Reading Festival: Incidents Down 44%, Arrests Double

Police recorded 127 incidents across the four days of Reading Festival, down from 227 last year, a fall of 44 per cent. Over the same four days they made 34 arrests, double the 17 they made in 2025.

Those two numbers point in opposite directions, and Thames Valley Police does not explain why in the figures it published on Monday evening. The force puts the crowd at around 105,000 people a day at Richfield Avenue over the Bank Holiday weekend.

What the 127 incidents were

The force breaks part of the total down:

• 12 thefts
• 14 offences it describes as “concern in the supply of drug offences”
• 5 of possession with intent to supply drugs
• 5 public order incidents

Sexual offence reports were close to flat. Reports of sexual assault fell from 14 to 13. Reported rapes stayed at five, the same as last year. Reports of exposure rose from two to four.

The largest single fall is in spiking. There were six reports of administering poison with intent, which the force gives as a drop of 83.8 per cent on last year. The release does not print last year’s figure for that offence.

One caveat comes from the force itself: “It is always possible that incidents will be reported after the festival has ended.” These are the numbers as they stood on 7 September, not a closed account.

The facial recognition van scanned 321,021 faces

The police release mentions, in one clause, that the operation used a Live Facial Recognition van alongside cycle, mounted, marine and drone units. The force publishes what those vans actually did, in a separate register, and it is more specific than the release.

Thames Valley Police ran a Reading deployment on each of the festival’s four days. Its own register of deployments and results records:

Across the four days the system compared 321,021 faces against watchlists of between 5,522 and 6,782 people, and generated four alerts. The force sets the match threshold at 0.64 for every deployment, and says a higher threshold means fewer but more accurate matches.

The 28 August row records four disposals against a single alert. The register does not explain how, and its footnotes cover only one other deployment, in High Wycombe in March, where an arrest is marked as having happened during a deployment but not as a result of an alert.

For comparison, the force also ran a Reading deployment on 24 August, the Monday before the festival: a watchlist of 3,787, 38,645 faces seen, 13 alerts, four arrests and four disposals. That single day produced more than three times as many alerts as the whole festival weekend, from about an eighth as many faces.

What the force says it did differently

Chief Superintendent Ben Clark said the weekend “demonstrated the strong partnerships that the force has with the event organisers and other services”, and singled out work with Safer Spaces on reports of sexual violence.

“Our teams worked proactively with Safer Spaces to support anyone who came forward with reports of sexual violence,” he said. “This partnership was vital to providing a safe space and specialist support for victims, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive on how important this resource was to create an environment where individuals were comfortable coming forward with reports.”

He added: “I want to acknowledge the courage of those who did speak up and that we treat every report with care and sensitivity.”

The force also ran its Consent Conversations tent inside the festival for a second year, aimed at young people.

What it means for you

If you live near Richfield Avenue, the number that matters most to you is not in the police release. The festival’s premises licence was varied on 18 August to allow alcohol sales until 3am on every night of the event, live music on the main stage on Thursday until 11.30pm, and up to 40,000 people in the campsite on the Wednesday rather than 20,000. We have set out what the licensing sub-committee granted and what it cut back.

If you were at the festival and reported something, the report still counts. The force’s own caveat is that incidents can be reported after the event has finished, so this year’s 127 is a provisional figure.

If you are uneasy about facial recognition in the town centre, the register above is the public record of every deployment, its watchlist size and its result. It is updated within seven days of each deployment.

Questions people ask

How many arrests were made at Reading Festival 2026?

Thames Valley Police made 34 arrests over the festival weekend, double the 17 arrests made in 2025.

Did crime go up or down at Reading Festival this year?

Recorded incidents fell 44 per cent, from 227 to 127. Arrests rose over the same period, from 17 to 34. The force has not published an explanation for the two figures moving in opposite directions.

How many spiking reports were there at Reading Festival 2026?

Six, recorded as administering poison with intent. Thames Valley Police gives that as a fall of 83.8 per cent on 2025 but does not publish last year’s total.

Was facial recognition used at Reading Festival?

Yes. Thames Valley Police ran a Live Facial Recognition deployment in Reading on each of the four festival days, comparing 321,021 faces in total against watchlists of between 5,522 and 6,782 people. The four deployments produced four alerts.

Sources

• Thames Valley Police, “Incidents reduce by 44% at Reading Festival 2026”, 7 September 2026 for the incident and arrest figures, the offence breakdown and the quotes.
• Thames Valley Police, Live Facial Recognition deployments and results for the four Reading deployments, watchlist sizes, faces seen, alerts and outcomes.
• Licensing Applications Sub-Committee minutes, 18 August 2026 for the licence variation referred to above.

Figures are as published by Thames Valley Police and may change if further incidents are reported. Checked 10 September 2026.