Festivalgoers brave heavy rain on wet first day

Tabby is wearing a waterproof coat and is wearing sunglasses. She is smiling. Evie is stood next to her and is also smiling. She is wearing a waterproof coat too.

Image caption,

Friends Tabby (right) and Evie are attending the festival for the first time

Published1 hour ago

Tens of thousands of people have braved heavy rain as they arrived at the Reading Festival on its first day.

About 100,000 people are expected to see acts including Charli xcx, Raye, Chase & Status, Dave and Fontaines D.C. ahead of the annual event closing on Sunday.

Rain is expected on all three days but Monday, when most attendees are expected to leave, is forecast to be drier.

Jack arrived in Reading with friends on Wednesday and they made the most of the sunny weather to pitch their tents.

Unfortunately not all of them made it through Thursday morning's rain unscathed.

Jack is a young man wearing a black cap backwards. He is smiling and has short, blonde hair. He is sat in a pub.

Image caption,

Jack's tent made it through Thursday's early morning rain dry enough but not all of his friends were so lucky

"One of our tents did get a little bit flooded," he said.

"Thankfully it wasn't mine… It's going to be a rough festival for [other friends] but they've got to deal with that now. They should have set it up properly!"

Having attended 2025's festival, he said dust across a dry site was an issue.

He said he expects mud will be something attendees will need to contend with this year.

The River Thames is pictured on the right and a long line of people queueing for a boat carrying bags is pictured on the left. The weather is overcast.

Image caption,

A long queue was spotted that transports attendees down the Thames to the festival site

Tabby, who is attending the festival for the first time with friends Evie, Issy and Ellie, said the change in weather was not something they had prepared for.

"It's not what we expected when we were going to Reading, especially after all of the hot weather. Preparing for it was all a bit last minute."

She added: "We're all very excited. The rain has brought down our mood slightly but we'll have fun in the rain."

People walking, with their backs to the camera, to the festival site, close to Reading station, with The Range store on the left of the picture.

Image caption,

People were seen trudging across Reading in the heavy rain on Thursday morning to get to the festival site

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