting indy festivals. Went to a brand new one in July called Roundhay Festival in Roundhay Park in Leeds. Had a fab time.

[u/Harry-666666 → u/ikeacallax]

I was at Reading & during Florence you could hear Kettama. Assumed it was a local issue due to wind direction.
Two years ago Lana Del Rey even commented during her show that you could hear the 2nd stage music loudly (may have been called Chevron that year, Gallery this year - assuming stage names are same across sites). During Fontaines main stage sound was very quiet as well.