THE FESTIVAL SITE AND CAMPING

Are there any age restrictions?
When does the site open/close?
What's this whole wristband malarky?
Where do I camp?
Can I camp by my car?
How will I know which camp I'm in?
WHERE'S THE BEST PLACE TO CAMP?
If I only have a day ticket can I still camp?
Are we allowed fires?
What are the toilets like?
Are there police?

ARE THERE ANY AGE RESTRICTIONS?

www.readingfestival.com says: Under 13 (12 and under) are admitted free but MUST be accompanied by a ticket holding adult.

So if you are under 13 you can get in free with a ticket holding adult - presumably one adult to every child under 13, and I would guess that an adult would be a person who is 18 or over - I THINK. (I'm not sure if one adult can bring in a gaggle of under 13s - they probably wouldn't want to anyway!) So by my amazing powers of deduction, I would think that if you are aged 13 or over, you can camp without an adult.

When does the site open/close?

It opens to Weekend Ticketholders 8am Thursday morning. Those rich enough to purchase a Wednesday Pass will be able to get in Wednesday evening at 6pm (that's the time it was for 2004), however apparently there will be no facilities (I presume that means none of the shops will be open, and you won't be able to use the onsite toilets). The site closes at 12 midday on Monday. You are free to camp during that time. Sunday night is the last and the craziest night of all, it is your last chance to be random and crazy before you have to return to normality for another year, so they will not turf you out the site at midnight or anything silly like that.

What's this whole wristband malarky?

Your wristband is essentially your ticket on your wrist, and it allows you access to the site and the arena - your ticket allows you entrance to the site. YOU CANNOT GET INTO THE ARENA WITH A TICKET - YOU NEED TO BE WEARING A WRISTBAND. You will have to go to 'Wristband Exchange' (not far from the arena entrance - there are signs showing where it is) where you exchange you ticket for a wristband - and they are colour-coded in accordance with your ticket - for example:

Weekend ticket - Yellow
Friday - Blue
Saturday - Red
Sunday - Green

And the colours change every year - if you are in a group, you will all need to go and get your own wristbands - you cannot send one person down with everyone's tickets to go and fetch wristbands.

Weekend Ticketholders - Go and pitch your tent before you get your wristband, as you don't really need it that urgently until you want to leave the site. Also wristband exchange is made up of lots of fences, and the gaps between are quite narrow (no more than 2ft wide) and it'll be more trouble than its worth carrying your bags round it. Aim to get your wristband on the thursday, as all queues will be for weekend tickets. on the friday it is split half and half for weekend tickets and friday tickets, and it is imperative that you get in the right queue.
Day Ticketholders - Go and get your wristbands as soon as you arrive. Those with friday tickets, if you're being sneaky and coming on the thursday, you will not be able to get your wristband until the friday morning. If you intend to be even more sneaky and stay for the whole weekend/past the day your ticket is valid for, if you leave the site, you will not be able to get back in.

Where do I camp?

Sounds like a silly question. You turn up at the site, walk in, and find a spot. You will not be assigned to a section of the campsite (unless you have a campervan). Do not camp on the roads as security will come and remove your tent whether you are there or not. Also try to avoid camping right by the main roads, by the toilets or by the taps - people will fall on/tread on your tent, the toilets are rather fragrant in the heat, and the tap is very wet, and you'll have queues of people stood in the middle of your camp waiting to get water.

Can I camp by my car?

No. Your car goes in a car park along with the rest of the cars. And your car goes where it is put! Car parks are in all the campsites, and you can be anything from spitting distance to a 10-15 min walk from your car, depending on where camping space is available in relation to your car. the earlier you get there, the more choice you have.

Wise words from Echonarc....

If you can drive and have a car, drive down in the middle of the night on Wednesday/Thurdays morning. Ok you will be knackered by the end of it but you will get a decent camping space. I got a peach of a space in Green by turning up at 5o'clock in the morning. Plus you miss all the traffic on the motorways and the queue to get into the car parks.

When you have parked your car, empty it. Leave nothing on display, stick everything you are leaving in the car in the boot if you can get away with it. Empty the glove box, the ashtrays and anything else and leave them open. This shows that that you have nothing worth stealing in your car. A steering lock doesn't hurt either.

How will I know which camp I'm in?

Each camp is colour coded (either yellow, orange, green or brown) and there are many many telegraph poles which suspend a network of lights (so that you can see where you're going in the dark) and small triangular flags - yellow for yellow camp, green for green camp etc etc - within each colour, the camps are further divided into letters (see map elsewhere in Tips section) and any main roads will be distinguished by numbers and letters (ie Brown Road B2).

WHERE'S THE BEST PLACE TO CAMP?

Opinion is divided on the subject! But as a general rule of thumb, the main roads through the site are very busy, noisy and crazy, and the edges of each camp (by walls and hedges) are quieter and more chilled out. But regardless of where you camp, you will not escape the waves of people screaming "BOLLOCKS!" up and down the fields at all hours of the day and night. Everyone has their preferences to a particular camp, but more often than not, it will be a case of where you can find space to put all your tents. 2004 was very muddy, and I swore myself blind that I'd be in Green Camp, but on arrival we were a bit put off by the puddles on the grass, and ended up on a nice dry patch in Yellow Camp round near the Radio 1 tent.

But really and honestly, you cannot guarantee from one year to the next that you'll be camping in Party Central (unless you're right by a main road), or in one of the quieter areas. There are 55,000 people camping, and it really is a lottery of who you end up camping next to, which determines how lively your campsite will be. But I reckon its better to camp somewhere a bit chilled out where you can catch a bit of sleep each morning (4am is a good time to go to bed), rather than camping somewhere crazy where you'll find it more difficult to sleep. YOU CAN ALWAYS WALK TO SOMEWHERE MORE CRAZY! And walking round the site is how you get to see other random stuff rather than staying in your own little party zone.

If I only have a day ticket can I still camp?

You're not supposed to, but many people get away with it every year. organise to sleep in a friend's tent, but you will not be able to leave the site until you intend to go home!

Are we allowed fires?

Yes - so long as you keep it under control, don't have people leaping through it, or throw gas canisters on it you should be fine. they sell firewood on site and firelighters at the wood stall by Reaper's Bridge, which is the main route into Green Camp.

What are the toilets like?

Absolutely rank - the smell will make you retch really badly, and I'd rather throw up in a bush than in one of the toilets. Although what i have learnt to do, is go when the slurry tanker arrives. once they've 'dealt with' a toilet, it'll be clean and smell a lot less pungent than before they came. If you really can't face them, you can always go and find a pub in Reading town centre, buy yourself a drink, thus meaning that you are entitled to use their clean* and flushing toilets.

*well we all know how clean pub toilets are! but they're still better than the onsite ones!

Are there police?

Yes. But they're not just there to arrest you for possession - they'd have too big a task on their hands. They're there for your own safety and to deter thieves and also so you can go to them with any problems like you've had your wallet nicked, there's someone suspicious lurking round the tents, a fight's broken out and isn't calming down, there's someone passed out in the campsite and they're not breathing etc etc. So long as you keep your substances to yourself they won't cause you any problems. the police i met last year (whilst pissed) were very nice and quite happy to put up with the ceaseless requests for group hugs - well anything's better than being called a fascist pig.