Reading Festival 1996 - 2026

The first festival I ever went to was Reading, back in 1989.

I was 18, and like others my age, going to Reading was a rite of passage.

I was mainly there to see The Wonder Stuff and The Mission on the Sunday night, I had no idea at the time it would end up shaping the next 30+ years of my life.

I went back in 1991, and that’s when it really stuck. The Sisters of Mercy (yes, I was a Goth), Nirvana halfway down the bill before anyone really knew what was coming, and James with a light show that, to this day, I still remember.

That was the moment for me, you could feel how powerful live music could be at scale.

1992, I was back again. Same energy, bigger crowds, and that now-iconic Nirvana performance. Still just a fan at that point, but not for much longer.

Around that time, I was working as Entertainment & Events Manager at Kingston University, booking and running shows, including a certain Radiohead gig in 1993. That’s really where my stage management started, even if it didn’t have the title yet.

Not long after, my Kingston crew and I were pulled into early 90s dance events like Tribal Gathering, Creamfields & Homelands, shows at Finsbury Park, and the Phoenix Festival, working across site and stage. I moved firmly into stage management, and it’s where I’ve stayed ever since.

Then in 1996, things got serious.

I was brought into Reading Festival itself, eight weeks on site, working as both site crew and Stage Manager on the Dr Martens stage. I watched the demise of The Stone Roses stood on top of my backstage office!

That first year turned into the start of something much bigger, because I never left.

In 1999, Reading expanded with its sister event in Leeds, and I stepped up to Stage Manage the NME / BBC Radio 1 Stage.

That year came with its fair share of challenges, including having to tell a young band who were first on, that they’d be playing to an empty tent due to extreme weather conditions, or not at all so we could keep the day on schedule and get the second band ready.

They weren’t thrilled.

In fact, they had a massive argument.

Lead singer Chris has said since it’s the worst they’ve had as a band.

That band was Coldplay.

But Reading has always been home. and in 2001 I was given the opportunity to run the iconic Second Stage at back at Reading, a role I held right through to 2024.

Over those years, I’ve seen and helped deliver hundreds of incredible performances.

Early sets from Florence + The Machine, Mumford & Sons, Royal Blood, Skrillex, Nothing But Thieves, and watch the rise of others as they pass through to Main Stage, including Biffy Clyro, The 1975, Foals, Bombay Bicycle Club, Two Door Cinema Club, Tame Impala, Bastille, Disclosure, Raye, Coldplay even the occasional secret set (yes, including Green Day).

There are too many moments to list, but that’s kind of the point.

In 2025, after three decades on site and with a long-standing colleague, the legend that is Chalkii stepping down, I took on the role of Main Stage Stage Manager at Reading, 30 years on from first stepping onto a festival stage myself.

Not bad for someone who just came for a Sunday night line-up.

Reading Festival is the longest-running popular music festival in the UK, and after 30 years working across its stages, there’s a fair chance I might be one of the longest-serving Stage Managers it’s had.

From the crowd to the Main Stage, 30 years on, it still feels like home.

I guess I’m part of the furniture now?

(Image on the left, R-L, Me in 2025, 1999, & 1991!)