r/Wellthatsucks • u/mattloaf666 • 10h ago

Reading festival 2026

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14.1k Upvotes

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3.6k

u/crowhouse 10h ago

Why do so many people abandon tents?

4.1k

u/Adventurous_Emotion9 10h ago

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.

1.8k

u/Ancient-Emu-8293 9h ago

Would be pretty convenient to pretend believing that.

609

u/aardvarkbjones 9h ago

Is it? Tents cost money. 

Seems insanely wasteful, both environmentally and fiscally.

881

u/NoForever3645 9h ago

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

161

u/halosos 9h ago

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

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u/your_red_triangle 7h ago

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.

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u/Fergnasty007 5h ago

I have been to over 50 camping festivals in the US in the past 15 years and this is not even close to the norm.

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u/Sailed_Sea 4h ago

camping festivals in the uk tend to be very different from those in the us, usually more alcohol and other drugs.

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u/Front-Bookkeeper2139 2h ago

And way more fun

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u/ImmortalMoron3 3h ago

Well Reading is in the UK sooo...

-2

u/Fergnasty007 3h ago

I was talking about him saying everyone pisses everywhere.

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u/eggs_mcmuffin 4h ago

inside the tent or outside? because most grass has piss on it at this point in history lol

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u/TrainingParty3785 1h ago

Sounds like a GREAT time. 😞

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u/Reinis_LV 45m ago

Doesn't mean they pissed on the tent. They hit the bushes

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u/mark_b 7h ago

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.

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u/Mehh_itsa_name 3h ago

Yea lol. People ain’t ditching MSR’s or Blackdiamonds here.

1

u/godlesswickedcreep 2h ago

Well some of the tents in this video are not especially quality tents but they’re worth much more than £20.

10

u/SexlexiaSufferer 7h ago

Don’t hit it with a black light

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u/After-Barracuda-9689 8h ago

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.

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u/Glittering_End_6864 8h ago

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

6

u/BarbaraBeans 7h ago

I'm just talking out my ass here but this seems like TikTok/IG behavior. People who go to festivals to snap a few pics for social media.

I go to a few different music fests and there is absolutely no littering occurring at all.

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u/SecondaryWombat 6h ago

Leave No Trace festivals are the norm for me, some smashed grass and a couple tire ruts are all that get left behind.

3

u/SymbolUnderTheCaret 4h ago

same here

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u/SecondaryWombat 3h ago

Even the idea of seeing that level of trash at a festival is like looking out my window and seeing an alien spacecraft in my yard.

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u/SymbolUnderTheCaret 3h ago

yep. last event I went to, there was a large tent peg that had got stuck in a tree root. Someone spent hours struggling with it rather than leave it behind.

1

u/SecondaryWombat 3h ago

Exactly. Was at a festival where a woman's bead dress exploded. She just shrugged and walked off. About 10 of us spent a while picking it all up, and then we tracked her down and put it in her trash along with a lecture to her and her camp. We don't do that here....

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u/NZRedditUser 7h ago

Maybe you left early or yea was the size of event. Overnight events where tents are common you cant have a clean place cause at night people just chuck shit around, and whe people see mess it adds up

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u/After-Barracuda-9689 6h ago

Yeah, I think it was the festivals I attended. I no longer enjoy that kind of thing, but I wouldn’t be shocked if those same festivals are still nothing like this.

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u/justme002 6h ago

In 1969, cleanup after Woodstock required $50,000 and buldozers.

Edit: in today's money that's in excess of $450,000

2

u/Aksi_Gu 5h ago

Yeah I was at reading in 2003 and it looked like this.

Maybe not on the scale, but there's always been shitheads

2

u/StinkyWeezle 5h ago

You couldn't pick up a new tent for 10% of the ticket price back then.

1

u/Appropriate-Falcon75 5h ago

We (as a society) have brought up our youngsters to believe that individuals matter more than society and everything is disposable.

If 90% of people only plan on using something once, producing something that is high quality and last for years is pointless as it just adds cost.

1

u/gsfgf 4h ago

Same. And well run festivals like Bonnaroo have trash collection procedures that work. Trash bags are handed out constantly, and there are designated trash disposal locations that people actually use.

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u/somajones 4h ago

I was at Woodstock (the original one in '94, not the one with the rapes and the fires in '99) and though it wasn't this bad there were still plenty of sleeping bags, pads and tents left behind.

3

u/After-Barracuda-9689 4h ago

The original one was in 69 my friend. But I remember the one in 94.

1

u/somajones 4h ago

It was a joke that apparently only amuses me.

•

u/EstablishedFear 47m ago

Different festivals, different crowds. The festivals I go to are nothing like this - they are more of a 'leave no trace' type deal.

6

u/icansmellcolors 7h ago

But they have been known to claim to be fiscally and environmentally responsible.

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u/GermanRedditorAmA 9h ago

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

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u/Dorny_Hude 9h ago

You’d assume a Reading Festival is lot tamer than almost any other and people there are somewhat knowledgeable.

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u/Mountain-Discount161 8h ago

Reading Festival

Just so we're clear. This isn't "a" reading festival. This is a festival named after the town Reading in England.

10

u/Standard_Gur30 7h ago

Are you sure? This looks like the morning after a large book club to me. 🤣

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u/IAmANobodyAMA 8h ago

It can be both 🤣

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u/Dorny_Hude 8h ago

Wow ok, thanks. OP should make that clear.

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u/Vesalii 8h ago

Reading Festival is pretty well known though. I'm not from across the pond and I know it too.

Hilarious misconception btw hahahahaha.

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u/TheEldest80s 8h ago

Ikr, my granny would say "bless their hearts" lol

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u/Alarmed-Newspaper994 8h ago

As a Reading Festival veteran from my younger years, it's one of the more chaotic ones. Young crowd, lots of nutters. I've been to plenty of festivals since that are very civilised overall, and I suspect with minimal (comparatively) rubbish left behind. There will of course always be some.

10

u/KwisatzHaterach 9h ago

As a festival goer I resent this, at the same time I must acknowledge the veracity of part of the statement for I’m a financial chaos demon.

4

u/RockstarAgent 9h ago

The fact is that if you can afford to go to an event like this, you can afford to leave a tent behind and not deal with it. So it’s a matter of convenience.

1

u/NoForever3645 7h ago

It’s a matter of convenience for you, but not for all of the people who have to clean up after your mess. Hence environmental irresponsibility.

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u/NoForever3645 7h ago

Obviously there are some good and responsible people in the crowd, but the evidence left behind by every single festival over and over again is overwhelmingly damning for the majority of people who attend these events.

2

u/Dumbwaiter819 4h ago

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

This is tragically hilarious when you remember a lot of people who attend things like this claim to be all "pro-earth" because they use reusable grocery bags and are against seed oils or whatever the fuck social media is pumping into people's heads these days

1

u/tfhermobwoayway 7h ago

A lot of festivals bill themselves as being big celebrations of art and the Earth.

1

u/NoForever3645 7h ago

Yeah, the hypocrisy makes my stomach turn. I’m sure the organizers often have good intentions, but the reality is that many of the event goers don’t share that altruism and the event does more harm than good.

1

u/DazzlingRhubarb2000 4h ago

Unless the festival in question is Fuji Rock.

•

u/WokeWook69420 5m ago

Depends on the festival.

A lot of American festivals have Clean-Up Parties at the end of each day and even prizes for people who bring the most bags of trash.

I got a trash bag pin from Electric Forest one year!

1

u/OuttHouseMouse 8h ago

Well, ive got the real answer for you my friends as to why they abandon tents.

They pack a bunch of stuff in. They party hard. Last thing they wana do hungover at the end of a festival and pack up a fucking tent. Ever tried squeezing one in a bag? Fuck that. Then carry all that heavy shit out? Hell nah. Thats why they leave unopened beer and shit too. its heavy

They just wana grab whatever is light, and get the fuck home to their bed so they can recover for work

Plus you know how much a festival cost? Buying two tacos and a drink is the same price as that tent. It is definately disposable in this case

3

u/NoForever3645 7h ago

Maybe they shouldn’t go to the festival and get a hangover then if they cant handle the responsibility of cleaning up after themselves. I’ve gone camping many times, it’s not hard to pack up a tent. But I’m also responsible and actually care about other people and the environment.

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u/OuttHouseMouse 7h ago

Lol tell them that.

But im certain thats why

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u/NoForever3645 7h ago

Bunch of lazy turds, it’s very unfortunate.

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u/ChickensInSpace 3h ago

Hope something bad happens to them.

0

u/JobSpecial9274 3h ago

“Festival goers” is such a broad category of people you aren’t making the “gotcha” point you think you are here. “Festival goers” is essentially inclusive of just about every walk of life out there. There are festivals for every genre of music, there are festivals for everything but music. It’s hilarious seeing posts like this on Reddit because before you even glance at the comments, you know without fail there’ll be some friendless redditor who never leaves the house who’s convinced themselves they are in the right and completely morally superior for doing so.