The Reading and Leeds Lineup is Here: Hozier, Chappell Roan, Bring Me The Horizon and more
The infamous UK festival has unveiled its first cohort of acts for the 2025 Bank Holiday bonanza.
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are two of the UK’s most iconic music events, held annually over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Taking place simultaneously at Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds, the festivals share a lineup and attract thousands of music fans from around the world. Known for their diverse programming, the events have evolved from their rock-centric origins to feature a mix of genres, including pop, rap, electronic, and metal, alongside their traditional rock and indie mainstays.
Today, the festival, taking place from the 21 – 24 August 2025, announced its first wave of acts set to grace the two stages.
Chappell Roan, known for her theatrical pop and bold stage presence, will make history as one of the first openly queer pop acts to headline the festival. Roan’s recent album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was lauded for its infectious melodies and empowering themes and has cemented the breakout star as a force in modern pop music.
Also joining Chappell for his first Reading and Leeds performance is Hozier, who will bring his soulful blend of folk and blues to the traditionally rock-focused festival.
Other names included in the first wave of performers include AJ Tracey, Becky Hill, Sammy Viriji, Trippie Redd, Amyl and The Sniffers, Conan Gray, The Kooks, The Dare, Bloc Party, Enter Shikari, Wallows, Sea Girls, Mannequin Pussy, SOFT PLAY, Lambrini Girls, and DJ EZ.
In 2024, the two festivals were plagued with numerous challenges from unpredictable weather and shut-down stages to overrunning performances that saw Lana Del Rey’s set cut early, forcing her to watch the fireworks display in silence from the stage.
Festival organisers will be working hard over the next eight months to ensure that 2025 isn’t a repeat performance.
Speaking on the announcement of his upcoming performance, Conan Gray said, “Playing Reading & Leeds has always been a dream of mine. The UK is one of my favourite places, and I can’t wait to bring our show to the incredible crowd at R&L that I’ve heard so much about.”
In a similar statement, Enter Shikari said, “It’ll be great to be back at Reading and Leeds for 2025. We’ve got a long history with the festival, having first played in 2007. We’ve set records for the amount of crowd surfers over the barrier, and the amount of sets played over the weekend, so it’s awesome that we’ll be back again playing our highest-ever slot on the bill. Right now, it’s looking like these will be our only UK shows of 2025, so we’ll have to make them count. We’ll be like uncaged animals by then”.
Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes said, “We are beyond excited to be returning to Reading & Leeds for our first fully fledged headline slot. We are going to bring hands down the greatest show of our careers. It’s going to be our only UK performance next year and the final European show of the NEX GEN campaign before the band take time away, so if you want to see BMTH next year, this truly is your only chance. Can’t wait.”
More names are expected to be added to the bill in the coming weeks.
Tickets go on sale from midday on 7 December, and the general sale begins at midday on 9 December. Visit www.readingfestival.com/tickets and www.leedsfestival.com/tickets for more information.
