By Cllr Jason Brock
Like the popular conception of Marmite – love it or hate it – Reading becomes the centre of the music world again in a week’s time as the Festival rolls into town.
This is the 51st Reading Festival and more than 100,000 revellers, and at least as many bum bags, are expected to descend on the town.
Whatever you think of the event, what isn’t in doubt are the huge benefits the festival brings to Reading, especially in terms of providing a much-needed stimulus for local businesses.
Wherever you go, if you mention you come from Reading the chances are the people there have heard of Reading Festival (and there’s always the chance they’ve heard of the IDR too… but not often enough).
As ever, we advise everyone across Reading to be prepared for delays – especially in next week’s build up. The shops, public transport and roads will all be busier.
I know many residents choose to time their holidays around the long bank holiday to avoid the disruption – but if you are around, or even going to the Festival, just plan your journeys ahead.
We’ve published a webpage for residents with a lowdown on everything you need to know – including a special hotline number to raise queries during the event.
While I’m sure everyone going will have a great time at the Festival, there is a serious side in terms of reducing the impact on the environment.
Reading Borough Council declared a climate crisis in 2019 and committed to a carbon neutral Reading by 2030. We have also committed to do everything we can to become free of single-use plastics in the years to come.
We know they are both very ambitious targets, but we think it’s right to stretch ourselves.
We have high standards and expectations for the clearance of the site, which is managed by organisers Festival Republic. As the local regulatory body, every year we carefully scrutinise how the event has performed, including a close look at the impact on the site once the Festival is over.
We know more needs to be done and every year we have high aspirations for a better outcome.
We also know that Festival Republic understands our concerns and we are pleased to see their continuing work and initiatives in encouraging their participants to think seriously about their impact on the environment while they are here.
All the same, I am personally concerned that their progress has not been fast enough, and I hope the need to improve more quickly is recognised.
In terms of people going to this year’s Reading Festival, the big message is again to take your tent home.
It’s very easy to pick up a pop-up tent for next-to-nothing these days. That also makes it very easy to discard it when the weekend is over but doing so instantly converts your tent into a single-use plastic.
The majority of abandoned tents end up in landfill because it is just impossible to recycle or reuse them all. If you are going to this year’s festival, please take some time to pack up your tent and take it with you when you head home – and tell your friends why it’s so important to do the same.
And finally, just a quick word of genuine thanks to all the Council staff who will be working before, through and after the event and who play such an important role.
A huge amount of this work is unseen and behind the scenes, so it is an easy thing to take for granted.
Whether it’s licensing, noise monitoring, food safety, transport and traffic management, or enforcement action against ticket touts and illegal cabs, Council staff play a key role in making the Reading Festival such a success.
The Council and Festival Republic have many years’ experience of working closely together to keep people safe while they are enjoying their weekend. There’s one thing we ask in return – think about the planet and take your tent home.
