A festival-goer who attended Reading Festival has shared a video showing the state of the campsite after the event, with piles of rubbish and abandoned items left behind. The footage, posted on TikTok by a woman named Izzy, shows her walking through the camping ground, surrounded by tents and litter.
In the video, Izzy points out various items left on the ground, including camping chairs, inflatable mattresses, items of clothing, and drinks bottles. She wrote in the overlay text: "It's definitely not that hard to pick up your litter." In the caption of the post, she added: "Grab some bin bags fr."
The festival, held annually at Little John's Farm in Berkshire on the August bank holiday weekend, attracts tens of thousands of people. This year's event saw performances from artists including Lola Young and Cruz Beckham, while attendees faced rain and thunderstorms, with many trekking through mud to reach the stages.
Izzy's video has drawn comments from viewers, with one commenting: "People treat hospitality venues the same! Oh it's fine someone is paid to pick up our mess." Another responded: "You tell them izzzz, you tell themm!!!!"
Reading Festival has been held since 1955, with the exception of 2020, when it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The event generates hundreds of tonnes of waste each year, according to the BBC. Recent festivals produced more than 700 tonnes of total waste, including approximately 71 tonnes of abandoned tents.
The festival has urged attendees to "take your tent home" or use designated on-site donation points. However, many festival-goers assume that leaving equipment behind means it will be automatically donated to charity, but most of it ends up in landfill.