Aerial drone footage has captured the scale of what was left behind at Reading Festival 2026, with fields of abandoned tents and rubbish spread across Little John's Farm on Richfield Avenue. The videographer Chris Gorman, who works as the Big Ladder Photographer, shot before and after passes over the site.
The weather decided most of it. Torrential rain fell during Florence + The Machine's headline set on the closing night, with further heavy showers in the early hours of Monday, Aug. 31, and a soaked tent is the single most common thing a festivalgoer walks away from.
The organisers had campaigned hard against exactly this outcome. Guidance issued before the festival put the numbers plainly: a typical tent contains the equivalent of around 8,750 plastic straws or 250 plastic pint cups, and one left for general waste emits as much carbon dioxide as driving a petrol car over 100 miles. The stated aim was that no single tent be left behind.
There was an incentive attached. The Take It Home Rewards scheme handed fans a Co-op voucher for showing a packed-up tent to campsite staff, and organisers also committed to a Campsite Clearance pledge promising both Reading and Leeds sites would be cleared and returned to their natural state within two weeks.
Other measures ran alongside it. Litter-picking volunteers worked both sites, new Repariums stalls fixed campsite gear and clothing rather than letting it be thrown out, and every drink from the bars and food vendors was served in aluminium, paper or recyclable tetrapak. Fans were also asked to keep wet wipes and clothing out of the toilets after Thames Water reported finding tents and camping chairs in them last year.
The weekend itself was busy enough to fill those campsites. Florence + The Machine, Charli XCX, Fontaines D.C., Dave, RAYE, Skepta, Sombr, Kneecap, Declan McKenna and Maisie Peters all played, and Chase & Status closed the main stage, now called The Grid, on the Sunday night. The rock weekend also produced a secret set from Royal Blood, and the site's licensing is a live issue after the festival's bid to extend its Thursday music hours met noise objections. Next year's dates will land on the festival tracker.
The facts
- Chris Gorman, the Big Ladder Photographer, shot the aerial before and after footage.
- Heavy rain fell during Florence + The Machine's closing set and again early Monday.
- Organisers say a typical tent equals about 8,750 plastic straws or 250 pint cups.
- A discarded tent emits as much CO2 as driving a petrol car over 100 miles.
- The Take It Home Rewards scheme gave a Co-op voucher for a packed-up tent.
- Chase & Status closed the main stage, now called The Grid, on Sunday, Aug. 30.
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