Reading Festival

I’ve always heard about the infamous Reading Festival, and couldn’t leave the UK without experiencing it. Some might say I still haven’t experienced it since I didn’t buy a weekend pass to camp and attend all weekend, but to my critics, I am too old and too fond of indoor plumbing to be down with that.
I bought day passes for A and me back in March. She was very excited, especially since it was her 14th birthday yesterday. We were very lucky to have beautiful weather with just a few sprinkles. I know people regularly go to the festivals and wade through the mud if that’s the weather, but I can’t imagine what that would be like. The beautiful weather meant that people were all over the place just laying out in the sun instead of just crammed in the tents.
We had a great day, seeing a lot of bands including several American bands like Jack’s Mannequin, Fall Out Boy and Kings of Leon. I could have spent the whole day just people watching. The festival fashion was interesting, with wellies being a requirement.
It’s interesting that a country that is so into health and safety would sell firewood at a festival so the campers could build bonfires right outside of their tents in very cramped quarters. That with all of the alcohol being wheeled into the campsite seems like a recipe for disaster. Our feet were killing us as we started the long walk home along the Thames River to our car and A, looking at the tents said if she had to spend the weekend in one she’d probably cry. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.