GENERAL

CAMPING

DIRECTIONS

VOLUNTEER

DISABLED

GREEN READING

Carling Weekend: Reading Festival - Friday 24th to Sunday 26th August 2007
Melvin Benn, Festival Republic Director had this to say about Carling Weekend:Reading Festival 2007: "2006 was a HUGE success for all involved and I want to say heartfelt thanks to everyone for their part in that. The acts were amazing and so were the festivalgoers in their support of our efforts to make the arena and the campsites generally better places to be. This year we want to take things that step further and get 2007 to surpass 2006 and your help in that would be fantastic. We have made some changes which are detailed below together with other key things that I wanted to point out."

We will be having late night entertainment again after the bands finish, for those not yet ready for their sleeping bags. The Silent Disco was incredibly popular in 2006 and that will run again til 3am on nights that the arena is open in the purple campsite cafe area.

The Action Aid tent in the campsite will be open until 3am from Thursday onwards. The Cinema tent and the Cabaret tent in the arena are open until 4am and 3am respectively on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

This year for the first time in many years we will be bringing funfair attractions back to the campsites too. These will open til late and will also be based in purple campsite cafe area.

Last year we introduced a campsite village area deep into the Purple zone campsite which is open 23 hours a day from Wednesday onwards. This area has a large sit down cafe, a juice bar run by Malcolm Haynes from the dance area at Glastonbury, Funfair, Silent Disco, a camp shop, a new off sales bar where you can buy cases of lager etc and woodcutter shop for firewood. It is there for those of you that want to eat/drink/shop through the night and it is in the heart of the campsites so that if you want to avoid the main throng around the traders by the arena entrance to G4 and Reapers Bridge then there is somewhere else for you to go.

In 2006, we stepped over the Thames to North of the river for the first time and created our Quiet Campsite. Any weekend ticket holders can camp here, but if you are bringing a car, you must have previously purchased a white car pass to park here. There are a couple of food traders based here open 23 hours a day.

Some of you will have experienced problems with the free shuttle boat service last year that bought people to and from white to the main site. Fear not for anyone camping over there this year, as we completely agree that this service didn't work anywhere near as well as it should have done in 2006, and so this year we have completely revamped the service and improved it a great deal.

We have written new terms and conditions for anyone planning to bring a campervan or caravan to the event to sleep in and please see the travel section for those. It basically means that you can only bring proper sleeping vehicles to the event to sleep in. No white vans or any other vehicle that simply has a mattress in will do!

All campervans and caravans will be going into the white campsite this year, instead of red.

Early Arrivals a number of Early Arrivals passes will soon be available to be purchased. These will allow your early admission to site at 1800 on Wednesday, instead of Thursday. Numbers are strictly limited and passes must be booked in advance. Please see Book Tickets section of website for further info.

Family camping is now situated in the WHITE Campsite. Ask a steward to direct you there. There are no special facilities there. It is just a quiet campsite to camp in.

There are free male and female showers on G4 road which are very underused! They are open most of the day from Thursday onwards and so please use them rather than going to the Rivermead Centre.

No fires are allowed in the main arena at all and we are likely to be prosecuted for any seen and so please help the event by just having your campfires in the campsites where they belong.

Bonfires are not permitted anywhere.
Anyone seen creating a bonfire or a fire in the arena will be subject to being evicted from the site on the spot.

Campfires ie. a small fire that is below knee-height, less than one-pace wide and made of clean fuel, will be allowed in the campsite, provided they are looked after responsibly and should not be in a position that is a danger to any structure or person and not blocking any roads. They will be monitored and will be put out if they exceed these limits.

We have a firewood trader onsite so that you can buy clean wood for your small campfires.

Burning tents, metal poles, wellies, sleeping bags etc is not only dangerous, but produces toxic fumes. Please do not burn them when we can put them to good use in the future by donating them to Globalhand charity (see below).

Following one festival goer suffering serious and permanent disfigurement when a gas canister was thrown on a fire in 2005, there will be a zero tolerance policy on this type of behaviour. Anyone seen to have, or even thought to have, thrown a canister or can on a fire will be evicted from the festival immediately.

We are again this year running gas canister/aerosol exchanges on site, where used canisters can be traded in for the opportunity to win tickets for Carling Weekend: Reading Festival & Glastonbury 2008. Winners names will be announced from the main stage each night.

 

FIRE SAFETY

Small clean, campfires only are allowed in the campsites - below knee height and less than one pace wide. They will be monitored and extinguished if otherwise.

 

 

There will be a firewood trader onsite to buy clean wood for your small campfires.

There are to be no bonfires permitted in the campsites this year.

There are to be no fires at all in the arena this year.

Candles are plain dangerous; torches are far less of a fire risk in and around tents.

Watch out for flying embers and sparks, as they could start a fire, even from some distance.

Don't burn plastic, rubbish or any unwanted items.

Never use petrol or paraffin to start or revive a fire.

If you cook, always do it outside, ensure that there is constant supervision and keep well away from any flammable materials.

The zone manager in your campsite will be able to help you on any fire issues you may have.

 

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Guidelines for the safe use of Camping Gas:

Gas canister and aerosol exchanges points will be set up in the campsites at your zone managers caravan. When you hand them in, you have a chance to win the mother of all Festival competitions!

If you must bring gas to the festival please follow the guidelines below:

Before coming to the festival have your equipment serviced.

Never light a gas cooker inside your tent.

Always store any spare canisters out of doors.

"EMPTY" canisters and aerosols may not be completely empty. When you've removed it from your stove store it upright outside your tent for a while to allow any gas that may be in it to evaporate before bringing it to the gas canister exchange at your campsite zone managers caravan where it will be disposed of safely. A system will be in place to swap empty gas canisters and aerosols for a voucher for a competition to win free tickets to many of next years festivals.

Never change gas cylinders inside your tent.

Never hold gas cylinders upside down when changing.

Never use a naked flame to search for a leak.

NEVER put a camping gas cylinder on a fire or try to heat it artificially. This can prove fatal. Anyone seen doing so, or even thought to have done so, will be evicted from site.

Check the colour of the flame: If the flame is burning blue it's fine. If it's burning with an orange or yellow flame or is creating sooty stains on your stove you may have a problem with your stove, don't use it.

Never attempt to refill a gas canister.
If you smell gas or think you have a leak turnoff if possible. Evacuate the area and get help from a steward or on site fire team.
Remember the zone managers and on-site fire team are there to answer your questions.

You must get everyone out of the tent, evacuate the area as quickly as possible and get help from the nearest steward or security who will call the onsite Fire Safety Team.

In the campsites you can go to the nearest Fire Tower (situated around the perimeter of the campsites and easily visible). In the unlikely event that you cannot find a member of security or steward nearby then please dial 999.

You may discover a fire in its very early stages and think that you can deal with it yourself. The first thing that you should remember is that fire spreads very quickly. Even a small contained fire can quickly spread, producing smoke and fumes which can kill in seconds.

If you are in any doubt do not tackle the fire, no matter how small. You can put yourself at risk by fighting the fire. If in doubt, get out, get the onsite Fire Safety Team out, stay out.

Many people put out small fires quite safely. However, some people die or are injured by tackling fires which are beyond their capabilities. Here is a simple fire code to help you decide whether to put out or get out -

 

 

Only tackle a fire in its very early stages.

Always put your own and other peoples safety first. Make sure you can escape if you need to and never let a fire block your exit.

Fire extinguishers are only for fighting a fire in its very early stages. Never tackle a fire if it is starting to spread or has spread to other items nearby.

Around 70% of fire deaths are caused by people being overcome by smoke and fumes.

Every year we have litter exchange points in the campsites and at these points if you bring a full bin bag of recyled cans, you will be given a token for a free can of Carling. Last year we gave away nearly 6,000!

The campsite offices are based in caravans in each zone. They are open 24 hours and they are the bases for the Zone Managers, the CAT teams and DC campsite staff and they are also where the gas canister/aerosol exchange points are located. Please talk to the team in your campsite and get to know them. 

Use them for getting any information you may need. They will also be patrolling and watching out for anything untoward in the campsites so please help them.

Tangerine Fields brings a new camping service to the Carling Weekend:Reading Festival. Leave your tent at home and book into a ready pitched, fully equipped tent set in chilled out riverside surroundings on the festival site, its even got its own boat for crossing the water. There is the added luxury of extra loos and hot showers. Is there any other way to camp?

Available to anyone with a weekend camping ticket, for prices and booking visit www.tangerinefields.co.uk

Tangerine Fields is only available in white campsite.

Anyone evicted for anti-social behaviour such as deliberately starting large bonfires, throwing missiles at staff or throwing gas canisters or aerosols on fires will receive a lifetime ban to all festivals that Festival Republic and Live Nation promote including Glastonbury and Download.

Their details will also be passed on to Thames Valley Police.

Click here if you would like to join the growing numbers supporting the Love Not Riots campaign

GIVE ME SHELTER: Your TENT could change lives...

Every year thousands of tents get dumped or trashed. But these tents could change lives in desperate situations worldwide. Together with the charity Global Hand, we're making this happen. At this year's Leeds festival, take your tent, sleeping bags and wellies to one of the collection points before you leave. And make sure you get your mates to do the same.

Your festival kit could help:

Give shelter for families caught up in disasters such as earthquakes, famine and conflict

Give children from impoverished backgrounds the chance to have fun at a summer camp

Give emergency staff shelter and storage space for vital medical and educational materials 

For more information about Global Hand and Give Me Shelter go here
Don't dump it. Don't destroy it. Donate it
IMPORTANT: NEWS ABOUT YOUR TENT!

We need you to take down your tents and hand them in. It is simply impossible for us to take down so many tents. We will, however, check all tents handed in. If they are good quality, they will be distributed to people in need, locally and in many places on the planet.

Tents left standing will go to landfill and damage our environment: 
So, don’t leave your tent. Pack it. Hand it in. Change lives!

Including a large map, latest running order information or changes, and other general information on all onsite services, facilities and entertainment.