READING Festival has been granted permission to put on an extra day of music following a Reading Borough Council ruling.
While the current setup sees the festival site on Richfield Avenue open to eager punters as early as the Wednesday to start setting up their campsites, live music at the event doesn’t start until around noon on the Friday.
However a decision by councillors means that the festival can get started in earnest on the Thursday evening from next year.
Representatives of the event made the application with a view to giving those attending “better value” for their weekend ticket prices, but also to provide another offering for those who prefer to attend for only a single day.
Organisers estimated that it could provide an extra £100,000 to the event, which Reading Borough Council has previously estimated brings in as much as £30million in revenue to the town.
It comes after an assessment provided by Festival Republic, the company behind the festival, asserted that an extra evening of live music would not have an adverse impact on those living nearby.
The ruling would mean that the Main Stage at the festival site would be permitted to host live acts between 5pm and 11pm.
This would be in addition to the festival’s only current music offering on Thursdays, the silent disco, in which attendees rent headphones which pick up a signal from a live DJ.
Because the music is not played out loud, the silent disco is permitted late into the night, and not subject to any of the curfews that live music on any of the other stages are.
The application for live music on Thursdays did come up against some opposition: a representative of the Warren & District Residents Association said that the extra night of loud music would cause some disruption to sleep for nearby residents.
Despite this, they also said that they would continue to work constructively with Festival Republic.
Similar objections were made representatives of the Caversham and District Residents Association.
Following the ruling, Reading Borough Council will begin work with Festival Republic to negotiate on how any extra funding received as a result of the extra day at the festival will be used when it comes into effect next year.
Meanwhile, Reading Festival returns to Richfield Avenue next week, bringing Charli XCX, Dave, Chase & Status, Raye, Florence and the Machine, Fontaines D.C. and over 100 other acts to the stage.
Reading Festival runs from Friday-Sunday, August 28-30.
Full details and tickets available via: readingfestival.com
