The Ultimate Guide to Leeds Festival 2023
The iconic August bank holiday celebration, Leeds Festival is returning for 2023 and it’s going to be one hell of a time!
We are giving you an insight into all the good stuff you need to know from this year’s line-up, how to get there, which campsites are best and the history of the festival.
If you’re attending Leeds Festival this year for the first time, then we have you sorted with all the info you’re going to need before your first fezzy, or if you’re a seasoned festival go-er, there’s still some useful tips featured below!
Leeds Festival History
Growing up in the UK, you’ll probably already know that the infamous Reading & Leeds Festival are staples of British youth culture.
Both festivals are run by Festival Republic and take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend.
This year the dates are 25th – 27th August 2023. However, if you choose to add on an early bird pass to your weekend ticket, you can attend earlier than this to make the most of your experience.
Whilst both Reading & Leeds are two peas in a pod, they obviously take place in different parts of the country and have their differences.
We’re here to concentrate on your guide to the North festival (sorry to add to the divide).
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History Of Leeds Festival
The first Leeds Festival took place in 1999 at the grounds of Temple Newsam, which featured Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Charlatans and Blur as the festival’s headliners.
The best part was, you could get a weekend ticket for 80 quid – its only gone up ever so slightly in price though, right?!
The festival has had many world-wide legends grace its stages across its 23-year span, such as The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Oasis to name a few.
Leeds Festival has a variety of musical artists from different genres performing annually, with rock, alternative, indie, punk and metal tending to be the genres that dominate the line ups.
However, in the last decade, the festival has seen a rise in hip-hop, grime and dance music artists featured on their line ups.
With its large variety, the British festival attracts music fans across the country and the world to come and party in the Yorkshire fields.
Its estimated that in 2019 around 105,000 festival fans had attended across the weekend, and that’s just without the fans at Reading included!
Leeds Festival is not just music orientated as you can find an array of comedy acts, film showings and performers at the festival.
There are also fairground rides, delicious street food stands and independent clothing boutiques across the grounds.
Since 2003 and still do this day, The Leeds Festival takes place at Bramham Park in Wetherby, which is about a half an hour drive from Leeds City centre.
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Leeds Festival 2023 Line-up
Going to Leeds Festival not only defines your youth but is a rite of passage into adulthood.
Many festival go-ers start (and define) their festival experience by attending Reading or Leeds Festival.
Whether you’re going to be a school leaver, college leaver or a graduate, you just HAVE to attend Leeds Festival 2023 if you haven’t experienced it already.
You’ll have a legendary time and be full of the festival blues when you return home, trust us!
It’s the festival of the summer, with scorching weather hopefully gracing the fields at Braham Park. But who’s playing?
Well, Billie Eilish, Sam Fender, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Foals and Lewis Capaldi are this years amazing headliners.
Yes that’s right, there’s six headliners!
There’s also the likes of Steve Lacy, Loyle Carner, Wetleg, Becky Hill, You Me At Six, and Nothing But Thieves amongst the array of amazing performances to also take to the stage.
There’s a mixture of different music stages (9 to be exact) at Leeds with genres to suit every taste as well as camp DJ’s and camp-site parties Piccadilly Party and Relentless which go on until late so you can groove alll night long!
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Leeds Festival Stages 2023
Are you wondering what stages will be at Leeds Festival 2023? Thankfully, we’ve put together this full break down so you can discover where you’ll be heading to come August!
- Main Stages – Major headliners and popular acts will play at Main Stage East & West.
- Festival Republic Stage – Less well-known or up and coming acts perform at this stage.
- BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage – Dance music DJ’s and artists play here.
- Festival Republic Stage – Less popular appeal and breakthrough acts.
- BBC Radio 1 1Xtra Stage – Hip-Hop, RnB and Rap artists play at this stage.
- LS23– A new addition for 2023, DnB and Garage DJs will be performing at this stage.
- Alternative Tent – Comedy acts and DJs are at this stage.
- BBC Introducing Stage – Unsigned or less well-known acts play here.
- Piccadilly Party – Late night party at the orange campsite with DJ Sets and funfair.
- Relentless After Dark – Kicks off after the headline act finishes every night in the woods at the campsite.
You can find a detailed plan of which artists will be playing at each stage on what day on the Leeds Festival website.
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Tickets & How To Get Them
If you haven’t already grabbed yourself a ticket to Leeds Fest then there’s still tickets available to buy on the official website.
To buy weekend tickets or day tickets, they’re available on the official ticket page.
The best part about going to a festival for the day, is that you can go back to a cosy AirBnb or hotel room and have a nice warm shower after dancing all night to your favourite songs – ahh blissful!
But on the other hand, camping with your besties will be SO much fun, it really depends on what you’d prefer.
We suggest only buying tickets via the official festival website and their official partner TicketMaster.
The last thing you want it to get scammed with a fake ticket from another site.
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Where To Camp
If you’ve already bagged up a weekend ticket then you’re probably wondering where you should set up camp at Braham Park.
Well, we’re experienced festivalgoers here and know the best and worst camps to pitch your tent in and call home for a few days.
Let’s get crackin’
Leeds Festival Campsites Bible:
- Yellow Bubble and Blue Valley Campsite – Closest campsites to the arena and main festival entrance. Sociable and party-like atmosphere. Located on the bottom of a hill so if it rains, it may not the best place to be.
- Red Campsite – Red has to be our favourite of all the camps at Leeds. It’s a sociable campsite and is located near Relentless, but it tends to be less cramped than some of the others. The views from Red Hill are just the best!
- Orange Campsite – Very popular and lively camp, which is split into two parts with a steep hill to get to the top. Its right next to both the Relentless and Piccadilly stages so a good night’s sleep isn’t really promised here, but a party is.
- Purple Campsite – Located next to orange, this camp is another lively camp and if you want to spend your nights at Piccadilly, Relentless or the fair it’s a perfect choice.
- Green and Brown Campsite – Ones to choose if you want a quieter sleeping spot, located the furthest from the arena. Green is better for younger age groups and Brown is better for families and those staying in campervans.
- Pink Moon campsite – If you can’t hack actual camping then this campsite has glamping options for you to live a life of luxury whilst at the festival.
The official Leeds Festival 2023 map should be released soon so keep your eye out.
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Leeds Festival Essentials
If it’s your first festival or perhaps you haven’t been to a festival since pre-pandemic times, then we have provided you with the absolute essentials you should take with you in our Leeds Festival guide.
- Valid ID – You need to bring along a photo ID such as your drivers or provisional license or passport for entry into the festival. Challenge 21 Policy is enforced throughout the festival.
- Tickets – You absolutely CANNOT forget your ticket, turning up and telling the festival site team your sob story won’t gain you entry we’re afraid. Remember to triple check you’ve packed it.
- Phone – The obvious one is bringing your phone to the festival so you can take them all important pictures across the weekend and get in touch with your friends or family whilst at the festival.
- Money – Remember to bring your purse or wallet to the festival as you’ll have to buy food and drinks, if you’re relying on Apple Pay then ensure your phone is charged and you have a portable charger to rely on.
- Medication – If you have any health issues and require medication then ensure you bring it along with you and tell the people you’re staying with if you’ll need medical attention at any point.
- Camping gear – If you’re staying for the full weekend of the festival you need to sort out a tent, a camping chair, sleeping bag or airbed, blanket and a pillow at the bare minimum.
- Re-usable water bottle – Come on guys, don’t be bringing a multi-pack of waters one they’re bloody heavy and two they’re not good for the planet. You can fill up a re-useable water at stations across the festival!
- Sunscreen – Its august bank holiday, the sun is going to be shining, you don’t want to get burnt so wear sunscreen and ensure you take a mini bottle with you or buy some there to apply throughout your time at the festival.
If you forget to pack anything, there is an on-site Co-op supermarket at Leeds Festival along with food, drink and clothing stands.
Remember to leave no trace when you’re leaving the festival and leave your camping area in the way you found it!
You can find out more about what you can and can’t bring into the festival on the Leeds Website essentials section.
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How To Get To Leeds Festival
We’ve got the low down on how to travel to the festival and the easiest, most affordable options for you to choose from in our Leeds Festival guide.
As we mentioned earlier, Leeds Festival takes place at Braham Park in Wetherby, West Yorkshire.
It’s roughly about a half an hour drive from the heart of Leeds City Centre, but there’s a few ways you can make your way to the festival from the city.
Within our next section we’ve listed some of the ways you can travel to Leeds Festival 2023.
If your preferred mode of transport isn’t listed, there is other ways you can get to the festival.
Check the Leeds Festival website for more information on transport.
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Travelling By Car
Wherever you’re travelling from within the UK, make sure you get on the A1, M1 or A1(M) and then follow the signs on the motorway.
Are you being dropped off at the festival by someone else? You need to use the festivals dedicated Pick Up and Drop Off zone, which is located off York Road (A64).
If you are parking at the festival in a car, then don’t worry the fee is already included in your ticket.
If you are travelling by campervan, you will have to add a campervan pass on to your ticket.
The car park is located by the Red Campsite with a few different gates to go through, but there will be a variety of signposts and staff at the festival will be there to lend you a helping hand to tell you where to go.
Remember to designate a driver and plan your journey home in advance to avoid driving when it is not safe.
Such as you may still be under the influence if you are drinking the night before planning to travel home.
Travelling By Taxi
The taxi fare from Leeds City Centre will be on average about £25 – £40 in a hackney taxi depending on the route taken and traffic levels. So, if there’s you and a few mates going, that’s nothing split between you!
We suggest booking a taxi in advance.
You can also travel to the festival by Uber and it is the official transport partner of Leeds Festival.
It’s a good option if you want to pay by card or use their split the cost feature with other people.
Travelling By Shuttle Bus
You can get to the festival by using the shuttle bus service that departs from outside Leeds Train Station, on Sovereign Square Park.
The official Leeds website says that it will begin running at 9.30am on Wednesday 25th August and takes about 45 minutes to get to the festival site.
On Sunday night the shuttle bus runs from Branham Park all night until 6am.
We suggest purchasing your ticket for the shuttle bus and staying up to date with times by using the First Bus App.
Travelling By Train
The best train station to go to attend the festival is Leeds Train Station. There are regular trains from across England, Scotland and Wales that go to Leeds Station.
Use the Trainline App to check trains and get the best priced tickets to Leeds.
You can take the festival bus from Leeds train station direct to Bramham Park.
Travelling By Coach
If you are planning on getting to the festival by coach travel, then use the Official Travel Partner, Big Green Coach, to get you inside the festival gates.
If you are wanting to use a private coach company to get to Leeds, you will need to email the festival to book your time slots.
You can email them here: [email protected].
Big Green Coach are running Weekend and Day return services from over 35 pick-up locations.
Well, we’ve reached the end of our Leeds Festival 2023 guide.
If you’re attending the festival, we hope you have the best time and fingers crossed the weather will be cracking the flags for you!
If you haven’t got yourself a ticket after reading this, then what are you doing?!
Looking for student accommodation for September? We provide exceptional accommodation to those looking to experience university life in Leeds.
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