Reading festival 2026

[u/mattloaf666]

[u/Jackariasd]

I was a volunteer in the campsite at Reading festival in 2008 and 2009 with a friend. It was exactly like this, a destitute wasteland of inexplicable tent abandonment. As part of the clean up, we went around with a wheel barrow collecting unopened cans of beer, each tent seemed to be a treasure trove for us as 18 year olds. It was all fun and games until he found a cooler box in a tent. Opened it up and inside was a singular, well preserved, human turd.

[u/Low-Outlandishness14 → u/Jackariasd]

I was there in '09 and it was chaos, everyone seemed more concerned about drugs and burning tents down every night. Genuinely horrendous experience

Im sure some people were there for music and a good time but that isn't my memory of it

Took my tent home and didnt shit for 5 days so dont look at me....

[u/bradstokes → u/Low-Outlandishness14]

I was there in 09 and it was horrific. The Saturday night was pure chaos. I remember the field next to mine had flames 15-20ft high from a bonfire made of tents but the fire marshal decided to come to my tent instead and extinguish a fire I had made in a bean can...

[u/Demoliri → u/bradstokes]

Wacken in Germany was also like this. My last time was in 2010 and in the camp site after the last day the fire brigade were just driving from one campsite to the other putting out tent fires. People were stacking up hundreds of tents into a pile and setting them alight. The whole area stunk of melted plastic, it was horrid. I was also there in 2005 and 2007, and it wasn't quite as bad, but still a mess after the last day.

Needless to say I haven't been back to Wacken since, and I instead go to smaller festivals.

[u/anondreamitgirl → u/Demoliri]

They need to start introducing large fines for littering

[u/Demoliri → u/anondreamitgirl]

Incredibly difficult to enforce I think. Without mass surveillance, how will they know who each tent belongs to? And even if they have video of them abandoning their tent, they then need to ID them and track them down. Then there's the issue of international guests, which make up a huge percentage of these bigger festivals.

In theory I would love it to be punished, but I have no idea how to make that work.

[u/MyLifeBeTenshi → u/Demoliri]

The best "solution" I've encountering at most festivals in Germany is to charge a "trash deposit" with the ticket, and refund it if you brought a full trash bag to a trash point. Deichbrand was clean AF this year after people left

[u/Shamanjoe → u/MyLifeBeTenshi]

That sounds like an awesome idea.

[u/strat-fan89 → u/Demoliri]

You pay for your festival ticket. If you select camping, a 500 [currency] hold is put on your credit card. Each tent gets an RFID tag on arrival where your tickets are checked. They cost next to nothing. Your tent is registered upon entry. If your tent is not registered again when you leave, the 500 [currency] is deducted from your account.

Alternatively, you could do spot checks of cars while leaving the area. Someone has a three day pass with camping and leaves with a nearly empty car without a tent? Boom, 500 [currency] fine for you. Yes, you really DID agree to these terms and conditions while purchasing your tickets. Yes of course you may go back and clean up your (any) campsite and have your fine wiped.

Two ways, just from the top of my head. Definitely not perfect. I bet there would be others and possibly even better ones. People would only need to care.

[u/eggrolldog → u/strat-fan89]

Haha guess you don't know the reprobates at Leeds/Reading; you'll have some psychos going round cutting out or otherwise destroying everyone's RFID tags. Then they'll still leave their tent and steal someone else's once it's taken down for them.

[u/English_Mothafukka → u/Demoliri]

You fine the organizers. A heavy enough fine and they will come up with a way of holding people accountable.

[u/retrojoe → u/Demoliri]

I went to a festival in Australia where it was normal to bring couches. You had to pay a deposit, they tagged the couch, and you got the deposit back when you proved you were leaving with it.

Granted, tents are more fiddly, but you get the idea.

[u/secretwatcher → u/anondreamitgirl]

It would be much easier to include the cost of cleanup in the ticket.

[u/Regular_Custard_4483 → u/Low-Outlandishness14]

OK, apparently I was reading Reading like reading. I didn't realize Reading festival was a thing, I thought it was reading festival, and I was like, "A bunch of book nerds did THAT?! That's so unlike us." and then I realized I was reading Reading wrong. The drugs was what tipped me off. 

[u/Harvard_Med_USMLE267 → u/Regular_Custard_4483]

I started a book club last year (tea, fluffy white dogs and books), and my third recruit turned out to be a massive cocaine fan and had a free supply and successfully pushed it on my other members. It’s disbanded now but is really only remembered for the cocaine.

[u/Regular_Custard_4483 → u/Harvard_Med_USMLE267]

I'm in a gays and gals book Club, but we just painted our nails. Maybe they confused your gathering with a ski club, haha! ❄️ 

[u/Tyrannofelis → u/Regular_Custard_4483]

So they weren't camping to read Tolkien? Worst reading festival imo.

[u/Regular_Custard_4483 → u/Tyrannofelis]

We're on the same page. 

[u/Forward-Transition-5 → u/Regular_Custard_4483]

https://giphy.com/gifs/QB44N1iwGN53hAQ46L

[u/gonzo-is-sexy → u/Regular_Custard_4483]

That's what my nerdy ass thought too

[u/LazyEmu5073 → u/Jackariasd]

You still got the cooler box now I take it?!

[u/Jackariasd → u/LazyEmu5073]

Waste not want not

[u/vennic18 → u/Jackariasd]

Taste not want not

[u/Jackariasd → u/vennic18]

It made a good Christmas present

[u/mattloaf666 → u/Jackariasd]

[u/mnid92 → u/mattloaf666]

HOOOWWWWDDYYY HOOOOOOOOOO

[u/Sam-Lowry27B-6 → u/Jackariasd]

The cool box or the turd?

[u/MrLipp24 → u/Jackariasd]

The Music is almost as bad as the mess left behind

[u/GruntledVeteran → u/LazyEmu5073]

No point. Once opened, the turd spoils pretty quick.

[u/HeroMachineMan → u/GruntledVeteran]

Put a sticker: Turd expires in 2 days upon opening of cooler box

[u/Trawatheczech → u/GruntledVeteran]

Schrödinger's Turd.

[u/tryyeezus → u/LazyEmu5073]

Still got the turd on the mantle. Timeless

[u/chantillylace9 → u/Jackariasd]

I was kind of happy when you said that it was a turd because for some reason I was expecting like a hand or a finger or something lol.

[u/hallouminati_pie → u/chantillylace9]

Same, I was expecting the absolute worst like a fetus.

[u/SpaceCookies72 → u/Jackariasd]

I worked for crew catering in 2018 for many festivals, including Reading. Free beers, new chairs, new tent, a roll mat, anything you want and are willing is there! Some staff started the season with nothing but a backpack and a blanket, finished with a full set of gear haha

[u/ifdisdendat → u/Jackariasd]

https://giphy.com/gifs/ge91zAgmwUqLMqiH2c

[u/rebels-rage → u/Jackariasd]

How many courics you think it was?

[u/logicalconflict → u/rebels-rage]

A fellow sophisticate, I see.

[u/whatchasaidwhat → u/Jackariasd]

I was expecting you saying a human head, but turd was actually more probable.

[u/Slonshal → u/Jackariasd]

That's some cold shit.

[u/ajtyler776 → u/Jackariasd]

Hi, is it still available

[u/crowhouse]

Why do so many people abandon tents?

[u/Adventurous_Emotion9 → u/crowhouse]

There’s a belief that the tents left behind are taken by charities and given to homeless or those who need them. This has been debunked by organisers time and time again as not being true.

[u/Ancient-Emu-8293 → u/Adventurous_Emotion9]

Would be pretty convenient to pretend believing that.

[u/aardvarkbjones → u/Ancient-Emu-8293]

Is it? Tents cost money. 

Seems insanely wasteful, both environmentally and fiscally.

[u/NoForever3645 → u/aardvarkbjones]

Let’s be honest, festival goers aren’t exactly known for being fiscally or environmentally responsible.

[u/halosos → u/NoForever3645]

Shit I need to go visit the aftermath of one for a free tent

[u/your_red_triangle → u/halosos]

enjoy the free piss and shit that comes with it, that's one of the reasons people abandoned them. Went years ago, our neighbours would get out in the middle of the night and just piss anywhere they felt like it.

[u/mark_b → u/halosos]

Even if the other two replies weren't true (they are), the tents that get left behind aren't good tents, they're £20 tents off Amazon.

[u/After-Barracuda-9689 → u/NoForever3645]

I used to go to festivals in the early 2000s and never experienced anything like this. Maybe it was the festivals I was attending, but everyone packed their stuff out. I’m sure there were some thing left behind, but nothing like this scale.

[u/Glittering_End_6864 → u/After-Barracuda-9689]

Yeah, this is crazy. I have never seen a festival with this much garbage left on the ground like this.

[u/GermanRedditorAmA → u/NoForever3645]

Depends a lot on the festival, but any that has high alcohol consumption will probably check this.

[u/Most-Hawk-4175 → u/aardvarkbjones]

No, many tents are dirt cheap. They are just using the excuse that the tents are used as charity so they don't have to dismantle, pack up abd haul off their tent. They are just being gross and lazy.

[u/Iwantmoretime → u/Most-Hawk-4175]

Yeah, even if the charity thing was true, pack it up and drop it off in a collection area. This is 100% making stuff up to justify pure lazyness. Pretty disgusting.

[u/chickenMcSlugdicks → u/aardvarkbjones]

Checking Amazon, definitely options for about $40. People absolutely just leave them as they see that $40 as an acceptable loss, especially after the inside is dirty, the outside is still wet from dew when they're packing to leave, aaand the hangover from a few days of festival life. Environmentally, I got nothing. I feel bad for the volunteers who spend time picking all this mess up.

[u/MokitFall → u/aardvarkbjones]

Right? Especially those big ones. I think I've found my next side hustle.

Come on down to my new and slightly used tent store !

[u/AdventurousAbility30 → u/MokitFall]

I recently stayed at a hotel that was filled with wedding guests that had a camping night as part of the 3 day wedding, and I got so many tents it paid for my new Blackstone flat top & grill lol.

[u/Leading-Let-5632 → u/aardvarkbjones]

They're dirt cheap, especially around festival time. You get a pop-up for like £15.

Cheaper than the food and drink you will consume that weekend

[u/UMACTUALLYITS23 → u/aardvarkbjones]

It's cheaper to buy a tent and then abandon it while getting to stay at the event then it would be to get accommodations and pay for transportation to and from.

[u/whatsuperpowers → u/UMACTUALLYITS23]

Of course it's cheaper to stay on the grounds, but it's still a loss if you don't take the tent you paid for.

[u/Koffeeboy → u/whatsuperpowers]

I bet a fair amount of people fly in. They get there without a tent, purchase the cheapest one they can find and then leave it behind. Why would they want to try and repack and pay to check a filthy, cheap, potentially damaged tent that they have no intention of reusing. it's a symptom of a disposable lifestyle.

[u/Sovarius → u/Koffeeboy]

Yes exactly. I think a lot of people in this thread do not realize tents are as cheap as $20-$35.

$35 is a lot for some people. I would not leave trash/tents behind, but you bet i'm not wasting a couple hours + energy for $35 at the end of a long weekend.

I got to Magic (card game) events and ditch free stuff i get thats too large to fly with. What am i gonna do, stress myself so i can sell a $20 box i don't want? That's a freebie for someone else or i trash it

[u/ChanglingBlake → u/Adventurous_Emotion9]

Even if true, there would be a designated drop off where you can leave your collapsed and stored tent.

Entitled pricks will believe anything to avoid anything even beginning to appear as an inconvenience.

[u/ijmy3 → u/Adventurous_Emotion9]

The problem is, that excuse used to wash. Now almost everyone knows it's not true.

People are just lazy. The issue here is that you can get tents dirt cheap nowadays from Amazon, temu etc. and there's no reason for these people not to just leave them to save carrying them back to the car. It's not exclusive to reading, it happens at most festivals sadly.

[u/tfhermobwoayway → u/ijmy3]

The problem is that, for most of human history, it was hard to make things and easy to destroy them. But we’ve suddenly ended up in a world where it’s easy to make things and hard to destroy them. Combine that with the mindset of the previous world, and the fact 8 billion people all want their own personal everything, and we end up with a bunch of people literally going through multiple tents a year. And all of that just piles up.

[u/VividFiddlesticks → u/tfhermobwoayway]

a bunch of people literally going through multiple tents a year

This seems so crazy to me. We've owned the same 2 tents (big one for people/sleeping, small one for storing crap out of the rain/sun) since the 90's. They're a little tired and have a couple patches now but both are fully functional and packed full of memories! We have the set up and take down for those tents down to a science. It's really only a pain when we have to pack it up wet and then set it back up at home to dry, but...that's just part of camping. (We don't do festivals, we're more "chill out in the woods" types)

I'm pretty damn lazy but abandoning tents like this is wild to me. (Old woman shakes fist at cloud)

[u/Realistic_Way_4565 → u/ijmy3]

True, you spend more on a hotel and also leave with nothing.

[u/BurningPenguin → u/ijmy3]

I had to look it up. Apparently the cheapest tent i can find in German Amazon is 20€. That's cheap af. But still, i can't stop and think that that's ~3-4 days of food for me alone.

[u/JoeFTPgamerIOS → u/ijmy3]

Happened in my state recently. I ran into someone that went to an event and they said how they tried to upgraded their own tent when they saw so many abandoned but they were all cheap and most already damaged. They got one decent usable tent out of the dozens left.

[u/lapsedPacifist5 → u/Adventurous_Emotion9]

No, people are just lazy trashy twats do they give the used condoms, empty beer bottles and other trash to the homeless too? 

[u/ImportantIron1492 → u/Adventurous_Emotion9]

Some festivals have a scheme but it requires people to actually make the effort to pack up their tents and drop them off at a designated spot. Not just abandon them...

[u/Natural-Break-2734 → u/Adventurous_Emotion9]

They just paid 20 bucks for it and don’t want to spend time folding them whilst on 5 days no sleep come down

[u/Lionheartedshmoozer → u/Adventurous_Emotion9]

Even if this were true, you should disassemble it, and pack it up. I wonder how these people convince themselves they are not trash.

[u/bullettenboss → u/crowhouse]

Entitlement

[u/pschlick → u/bullettenboss]

All the comments below yours making it other people’s problem because of the “hassle”. Fucking entitled twats

[u/GallusWrangler → u/pschlick]

This is most people unfortunately. Just observe a grocery store parking lot and their behavior with the carts.

[u/oskarinmix → u/pschlick]

yeah my friend bailed last minute on a reading fest once too

[u/redunculuspanda → u/crowhouse]

Cheap tents, The insane rain and mud after a weekend of music, drink and drugs.

Lots of people just think fuck it and go home.

[u/AliJDB → u/redunculuspanda]

There's also a bit of a final-night tradition that you drink the rest of the alcohol you have and go feral, slashing, burning holes in, or otherwise destroying each other's tents.

But also, they're cheap tents that probably leaked all weekend, they probably have no real intention of camping again anytime soon.

It's shit, but it's been that way forever.

[u/xChoke1x → u/crowhouse]

Because they’re lazy assholes that use the excuse “it’ll just be given to someone that needs it.”

It isn’t. Someone else has to pick that shit up.

[u/Few_Poetry5191 → u/xChoke1x]

This is what annoys me most. They’re not donating anything. They’re dumping it and hoping someone else sorts it out

[u/punch912 → u/crowhouse]

Pos and garbage people.

[u/herb28g → u/crowhouse]

Parents who are constantly clearing up their kids' clutter were not invited.

[u/mckenner1122 → u/crowhouse]

It goes like this…

“Ugh Becky… I do not want to deal with this filthy ass gross tent. And I am SO hungoverrrrrrrrr….”

“Duhhhh Emily! You don’t even have to! Just fucking LEAVE IT!”

“Ew! But that’s like… literally littering or some shit?” :: kicks at a broken tent peg ::

“Look, I seen on Reddit or something that some group like comes around and picks them up and gives them away to like… idk the homeless or whatever. So if you leave it? You’re actually a good person. Okay? So let’s just GO already. And leave your gross ass dirt yurt.”

“Ohh! That’s so amazing. 🤩 I’m helping. Yay!”

(And none of that is true - they just get thrown away. Huzzah.)

[u/Axman5055 → u/mckenner1122]

Class of 09 vibes

[u/british_bbc_ → u/crowhouse]

They don't give a fuck

[u/Stomach-Green → u/crowhouse]

Consumerism

[u/simsyboy → u/crowhouse]

Because they're scum. And there are a very large majority of scumbags who go to reading festival.

[u/Low_ridah → u/crowhouse]

Probably because they are full of unpleasant juices

[u/Snafu999 → u/crowhouse]

When you're spending £325 for a weekend, (probably £500+ including food and drink) a £30 tent starts looking disposable

[u/S3erverMonkey → u/Snafu999]

Leaving behind your trash is entitled and lazy behavior. Grow the fuck up.

[u/anotherblog → u/S3erverMonkey]

It disgusts me. I was a regular festival goer in the early 2000s, including Leeds/Reading. I would never have even considered leaving my shit behind, however young, tired and hungover I was. It’s shameful. When my kids are a bit older I’ll have no problems with them going, but I’ll definitely be checking out and checking back in ALL their kit.

[u/Few-Alarm3436]

People suuuuuck!

[u/Little-Wonder-5037 → u/Few-Alarm3436]

Honestly, sometimes the sheer amount of unnecessary waste at festivals really does make you lose faith in people. 😭

[u/sugrqbez → u/Little-Wonder-5037]

If you sort through it and try to clean stuff up afterwards you usually find some good things people leave behind.

[u/CableTVOfficial → u/sugrqbez]

We went to bonnaroo in 24 when it got canceled from the flooding and we scooped up about 1k worth of rugs alone that just needed to be cleaned. 3 big ass area rugs and a couple smaller ones a hammock with stand, as well as just random camping gear chairs, canopies

[u/Aggravating-Alarm-16 → u/CableTVOfficial]

I've got to say, the blue rug really tied the room together

https://giphy.com/gifs/Phn9GxCnG7agJyAcxl

[u/whitelines4president → u/sugrqbez]

I used to do this after Werchter, a big festival in Belgium. Always came home with a trunk full of alcohol.

[u/Born_Ingenuity6956 → u/Little-Wonder-5037]

You had faith in people?

[u/abdojo]

All this over some books?

[u/Njorls_Saga → u/abdojo]

Goddamn authors running amok again.

[u/minus_minus → u/Njorls_Saga]

That’s the Writing Festival. This is the Reading Festival. 

[u/Alarmed-Newspaper994 → u/Njorls_Saga]

No wonder Texas is trying to ban them all

[u/vr512 → u/abdojo]

Lmao. I was thinking man these are some crazy readers. They need to calm down.

[u/alexdelicious → u/vr512]

The sound of millions of pages turning in total silence 

[u/Nothos927 → u/abdojo]

And this is why the Reading subreddit gets a good amount of posts from people asking about book recommendations

[u/Its_Froggin_Bullfish → u/Nothos927]

Dungeon Crawler Carl is the correct answer next time they ask. 

[u/whathappened2america → u/abdojo]

I legit spent a few seconds wondering if a tornado hit an outdoor book festival or something.

[u/babysharkdoodoodoo → u/abdojo]

Reading as in the town. It’s an annual three-day music festival held in Richfield Avenue, Reading, England

[u/FragDenWayne → u/babysharkdoodoodoo]

Aaaah... Now it makes sense. I was confused... First about what a "reading festival" even would look like, when it's the "book reading" kind of reading, and second... I was confused on "book-people" being like that, didn't fit.

But a music festival, yeah that makes sense.

[u/Valendr0s → u/FragDenWayne]

BOOKS! FUCK YEAH!

[u/Ok_Inflation_8628 → u/Valendr0s]

"Alright this next one's about your mom. I want everyone out there to PUT THEIR FUCKING BOOKS UP!"

[u/Hammerjaws → u/Ok_Inflation_8628]

NOW, LET US INTRODUCE: THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

[u/New-Shake7638 → u/FragDenWayne]

I 100% thought we were literally talking about a festival for reading until this very moment 😆

[u/PublicProperty1805]

There should be a deposit attached to ticket price and when you scan out if you aren't carrying tent with you you don't get deposit back.

[u/KITT_the_Cylon → u/PublicProperty1805]

This is how they do it at Nova Rock in Austria.
You pay 50 eur for a big trash bag, and if you dont bring the big bag full of waste at the end, you wont get the 50 back, which then goes to the cleanup effort.

[u/ih8makingupnames → u/PublicProperty1805]

Although a good idea, most entitled people wouldn't give a fuck and would still walk out empty handed.

[u/fatgat69 → u/ih8makingupnames]

It would still be a good idea to take as much of their money as possible because at least then they don't have as much.

[u/momaLance → u/fatgat69]

And you can pay cleanup crews

[u/Cosimo_Zaretti → u/PublicProperty1805]

Cleaning the site is costed in to the the ticket price. Shame the people who didn't trash the joint also pay it.

If you could claim a deposit for taking your tent, people would just toss it once they were out the gate.

[u/jimmycarr1 → u/Cosimo_Zaretti]

At Boomtown you pay an eco bond of £10 and if you give them a bag full of trash or recycling at the end of the festival you get it back.

[u/Dolphin_Spotter]

I bet there's loads of free booze and drugs amongst that lot

[u/necoffee_zgs → u/Dolphin_Spotter]

not forgeting the condoms

[u/AnneWiddecombesDildo → u/necoffee_zgs]

Free breakfast

[u/WorryNew3661 → u/AnneWiddecombesDildo]

https://giphy.com/gifs/fQJSYE2Qy6OtXfwEuf

[u/PanJawel]

Absolutely wild. Went to a big metal festiwal this year in Czechia (Brutal Assault), and everybody cleaned afterwards. I haven’t seen a single abandoned tent. This is insanity.

[u/AppalachianMusic → u/PanJawel]

I feel like healthy festival culture is only something I see in rock/metal communities. The festivals I've been to that look like landfills afterward were always the non-metal ones.

[u/botask → u/AppalachianMusic]

Nah... Almost everyone cleaned their mess on dnb festivals here (slovakia, country neigbouring czech republic, it was one country few decades ago). Was going at least to one every year for like ten years. There was ocassionaly someone who left some junk or tent there, but it was really rare... But at one of them was older lady, who was cleaning toilets talking about how terrible it was when there was some rock festival few years ago.

[u/andydivide → u/AppalachianMusic]

All of the smaller electronic music festivals in the UK I've been to have a very healthy culture, and everyone takes all their stuff home afterwards. But then I'd also say that while the music can be wildly different, the metal and underground electronic scenes have a lot in common, and attract fundamentally the same kinds of people.

[u/Mobzor]

It's like this every year.

[u/GH057_807 → u/Mobzor]

So it's like Black Friday for used-tent salesmen?

[u/marino1310 → u/GH057_807]

Except they are normally some garbage temu tents that only last about 1 festival

[u/Hyper_Hal → u/Mobzor]

And at every other major festival and protest march and street party and every beach during summer etc etc

now consider how little we, as a society, discuss waste management and disposal, to the point where we have a flytipping epidemic that is only just starting to break national news and a looming crisis of exported waste, which we have been dumping on poorer nations for decades and now the local populaces have begun to become conscious of the dynamic at play and (rightly) reject their place in it

[u/Sweaty_Passenger_948]

I think everybody needs to be charged with littering. Because there is no way you’re gonna go somewhere and leave it this nasty.

[u/Son-of-Prophet]

If you could afford to just throw away a tent like that after one or two nights use, you live a life of privilege

[u/fidgeter → u/Son-of-Prophet]

People struggling to get by aren’t going to these festivals and setting up tents. They can’t afford it.

[u/Qbite → u/fidgeter]

Used tents can be very cheap, even free. Most people look at a smelly, wet, muddy (and cheap) tent the morning of leaving a festival like this and just say fuck it.

[u/skatemoose → u/Qbite]

Take it down and throw in a damn bin than, lazy bellends leaving it there.

[u/wytewydow → u/Son-of-Prophet]

think of it like this. You spend $50-$100 on a shitty tent, that you use for 1 or 2 nights. Or you spend $200 on a hotel room each night. If you bought/trashed the tent, you're still up a couple hundred bucks.

[u/Possible-Estimate748 → u/Son-of-Prophet]

Tbf a lot of those tents look cheap and like $20. Tents aren't expensive.
You can even get huge nice tents for like $150.

[u/Time_Pressure9519]

They might have stayed if not for that saxophone music.

[u/JadeChipmunk]

...why would people leave their tents? They're not super expensive but they're not cheap either, id take mine with me..

[u/SkankySandwich → u/JadeChipmunk]

People pay £350 for a ticket and see their £20 tent as being disposable. Especially when they shit themselves in it or ripped it being an arse.

[u/GottaUseEmAll → u/JadeChipmunk]

Hangovers. Leaving a festival is rough at the best of times. I've never left a tent behind, but I've certainly been tempted to.

[u/BassicallySteve]

Humans are the fucking worst

[u/borderlander_]

https://giphy.com/gifs/u2RGgVCSo2oow

[u/smzt → u/borderlander_]

Iron Eyes Cody was actually Italian American despite claiming to be Native American.

[u/borderlander_ → u/smzt]

I was actually looking for the Wayne's world one. But atleast in that movie they clean up.

[u/tdolomax]

Festival people might be the worst most entitled people I’ve ever met.

[u/SecondOfCicero → u/tdolomax]

Think it depends on the fest maybe? I've never seen that kind of shitty behavior at any of the many I've attended (there were thousands and thousands of people in attendance, even the wooks packed their shit up and rolled out lol), idk what's up with these losers. 

[u/Infinite-Director-62]

My cheap ass thinking how much of this shit I would take after everyone leaves it behind…

Human beings are such a waste of life on this planet with how we treat it with our ignorance… we somehow believe we can change everything but yet are stupid enough to think someone else will take it of it for us.

[u/Vinegarinmyeye → u/Infinite-Director-62]

Been going to festivals for decades, stick around to the very end helping clean up.

Find SO MUCH good stuff.

Wallets with cash, drugs, jewellery, phones... Enough free booze to sink a frigate.

[u/CharthorneBerries → u/Vinegarinmyeye]

Woah 😳 might have to try that out

[u/ImportantIron1492 → u/CharthorneBerries]

I tried it once, found nothing but soggy cardboard, empty Pringles tubes, tissues...

I did get a new torch though

[u/ZeAthenA714 → u/CharthorneBerries]

It is fun on paper, it's much less fun if you're exhausted after 3 days of working on the festival, and depending on the festival you might have to be careful about needles.

[u/BarfingRainbows1]

For those not in the UK, the modern Reading festival has somewhat become "roadmen and 16 year olds doing MDMA and Ketamine for a weekend", so its not surprising that they dont really give a shit about the state they leave the place in.

[u/ForwardAssociation95]

I was always taught to leave a place or thing nicer than you found it. That includes picking up stuff that wasn’t even yours. I teach my son the same thing.

[u/sirhowy]

like all UK festivals since the 70s

[u/EnkiduTheGreat]

Spoiled fucking rich kids. That's what happens. My festival days are well in my rear view, but I went to Bonnaroo four times and M.O.E.down three times. A huge percentage of the people you'd meet were children of extreme privilege.

One year at Bonnaroo, we were camped one site away from a big group of such kids. They were nice enough I guess. They had seven or 8 tents, and tons of gear. The amount of shit they left behind was STAGGERING. We took as much as we could fit in our cars. I got a sick tent, a camp stove, a couple lanterns, my first ever bluetooth speaker, a nice rain poncho. and the coup de gras...a pair of slightly muddy, but clearly brand new La Sportiva hiking boots in my size. Like $300 or so.

All that stuff was definitely purchased for the trip.

[u/123finebyme]

I upgraded my tent a few times over the years after festivals

The only annoying bit, was getting the people sleeping inside to get out

[u/Prize_Proof5332]

I've seen better looking refugee camps.

[u/DefiantDonut7]

I don’t understand why people are leaving their tents? It’s like 5 minutes to break down and a decent tent isn’t cheap?!?

[u/Papoose74 → u/DefiantDonut7]

As an avid Camper I came here to say this.

[u/Fumanchusucka]

I helped clean up a couple festival aftermath, found copious amount of cash and explicit drugs, even found a Nintendo switch. The people cleaning up are definitely coming up. I snagged 2 lightweight backpacking tents as well.

[u/sephyir]

I thought "Reading" as in "reading books" and was really confused and disappointed in my fellow readers for a minute.

[u/PorkinsAndBeans]

https://giphy.com/gifs/oFPiPgqwof4Pe
A bunch of Gaston’s …not enough Belles who appreciate Reading.

[u/eastcoastfarmergirl]

Amazing isn’t it?

No other animal on earth could do this. Maybe beavers, but not like this.

[u/Philgarcia710]

Oh man, back in the 90’s I used to work for Terrapin Presents, Gathering of the Vibes, and when I was working clean vibes crew, it was crazy the amount of tents, sleeping bags, camp chairs, general ground scores, etc we would have to clean up.

[u/bullettenboss]

We don't deserve this planet.

[u/zigko55]

What is a reading festival?

[u/Joshgg13 → u/zigko55]

Reading (pronounced Red-ing) is a town in England. It's a music festival

[u/capricorny90210 → u/Joshgg13]

That makes more sense. I was thinking people were just reading the fuck out of some books.

[u/RUfromHere → u/Joshgg13]

This is so disappointing..... it looks like they had a tent to trash festival🫩

[u/SqareBear → u/zigko55]

Where people read lots of novels

[u/50points4gryffindor → u/SqareBear]

I wait for Make a Movie Festival so that people can tell me the book was better.

[u/DistractedBoxTurtle → u/zigko55]

I believe this is a music festival healing in Reading (city in UK)

Edit: to people responding, apologies. Where I’m from city and town are used interchangeably.

[u/GritstoneGhost → u/zigko55]

Reading (pronounced Redding) is a town in England and they had a music festival.

[u/dztruthseek]

Typical human being shit.

[u/cerebral_sequoia]

People should be fucking ashamed

[u/Farraelll_42 → u/cerebral_sequoia]

Kid named ashamed: 😳

[u/Fluid_Swordfish2737]

And we talk shit about the homeless camps....

[u/Flax1983Flax]

Mount Everest Base Camp.

[u/general-illness]

Agent Smith was right, we are a virus on this planet.

[u/myxoma1]

Is this a cultural thing that everyone is a fucking slob that refuses to clean up after themselves, that's embarrassing...

[u/aardvarkbjones → u/myxoma1]

I've heard it's particularly bad in the UK.

One of the few things folks in the US do at least a little better. Big "leave no trace" culture here.

Not perfect obviously, but I've never seen anything as bad as OP's picture here.

[u/imisscrazylenny → u/aardvarkbjones]

I once stayed in a camp at a metal festival in the US Midwest, but not nearly as large as Reading. We packed everything back up neatly and left our site spotless. I think mostly everyone there did the same (but I can't speak for the people who left after we did). Images like in the OP are baffling to me . How can they feel no guilt walking away from that, ya know? Gross personality.

[u/G3Saint]

People of Nepal have no shelter

[u/King-Of-Da-Ting]

I went to download fest this year, and It was nowhere near as bad as this: if people didn’t want to keep their stuff, there were areas around the camp sites you could leave it.
If you wanted to help yourself to the “junk”, you were free to.

[u/-Myrtenaster-]

I didn't know books got people acting so wild!

[u/FreedomBread]

Concerts in general are like this.

I typically stay until the crowd thins a bit at concerts I go to - the volume of trash they literally shovel into rolling dumpsters is staggering. At a Radiohead show they were paying 5p for each empty plastic cup, you just had to turn it in. Cash money. I gathered up a bunch and made 20 pounds just walking around - people even added to my cup stack. I bought free merchandise from other people's trash cups. And at the end of the night, I saw countless cups on the ground, both thinking what a waste it was as they'd never be recycled, and all that cash was just laying on the ground.

[u/1gorka87]

Well at least there aren't tents burning left and right and gas canisters exploding every minute. That was my memories of it

[u/DenseReality6089]

Young people raised by shit peoples.  And rich entitled not young poeple. 

[u/mynameisglaceon]

I take it Reading Festival is not a festival in which people sit around and read then

[u/demonsidekick]

Japanese people would have cleaned that place up and planted crops before they left.

[u/Fastenbauer]

As somebody that has been to many festivals it's still mind-boggling to me. It takes so little effort to keep your little area clean.

Also always reminds me how we in the rich West have a habit of arrogantly looking down at the trash in poor countries. But that's how it looks the moment nobody cleans up after people. It took only days to look like this.

[u/LargeClimate1080]

I worked in a national park, and you wouldn't believe how many people just leave their brand new gear when they are done. I guess they just buy a new tent each time they go, or they are just doing it for the one-off novelty of camping a single time. Some people just can't be bothered to clean up after themselves.

[u/PukeLoynor]

I see a lot of pics like this after festivals. I can only conclude that festivals are garbage events for garbage people.

[u/UncaringNonchalance]

I really hate this currently popular sax music used in so many videos. It’s too goddamn harsh.