The BBC Introducing Stage at Reading & Leeds Festival will be axed after 18 years.
The stage, which launched in 2008, has famously hosted young, emerging artists before they break into the industry. Over the years it’s seen the likes of Ed Sheeran and The 1975 perform, as well as this year’s headliners Florence + The Machine, Charli XCX, Dave and Raye.
It comes as a result of a massive staging and arena overhaul, described by the organisers as the biggest in the events’ history. Both Little John’s Farm in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds will have up to six stages on site, with improvements to the Main Stage now known as The Grid, along with new stages The Gallery and The Warehouse.
As part of the plans, the festival is dropping the BBC Introducing stage, which the BBC reports has supported roughly 70 per cent of all the UK artists on this year’s line-up.
Organisers Festival Republic have said that the new Canopy stage will be the home for new and breaking acts.
“This year, we launched The Canopy, our new music stage for emerging artists. We have increased both its size and production level, enhancing the live experience for performers and audiences alike,” a spokesperson told NME.
“Previously, only artists who had been selected by the BBC were qualified to play the Introducing Stage – now, we are able to open up this important platform to a much wider pool of emerging talent and book any new music artist for the stage. The change is fundamentally about supporting a more diverse range of up-and-coming artists, who will hopefully go on to headline the festival in years to come.
“Festival Republic continues to work with BBC Introducing across other festivals in our portfolio, including Latitude Festival this week, where they are hosting a stage featuring a strong lineup of emerging artists, as well as at The Great Escape.”
Meanwhile, a BBC spokesperson has said festivals across the UK would continue to host BBC Introducing stages this summer with “line-ups including some fantastic up-and-coming artists”.
It said the decision to remove the stage at Reading had been made purely by Festival Republic, and that it was exploring how BBC Introducing could work with the event in future.
Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn recently told NME about his plans for the festival going forward. “The whole stage change and the presentation of the way we’re making those stage changes, it’s made me as excited about Reading & Leeds as I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’m as excited about Reading & Leeds from when I started Leeds, in fact, in 1999. This really is the next phase of Reading & Leeds festivals.”
Benn also reflected on the roles of Reading & Leeds in developing artists, telling us: “Those headliners have very much developed their skills, craft and songwriting in front of audiences that weren’t necessarily their own, and I think that’s what Reading & Leeds does for emerging acts.”
The organisers of Reading & Leeds also recently applied for a licensing change that would allow acts to perform on a Thursday, making the festival a four-day event.
This year’s dual event – dubbed the start of ‘Reading & Leeds 2.0’ – is set to take place at Little John’s Farm in Reading, and Bramham Park in Leeds between August 27 and 30.
Leeds, which takes place on the same weekend, already has permission to perform music on a Thursday, and will do so for the first time this year with Kasabian headlining their main stage. Fontaines D.C., Florence + The Machine, DAVE, Charli XCX, RAYE, and Chase & Status are all confirmed to top the bill for both weekends.
The rest of the initial bill featured Skepta, Sombr, Role Model, JADE, Kneecap, Kettama, Chris Stussy, Geese, Skye Newman, ADELA and KEO.
In March, more names were added to the stacked line-up, including Loyle Carner (Reading only), Violet Grohl, Holly Humberstone, Gurriers, Westside Cowboy, Declan McKenna, Maisie Peters, Paris Paloma, Cruz Beckham, The Lathums (Leeds only), Viagra Boys (Reading only), Florence Road, Men I Trust (Reading only), The K’s (Leeds only), Gunna (Reading only), Overpass, and Duke Dumont.
Last month 13 more acts were added to the bill including Gene Gallagher-led band and NME 100 stars Villanelle, as well as boyband December 10 and London-based pop rock star Beth McCartney.
