There  are several bars onsite, all of which are cash only. The White bar will continue to serve real ales.

Our Main Stage right and Main Stage left bars will not be serving spirits, so as to speed up the queues and serving people. The bar by the NME/Radio 1 Stage will serve the full range of drinks.

We have a Challenge 21 policy on site and our bar staff will always ask for a proof of age ID whenever the customer appears to be under 21. Proof of the attainment of 18 years of age will be required before you are able to buy alcohol.

So you don't have to keep getting asked to prove your age, or to keep showing your ID, you are able to purchase an Over 18 wristband to wear for the weekend. The Over 18 wristband tentis located in the Village in Yellow campsie. Please ask a steward for directions.

The Over 18s wristband will stop you from having to carry your ID around with you every time you want a drink on site, or want to bring alcohol into the campsites from the supermarkets.  

If there is any doubt as to the age of the customer they will be refused service. The onus is on the individual to demonstrate unequivocally that they are 18 years old or over and if the individual cannot do so they will not be served. The customer will also be asked for photo ID if the over 18 wristband appears to be tampered with.
- Citizen Card
- Validate UK Card
- ProofGB
- Young Scot
- Full or Provisional photo card driving licence issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority
- Passport (with photo)
- Military photo ID card
 

For various reasons, and in line with our gas canister policy, we will not permit any gas canisters, nitrous oxide, cylinders or petrol cookers into the campsites, or anywhere on site. This is mainly for your own, and our staff’s safety. . Please check out the guides created by the NHS and Gas Safety Register HERE.

We suggest that if you want to cook outside your tent, that you bring disposable BBQ’s only. They are available via our onsite traders and at the nearby local supermarkets. Anyone seen with canisters or cylinders will be ejected from site. Please help up with this, plan ahead and have a great camping experience.

The caravan and campervan ticket holders  only will be permitted to bring in gas containers up to the limit of 6kg.

NOT ALLOWED:
GAS CANISTERS (any size) [this includes nitrous oxide, or similar, capsules]
PETROL BURNER
ANY FORM OF AEROSOL OVER 250ml

ALLOWED:
GREENHEAT Base Camp Cooker
SOLID FUEL STOVES
DISPOSABLE BARBEQUES
FIRELIGHTERS / FIRELIGHTER STOVES
METHYLATED / “TRANGIA” SPIRIT STOVES

We recommend the Green Heat base camp cookers and fuels. You can buy these from camping shops or online.

Any illegal items will be confiscated and you may face arrest and eviction. Please check out our Confiscation Policy and Festival Terms and Conditions HERE for full information on what is, and isn’t allowed on site.

There will be NO RECEIPTS issued for any confiscated items. SO PLEASE DON’T BRING IT IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE IT!

Items which are permitted in the campsites but not in the Arena should be either taken back to your tent or the left luggage facility, depending on their monetary value. If you refuse to do either, these items will be confiscated.

So you stocked up on 2 minute noodles and beans in a can and didn’t end up eating them? Well, rather than leaving it to end up in the rubbish dump or a landfill site, we are having a food drive this year!

The Salvation Army will be setting up the food drive, so please place any unwanted, unperishable food in packets, bottles, tins or cartons, in the donation bins located at Recycle Exchanges throughout the campsites. There will be around 30 of them all over the site on the Bank Holiday Monday for you to fill up as you are leaving.

Remember that there are people out there who could really benefit from the food you don’t use or want, and we need your help to get it to them. If you leave it on the ground at your camp, then unfortunately it will go to waste and end up in landfill. So please play your part in helping make a Green Reading. Donations will be accepted at The Salvation Army marquee at the festival.

There are food stalls throughout the campsites and the Arena, selling a wide variety of food; from burgers to baguettes, noodles to milkshakes. The campsite traders are based around G4 road (which now runs vertically from the public entry gate through the middle of green campsite), and the Reaper Bridge area, as well as a few based in brown, red and white campsite zones.

Food traders are obliged to abide by the prices that are set with them in advance. There are very few exceptions, but some traders selling premium goods (e.g. organic meats), may have dispensation to have higher prices.

We will upload a copy of the 2013 price list when it is made available closer to the event.

Please let us know by writing in the complaint book at the Information or Welfare tents if you see anyone straying from the price list – we will need to know the exact name of the stall, time of day and what price you saw in order for us to pursue it. It is highly recommended that you try and take a photo if you have a camera or phone that is capable of letting you do so, and letting the information tent know – you may be contacted in future for this evidence so please provide an up-to-date phone number and email address so we are able to follow this up.  By letting us know on site, we are able to follow it up to ensure it doesn’t continue for the rest of the weekend!

Every year our food traders are inspected and monitored by Reading Borough Council Environmental Health Officers, and this year they will be awarded an Alfresco Award star rating. This will be on show on the trader’s unit, so you will be able to see who has been awarded the highest food safety rating, with 5 being the highest and 0 being the lowest.

Only food for personal consumption may be brought into the Arena. There are plenty of traders on site selling food & drink, in both the Arena and the campsites (see our Food Traders section).

No glass is permitted anywhere in the campsites or Arena. Only sealed plastic bottles of water under 500ml size will be permitted into the arena.

As a reminder, please see below our list of non-permitted and permitted items on the Site.

The following items may not be brought into the site through the campsite gates:

o Aerosols over 250ml  
o Air horns
o Alcohol in the possession of  under 18 year olds
o All gas canisters of any size (including nitrous oxide) 
o Any goods for unauthorised trading
o Any goods with unauthorised Reading/Leeds Festival logos
o Any items which may reasonably be considered for use as a weapon
o Audio recorders
o Chinese lanterns
o Excessive amounts of alcohol
o Excessive amounts of cigarettes
o Excessive amounts of food
o Fireworks
o Flares
o Generators
o Glass bottles, jars, containers
o Illegal substances
o Legal highs
o Megaphones
o Portable laser equipment and pens
o Sound systems
o Unauthorised professional film or video equipment
o Unofficial tabards and reflective jackets
o Firewood and Alcohol after 6pm on Sunday evening only

All items will be confiscated.

You may be body searched at the entrances and upon exit from the festival site. This is in line with crime reduction strategies with Thames Valley Police. 

Persons suspected of carrying items that may be used in an offensive or dangerous manner, or carrying out illegal activities onsite may also be searched.

As stated in our list above, excessive amounts of food, cigarettes and alcohol will be refused entry to the site. Please only bring enough for personal consumption.

No animals are allowed onsite at all, with the exception of registered guide dogs.

In addition to the items not allowed into the campsite, there are additional items which will not be allowed through the Arena entrance. Please see below:
o Cans
o Disposable BBQs and permitted cooking stoves (see below)
o Drinks bottles**
You can either take these items back to your tent or use the left luggage facility, depending on their monetary value. If you refuse to do either, these items will be confiscated.
** Sealed plastic water/soft drinks bottles 500ml and under and food for personal consumption may be brought into the arena.

Cameras are normally permitted for personal use. Cameras with telephoto lenses will not be allowed through the Arena entrance. Professional cameras and video/audio equipment are strictly prohibited. Live video/audio recordings made without the permission of the artiste/promoter are prohibited.

You will be allowed to bring the following into the campsites:

o Aerosols less than 250ml
o Alcohol (not contained in glass bottles) in the possession of over 18yr olds
o Cans
o Disposable BBQs
o Firelighter stoves
o Fitted gas canisters/cylinders in campervans
o Flags
o Green Heat base camp cooker
o Methylated spirit stoves
o Solid fuel stoves

We have a Challenge 21 policy on site and our bar staff will always ask for a proof of age ID whenever the customer appears to be under 21. Proof of the attainment of 18 years of age will be required before you are able to buy alcohol.

The Over 18s wristband will stop you from having to carry your ID around with you every time you want a drink on site, or want to bring alcohol into the campsites from the supermarkets. The Over 18s wristband tent is located in the Village in Yellow campsite, on Baker Lane.

If there is any doubt as to the age of the customer they will be refused service. The onus is on the individual to demonstrate unequivocally that they are 18 years old or over and if the individual cannot do so they will not be served. The customer will also be asked for photo ID if the over 18 wristband appears to be tampered with.

This must be evidenced by any of the following:
-  A Portman Proof of Age Card
-  Citizen Card
- Validate UK Card
- ProofGB
- Young Scot
- Full or Provisional photo card driving licence issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority
- Passport (with photo)
- Military photo ID card
 

There are two on-site supermarkets.

The main, large supermarket will sell convenience foods, snacks, pies/pasties, chilled drinks, fresh daily bread and milk, newspapers, beer/lager/cider, toiletries, pharmacy, general grocery, fresh sliced meats, bacon, sausage, butter and cheeses, deli counter, and cigarettes. This is located in the Village in Yellow campsite. The smaller supermarket in White will stock a selection of these items listed.

Both supermarkets will offer a card payment facility (minimum purchase applies) with cash back. A transaction fee for all card purchases applies.

There are drinking water points throughout the campsites and arena.

They are all signed as suitable for drinking and the supply is tested. Any broken taps or flooding should be reported to the nearest steward.

On hot years we would suggest that you take a small bottle (less than 500ml) which you keep with you and refill it from the water points.