Reading Festival Licence: 3am Bar and Thursday Main Stage

Reading Festival can now sell alcohol until 3am on every night of the event, run live music on the main stage on Thursday evening, and admit up to 40,000 people to the campsite on the Wednesday instead of 20,000.

Councillors granted the variation on 18 August. The decision itself has only just reached the public record, in draft minutes published this week for the licensing sub-committee’s next meeting on 17 September.

What the festival asked for, and what it got

Festival Republic Limited applied on 26 June to vary premises licence LMV000478 for Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue. Three councillors, Woodward as chair, Ayub and Keane, heard it in the Council Chamber from 5pm on 18 August and closed at 7.31pm.

They granted it, with one reduction. The hours on the licence now read:

The single change from the application is the Thursday music finish. Festival Republic asked for midnight. During the hearing the applicant offered 23:30 instead, and the sub-committee took that offer into account, calling it “a positive measure” (minutes of 18 August 2026).

Two conditions pin the Thursday down. Live music that night is restricted to Stage 1, the main stage. That condition was left out of the schedule attached to the committee report by mistake, and was read into the meeting as a verbal update before the vote.

The alcohol change is larger than the headline suggests. Thursday drinking hours go from a seven-hour window to a seventeen-hour one, and a Wednesday window appears where the licence previously had none.

Nine objections, four in support

Thirteen representations arrived during the 28-day consultation. Nine objected, including the Warren and District Residents’ Association and the Caversham and District Residents’ Association. Four supported the application.

The objections raised, in the minutes’ summary:

• noise and disturbance from Thursday evening music and 3am alcohol sales
• anti-social behaviour
• effects on residents’ amenity and sleep
• extra pressure on transport and emergency services
• wider effects on the local community

A ward councillor, Councillor Saadat, attended and spoke on behalf of a constituent who had made a representation. The two WADRA representatives asked questions of the applicant but left the meeting without presenting their association’s case.

Three bodies did not object at all: Thames Valley Police, Environmental Health and the council’s own licensing authority. The sub-committee said it took that into account.

The festival was represented by a solicitor, its festival director Melvin Benn, and an acoustic expert from Vanguardia, the consultancy that wrote the noise impact assessment submitted with the application. The minutes record one concession from the applicant’s side: it accepted that the Reading and Leeds sites differ in how densely populated their surroundings are.

The small print that did not make the press release

The application also rewrote dozens of licence conditions, agreed in advance with council licensing officers. Most of that is housekeeping. Three changes are not.

Two Sunday-evening controls have gone. The old licence banned festival-goers from bringing alcohol on to any part of the site after 6pm on the Sunday. It also required a pass-out system on Sunday evening, so that after 8pm only original wristband holders could get back in. Both conditions are marked in the schedule as removed by agreement with the council (committee report and appendices, Appendix RS-3).

One control has been added. Entry control staff must now be briefed not to let under-18s bring their own alcohol on site, and the condition says this “shall be actively enforced at all times”.

The noise limits themselves were not touched. Music noise measured a metre from the front of the nearest noise-sensitive home still may not exceed 68dB(A) over 15 minutes between 11am and midnight, rising to 70dB(A) for the final two performances of each day. After midnight the limit is 56dB(A), and amplified music is not supposed to be the dominant source of noise at that hour.

The licensed capacity is unchanged at 104,999 ticket holders at any one time on any one day. Thames Valley Police put the crowd at around 105,000 people a day at this year’s festival.

Why it took three weeks to appear

The council issued no decision notice after the hearing, and its register of current applications drops an item once the representation window closes, so there was no route to the outcome. The sub-committee’s own meeting page for 18 August still lists only the agenda and the reports pack.

The decision surfaced because minutes have to be confirmed at a later meeting. They appear as item 2 on the agenda for 17 September, alongside a premises licence application for Bar Tokyo on Wiston Terrace.

Anyone who was party to the decision has 21 days from being notified in writing to appeal to the magistrates’ court.

What it means for you

If you live near the site, the practical change is Thursday and Wednesday. There is now licensed music on the Thursday until 11.30pm, and the bars can serve from 10am on the Thursday and from 11am on the Wednesday, both until 3am. Sunday night’s last orders move from 2am to 3am.

If you live in Caversham, the Warren or the streets around Richfield Avenue and you want the noise conditions enforced, the numbers above are the ones to quote. Complaints go to the council’s environmental protection team, and the licence holder has to give the council a full debrief on music noise levels from every stage within a month of the event.

If you use the campsite, the Wednesday allocation can now be twice the size, but the site’s overall ceiling has not moved. Festival Republic told the council the point of the increase is to spread arrivals, taking pressure off the Thursday crush at Reading station and on the last-mile walking routes.

We have updated our guide to the Reading Festival road closures and travel arrangements, which previously recorded that the licence decision had not been published.

Questions people ask

Did Reading Festival get its extra day of music?

Yes, in part. Live music is now permitted on the Thursday from 5pm, but only until 11.30pm and only on Stage 1, the main stage. Festival Republic had applied for midnight.

Can Reading Festival serve alcohol until 3am?

Yes. The varied licence permits alcohol sales until 3am on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The previous licence stopped at 2am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and at midnight on Thursday.

How many people can camp at Reading Festival on the Wednesday?

Up to 40,000 early-arrival ticket holders, doubled from 20,000. Admission still has to be agreed with Reading Borough Council and Thames Valley Police. The overall licensed capacity remains 104,999 at any one time.

Who objected to the Reading Festival licence variation?

Thirteen representations were made. Nine objected, including the Warren and District Residents’ Association and the Caversham and District Residents’ Association, and four supported the application. Thames Valley Police, Environmental Health and the licensing authority made no objection.

Can the decision be appealed?

Yes. Any party to the decision may appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of being notified of it in writing.

Sources

• Licensing Applications Sub-Committee minutes, 18 August 2026 for the decision, the reasons, the representations and the hearing.
• Reading Festival committee report and appendices for the existing licence, the application, the schedule of condition changes and the noise conditions.
• Licensing Applications Sub-Committee agenda, 17 September 2026 for the minutes being brought forward for confirmation.
• Licensing Applications Sub-Committee, 18 August 2026 for the agenda and reports pack.

The minutes are in draft until the sub-committee confirms them on 17 September. Checked 10 September 2026.