In the first of our carefully curated schedules, we give you a few tips on getting the most out of your festival experience at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival. We’ve listed our ideal viewing choices from across four of the six stages, starting with the line-up for Friday (August 27th) in Reading and Saturday (August 28th) in Leeds.

Reading and Leeds Festival 2021

Schedule for Reading - Friday August 27 // Leeds - Saturday August 28

12:05 – 12:30 (Reading) - The Lock Up - Punkband
12:30 - 12:55 (Leeds) - The Lock Up - Punkband

You could follow the crowd to the Main Stage West and watch Nothing But Thieves with everyone else (indeed, you could catch the start of their set if you’re in Leeds), but if you really want to kick off the day with a big blast of fun, take the opportunity to enjoy up-and-coming duo Punkband. 

12:45 – 13:10 (Reading/Leeds) - Main Stage East - Demob Happy

Now you’re successfully warmed up, it’s time to grab another drink and head over to watch Brighton-based Demob Happy open the Main Stage East. Unfortunately, if you’re in Leeds, you’ll have to decide whether or not to skip the first half or cut Punkband short.

13:15 – 13:45 (Reading) - Main Stage West - The Snuts
13:10 - 13:40 (Leeds) - Main Stage West - The Snuts

While the weather forecast doesn’t look too bad for Friday and Saturday, there’s still plenty of cloud cover and a good chance of showers. It’s just not feeling so summery anymore! But if there’s any band that can make us feel like we’re at the height of summer, it’s Scottish number ones The Snuts.

13:50 – 14:10 (Reading) - BBC Music Introducing Stage - Dea Matrona

Catch the last 20 minutes of Dublin’s Inhaler on the Main Stage East before heading over to see all-female rock trio Dea Matrona open the BBC Music Introducing Stage, if you’re in Reading. In Leeds, Dea Matrona is on  at 12:30, so it’s a toss up between these guys and Punkband. We don’t envy anyone who has to make that choice. 

14:35 – 15:05 (Reading) - Main Stage West - Sports Team
14:20 – 14:50 (Leeds) - Main Stage West - Sports Team

They may be the antithesis to bands like The Snuts and Punkband with their Cambridge educations, but Sports Team are still up there as some of the best Reading & Leeds have to offer in the way of indie bands this year.

15:05 – 15:25 (Reading) - BBC Music Introducing Stage - LVRA

You’ll miss LVRA in Leeds if you’re busy watching The Snuts as they’re on from 13:15 to 13:40, but if you’re in Reading, there’s simply no excuse not to catch this rising electro-pop songstress later in the afternoon.

15:30 – 16:05 (Reading) - The Lock Up - Grace McKagan
15:40 – 16:15 (Leeds) - The Lock Up - Grace McKagan

Whether you’re in Reading or Leeds, you shouldn’t miss Grace Mckagan. You could argue that she’s a product of the industry being the daughter of Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, but more than likely it’s just that raw rock talent runs in the family.

17:15 – 17:45 (Reading) - The Lock Up - Dana Dentata
17:25 – 17:50 (Leeds) - The Lock Up - Dana Dentata

With her debut album Pantychrist coming this Autumn, do yourself a favour and catch Dana Dentata at The Lock Up this weekend. Her work is a curious blend of metal, rap and electronic, and we just can’t get enough of it.

18:00 – 18:45 (Reading) - Main Stage East - Mabel
17:30 – 18:15 (Leeds) - Main Stage East - Mabel

If you want to dance, Brit Award-winning Mabel has you covered on the Main Stage East. With parents like Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVey, her purity of tone and infectious tunes never came as any surprise.

19:00 – 19:30 (Reading) - The Lock Up - Nova Twins
18:15 – 18:40 (Leeds) - The Lock Up - Nova Twins

This colourful London rock duo is everything. For fans of urban music and alternative rock, Amy Love and Georgia South will be bringing all kinds of music lovers together in one crowd at Reading & Leeds this weekend. Don’t miss out. 

19:45 – 20:30 (Reading) - Main Stage East - AJ Tracey
19:15 – 20:00 (Leeds) - Main Stage East - AJ Tracey

Just to warm you up for Stormzy later in the evening, his West London counterpart AJ Tracey will be throwing out his best UK drill towards the end of the day. He’ll be seeing a couple of former collaborators at the event too with Mabel and MoStack in attendance. 

20:35 – 21:55 (Reading) - Main Stage West - Catfish And The Bottlemen
20:05 – 21:25 (Leeds) - Main Stage West - Catfish and the Bottlemen

We’ve not heard from them for a couple of years so catching Catfish and the Bottlemen live would be high on our list of priorities this weekend. We kinda miss them!

22:00 – 23:20 (Reading) - Main Stage East - Stormzy
21:30 – 22:45 (Leeds) - Main Stage East - Stormzy

MORE: When Stormzy made our top albums of 2019

Closing the day is headliner Stormzy; a legendary performer in his own right and well worth seeing live even if his music isn’t generally your sort of thing. You won’t be disappointed.