Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn has told Music Week that the refreshed team at the promoter will take Reading & Leeds into the “next 25 years”.
The festival will return on the Bank Holiday weekend of August 27-30 with headliners Charli XCX, Florence + The Machine, Raye, Dave, Fontaines DC and Chase & Status.
As well as a line-up of all UK and Irish headliners, this edition marks a new era for Reading & Leeds with a completely revamped stage layout – including the main stage renamed The Grid – and a new team to steer the event in the years ahead.
“The festival market never stands still,” said Benn. “We’ve really brought in fresh eyes, fresh ears, fresh thinking. [Promoter] James Ponnusamy is now very much leading that vision and the talent buying with the team.”
Benn took over Reading Festival in 1989 when it was struggling with just 8,000 attendees and re-established it as one of the focal points of the summer with capacity now at 105,000. Leeds Festival, established in 1999, now stands at 90,000 capacity.
Despite the success in building up the twin festivals, there is now intense competition from a huge range of stadium shows this summer and more artists opting to stage their own outdoor events.
“The stadium offering is greater than it’s ever been, and therefore the choice for the artist is greater than it’s ever been,” said Benn. “The demand on festivals is to be better and stronger in terms of what we’re offering the artist in order to compete with that choice of increased stadium offerings.”
The festivals will always be talent-led, but we have to give it more than just talent; we have to give it the environment and elements of comfort, too
Melvin Benn
Benn confirmed that the heightened competition has an impact on the availability of headliners, at a time when artists are also getting more options to play smaller UK stadiums.
“It means we’ve got to respond,” he said. “We are having stadium-sized acts headlining. That’s why we have to present more of an environment for them to play in, rather than just a stage to play on, so they feel like they’re playing a [unique] location and environment, rather than just another gig.”
Benn hailed the 2026 Reading & Leeds line-up of stellar artists as representing the “breadth of talent that the UK and Ireland continues to offer the rest of the world”.
“All of these acts are capable of going overseas now and selling large numbers of tickets,” he said. “All of them have come through the ranks on the stages of Reading & Leeds, Latitude – they’ve cut their teeth on Festival Republic stages. It’s wonderful that they’re back playing the biggest spots.”
Benn welcomed the ascent of former Reading & Leeds acts to headliner status, including Charli XCX and Fontaines DC, as well as the return of Dave who topped the bill in 2022.
“Fontaines have become one of the voices of a generation, as have Dave and Charli as well,” he told Music Week.
The Festival Republic MD noted that Dave has cracked the US Hot 100 with Tems collaboration Raindance.
“That’s no surprise to those that follow Dave and know him,” said Benn. “James [Ponnusamy] promotes his shows in the UK as well and is really close to him.”
Those top-level artist-promoter partnerships are another reason why Ponnusamy is the “right person to lead Reading & Leeds into the future”, he added.
“James has been part of the Festival Republic and Live Nation team for at least 10 years – he’s also the booker and promoter for the Wireless Festival,” said Benn. “He came on board [for Reading & Leeds] in terms of the talent buying, the promoting, the new direction and the vision in autumn last year.”
Ponnusamy works with fellow Reading & Leeds promoter Zach Desmond and talent buyers Max Kafka and Jojo Mathiszig-Lee.
“With what he has brought forward, I couldn’t be happier with it,” said Benn. “I’m as excited now by the changes and the vision that James, Zach, Max and Jojo have brought as I have been at any time, certainly since I first started Leeds Festival in 1999.”
The changes are to take it into the next 25 years and to better understand the demands of the fans, both musically and within the campsite environment
Melvin Benn
The Festival Republic MD said the fresh team means it feels “very much like the next phase in the life of Reading and Leeds”.
“It is to take it into that next 25 years essentially, and to better understand the demands of the fans, both musically and within the campsite environment,” he said.
The festival has been transformed for 2026 with an overhaul of all the stages. Key developments include the launch of a new dance music stage, The Warehouse, reflecting the strength of electronic music.
“Ponno [Ponnusamy] very much wanted to bring back the dance stage, which I’d taken away three years ago,” said Benn. “Dance music’s alive again; it’s absolutely on top of its game again, so that felt appropriate.”
Benn described the concept for The Warehouse as like an old-school rave, with the DJ located in the middle of the crowd, rather than on a remote stage.
“It is going to be an intense stage throughout the weekend – it’s what we envisage the future of festivals to be,” he said. The second stage will now be a band-led stage called The Gallery – replacing the hybrid genre approach of The Chevron launched in 2024 – while The Canopy replaces the BBC Introducing Stage promising a “wider pool of emerging talent”.
In addition, Reading & Leeds is launching The Ballroom – complete with chandeliers and draping – for new acts across a range of genres including YT, Florence Road, Niko B, Paris Paloma, Bleech 9:3 and Clementine Douglas, amongst others.
Benn said the transformation of what was previously the Festival Republic stage is about “reenvisaging what festivals can and should be – it’s creating a club environment to watch music in, as opposed to a big top in a field”.
“They are very much changes led by what is a younger team coming through,” he said. “I’m not disappearing in that sense of it, but certainly that younger, fresher team taking the reins very much feels like the right decision for me.”
Reading Festival had sold out all weekend tickets with only last remaining day tickets available.
Amid the UK’s summer heatwave, Benn took the opportunity to caution festival-goers about the sun and high temperatures. Festival Republic will lay on additional water, sun cream and space for cover on the site.
“Those of us who have been on a sustainability charge for many years have been warning about this for an awfully long time, and it’s come around,” said Benn. “We have to continue to do better in terms of the environment.”
The Festival Republic and Live Nation Group festivals are doing really well, we’re having a great year
Melvin Benn
The Grid, the new name for the main stage, is a nod to Benn’s plans to install purpose-built mains power on the Reading site, and use green energy from the National Grid. It follows similar measures at Electric Picnic in Ireland and Finsbury Park in partnership with Haringey Council.
The power generation roll-out is part of the wider significant investment at Reading & Leeds with the staging revamp and enhanced production.
“Reading and Leeds are at the top of their game, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “Reading is sold out [weekend tickets], Leeds is stronger than it’s been for many, many years. The festivals will always be talent-led, but we have to give it more than just talent; we have to give it the environment and elements of comfort, too.”
Additional changes this year will see Kasabian headline the opening Thursday night in Leeds. Reading is seeking a licensing change to add a fourth day on the main stage in 2027.
“For Leeds, we’ve added what is a seventh headliner with Kasabian, giving a bit more to the fans in the North – that extra night is huge for us,” he said.
Festival Republic also promoted Kasabian’s own show at Finsbury Park last month, along with huge outdoor gigs from Wolf Alice and Biffy Clyro. It follows Fontaines DC’s own show at Finsbury Park in 2025.
“The festival market is busy and intense, but artists do want to stand on their own two feet, sell their own hard tickets and make their own statement,” said Benn.
Beyond this Bank Holiday weekend’s line-up, Benn is also confident about their wider festival business.
“The Festival Republic and Live Nation Group festivals are doing really well,” he said. “We’re having a great year. It’s really strong with Reading & Leeds, Latitude, Wilderness. We have the Crystal Palace Park and the Finsbury Park series, where we’re having an incredible year.”
“Music’s alive, it’s absolutely vibrant,” added Benn. “As long as I’m willing to compete in that market – and I certainly am, we’re not lying down – I think there’s enough to go around in terms of festivals as well as stadiums.”
PHOTO: Jo Hale/Redferns/Getty
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