Leeds Festival shuts two stages for rest of event: ‘Mother nature played part’

Two stages will remain closed for the entirety of Leeds Festival, while a third is expected to reopen, following high winds caused by Storm Lilian.

Festival organisers were forced to shut the Chevron, BBC Radio 1 and Aux stages on Friday, but reopened the arena with Liam Gallagher due to headline as Reading and Leeds Festivals got under way for three days of music over the bank holiday weekend.

The storm has brought strong winds exceeding 70mph to northern parts of England and Wales and travel disruption, including axed flights.

On Friday evening, organisers confirmed the BBC Radio 1 and the brand-new Aux stage will not reopen for scheduled performances on Saturday or Sunday, which were expected to feature stars including Jorja Smith, Teddy Swims, and The Wombats.

“Unfortunately the health and safety team have now confirmed we will not be able use the BBC Radio 1 tent & stage tomorrow or Sunday,” festival organisers said on X.

“We are devastated for you and of course the artists that were eager to play.

“That is the same for the Aux stage too. Mother nature has played her part.

“On the positive side, we are able to be reasonably sure the Chevron will be fit to play tomorrow and will be opened by The Useless Hotline at midday.”

The Chevron stage is expected to feature British electronic group The Prodigy and US rapper Denzel Curry on Saturday, as well as Scottish star Barry Can’t Swim and DJ Sonny Fodera on Sunday.

On Friday, rap artist Bru-C was the first artist to take to the main stage after the arena was reopened, with rock band The Luka State missing out on their midday slot.

His performance came after US star Renee Rapp pulled out of opening the main stage gig.

“Leeds, the weather has been too dangerous for our crew or myself to set up/access the stage all morning,” she wrote on Instagram.

“I’m so sad to miss you but your safety and my team’s safety is of the utmost importance and I can’t risk that. Love you down and see you at Reading.”

Earlier in the day, festival organisers issued a travel update and said in a post that while bus services in Leeds city centre have resumed, there would “still be a wait at the festival site for a minimum of 90 minutes” before people are let through.

A yellow wind warning issued by the Met Office was in place across northern England and North Wales until 11am on Friday, with the storm bringing gusts of around 50-60mph in the region.

As the storm began to batter the north, festival organisers encouraged revellers based in the West Yorkshire city to stay in their tents.

“A fair few tents” have now been left at the campsite by “people who have chosen to go home”, according to one festival-goer.

Declan Donnelly, an engineering production operator from Manchester, told the PA news agency his group “had to hold on to our tent for about one to two hours as well as double peg it as when the gusts hit it was nearly flying off”.

The 20-year-old added: “It seems to have calmed down now but there’s lots of tents ripped, collapsed and destroyed, with a fair few tents left by people who have chosen to go home.”

Another attendee said she was experiencing the “worst day ever” as her tent had been destroyed and her group had been asked to leave their area because of the windy conditions.

Carrie Gill, 19, told PA that she was waiting in a McDonald’s and would probably be waiting there “for a while”.

She said: “All the rain came in (to the tent) because the poles pulled so hard from the wind the fabric ripped open and leaked the whole tent with the rain. We even put those rock plastic pegs in the bottom and they have snapped.

“We aren’t allowed back into the area for hours, all our stuff is in our mates’ tent, phone’s on 30%.

“All the stores have blown over, the urinal walls are gone and lads are just pissing against fences, people’s tents are in the sky, the store shops are all over the floor and shirts and things from stores are gone. It’s honestly really bad here.”

Another festival-goer, Dylan Maggs, 26, told PA that he saw the perimeter wall fall on empty tents and smash a van window.

His group was “right next” to the perimeter fence when it came down, saying: “It looks worse than it was for sure – no-one was inside of the tents when it came down. A fence also took out a van’s window.

“We’re just laughing through it, not much else we can do really, it’s annoying but it is what it is. We’ve seen a lot of people ditch tents and leave.”

Cheshire-based festival Creamfields has also been affected by the strong winds, with one festival-goer saying it had been “impossible” to sleep because strong gusts shook his tent.

Jason Kamara, 23, told PA: “We were told it’d be windy but we had no idea it would be that bad.

“I think it felt worse from inside the tents but it was impossible to sleep because of the rattling sounds.”

Acts including indie singer Beabadoobee and US star Ashnikko were due to play the BBC Radio 1 stage at Leeds on Friday evening, while podcasts Antics With Ash and The Useless Hotline were billed for the Aux stage.

Meanwhile, the Reading Festival schedule has continued as normal with Blink 182 headlining on the Friday night.

According to the Met Office weather forecast for Reading, festival-goers can expect “long sunny spells” and a maximum temperature of 24C.