Reading & Leeds Festivals part company with Carling

After a nine year partnership Festival Republic announced that Carling will no longer be the headline sponsor or official lager of the Reading and Leeds festivals.

Following a successful long-term partnership, it was by mutual agreement that both parties felt the time was right to pursue new opportunities.

This marks a happy turning point in the festival’s history with Reading Festival reclaiming its prestigious name after the Carling Weekend association. The festival first arrived in Reading in 1971 and has been hosted on the same site on the banks of the river Thames ever since. Festival Republic’s Melvin Benn took over Reading in 1989, when attendance was at an all time low. 

The festival underwent a serious shake up and opened with a stellar line-up including New Order, The Pogues, The Mission, The Wonder Stuff and The Sugarcubes, that would put Reading back on the music fans radar and cement the future of the festival for ever more.