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While at the 2025 edition of Reading Festival, festival organiser Melvin Benn caught up with NME to discuss the new changes to campsite and facilities, the diversity of the line-up in 2025, and what changes might be on the way for 2026 #RanL25 and #NMERandL25
Transcript
00:00Hi I'm Libsie from NME and I'm here at Reading 2025 with festival boss Melvin Ben. What's it
00:12like to be here? Gosh it's lovely for me it's um it's always lovely for me this is my happy place
00:18really I'd say is Reading Festival it's um it's the highlight of the year um uh you know it's
00:24it's the most important weekend I think in in live music for such a lot of people um and it has been
00:32for me for so long so uh it really is a great it's a great weekend for me because I feel like so much
00:37work and preparation goes into it it comes around so quickly is it nice to get here and things up
00:43and rolling now yeah I mean the team worked really hard obviously we spend all year planning and you
00:49know the whole team um and you know the the the crews have been here since almost late July really
00:56and that pays dividends they you know they do it well and um you know we're building campsites we're
01:01building we're building a small town for you know for a period and um you know I've made quite a lot
01:06of changes this year so people are always excited about change which is nice from my for me when
01:12they're not resistant to change they they're like oh okay this is a good idea let's try this yeah it's nice
01:17one of the biggest changes is of course the campsite the facilities here it feels like it
01:22is one of the biggest overhauls in the festival's history tell me why was 2025 the right time for you
01:27to implement these changes I think it's it's not just the biggest hall um overall in in the festival's
01:33history but I think in all festivals history actually I think um and you know I was reflecting
01:40you know I I was here in the 70s and actually the campsite hadn't really changed very much from then
01:46and here we are you know whatever it is 50 odd years later the campsites really hadn't changed and
01:52and the reality is that um I just felt that the today's audience um uh you know the Reading Festival
02:02is always perceived as just for 16 year olds and and they're very visible there's and it's great and
02:09you know that was my first festival when I was 16 and and it's fantastic but actually there are a lot of
02:16other uh age groups here and so the idea that we would have a calm campsite for people that
02:21actually don't want to stay up all night um you know has been knocking on my door for a little while
02:27and the idea that we would have um you know a campsite for and then much more focused on an LGBT community
02:34and a you know women's campsite and all that sort of stuff and you know eco campsite and actually a
02:40campsite for people that come on their own and the more I thought about it the more I thought actually we
02:44can have those as bespoke campsites and um the response has been wonderful I mean much better
02:51than I anticipated and you know we invested a lot more money into the toilets and the showers and
02:56these you know GRWM stations and get ready with me and the idea that people would come to a festival and
03:04want to you know blow dry their hair of course is not something I would have anticipated 20 years ago 30
03:11years ago even 10 years ago but actually the new generation they want to do that and I think it's
03:16great that they do and I'm glad to be able to provide it for them and the changes aren't just
03:21evident in the facilities here in the new layout but also there's so much offered now so it doesn't feel
03:26like everything ends when the live performances end tell me what have you got planned so people can
03:31keep busy after hours you know here in Reading of course the you know the silent disco and and the
03:37silent karaoke I mean the silent karaoke is hysterical really to be fair um uh I mean the silent disco was
03:44you know we always felt that it's hysterical when we first brought you know brought that into the UK
03:49um but um the silent karaoke is just it's a scream it's an absolute scream really and um so you know
03:56that's a great thing I mean and then that's here in Reading because we you know we're in the middle of
03:59the town in that sense so we can't make too much late night noise whereas in in Leeds I've got the same
04:06I've got the silent karaoke I've got the silent disco but I've also got Piccadilly Party and LS23
04:11and you know there's much more of a late night vibe in Leeds in that sense of it because we're more
04:15rural and we can make more noise late at night and um but it doesn't stop and we've got the movies
04:21you know got the movies in the campsites even really so um it it I'm trying to do you know I'm
04:27trying to make the weekend completely full for everybody in that sense that is more evident than ever
04:33I think in the diversity of the headliners this year like every single artist seems so different
04:40from one another like there really is something for everyone what was it about these acts that stood out
04:44to you well ultimately it's their popularity that stands out to me in that sense really because you
04:51know we have to book artists that you know that will uh you know fill fill the audience in that sense
04:56but it's also about what's what's I mean the key thing is it's relevant to what today's ticket buyer
05:03wants really and and I think across the three nights we've we've ticked absolutely every box
05:08really and um you know bring me the horizon and um you know Limp Bizkit is you know just
05:16incredible really bring me played I'm gonna say four years ago maybe and the effort that they put into
05:23the production and the show is amazing and you know Limp Bizkit I saw them in London in Gunnersbury Park
05:29I think last year or the year before and it was like wow these these are great still they are still
05:34great and then you know obviously you know Travis Scott is at the peak of his career and and um
05:43he I mean I say he's at the peak it may just get bigger and bigger but phenomenal live act probably my
05:49favorite live act on the planet at the moment actually and um you you know I've done a number
05:56of shows with with Travis over the years and just live it's it's it's incredible it's actually it is
06:03mind-blowing how good he is and it's a single person on stage it's like this is this is really really
06:09good and um and for anybody that's got even the remotest interest you know they should make the effort to
06:15see him because he really is very special and then obviously then you know Chapel Rowan and Hosea
06:21you know tonight we're Friday you know here in Reading and um and pop's very much in you know very
06:29much back and very much strong and um and you know I have to reflect that in Reading Festival we can't
06:36just stand still and say well it has to be rock or it has to be hip-hop and you know pop is alive and
06:42flourishing and well and and and Hosea it you know has proved to be you know his manager described
06:49him as a sleeping giant in that sense and he is he's just he's just massive he's like beyond
06:56what you can imagine in a way and and amazing life and absolutely amazing life and what a voice I mean
07:03Jesus what a voice it's like unbelievable and then Chapel is a statement of a generation particularly of a
07:11you know young women's generation in that sense and um she has a point of view and Reading Festival
07:17loves people with a point of view we've always loved people with a point of view and
07:21it's um it's just going to be a joy to see her on stage because this is the right play for her in my
07:27view this is the right uh moment for her and and I'm sure she'll go on to be even bigger and all sorts
07:33of things but at this point in time this is the perfect play for her and it's certainly the perfect
07:38play for me and for the festival with those qualities in mind is there anyone who's caught
07:43your eye who could be maybe a headliner in future years yes um there are there are two or three on the
07:50bill this year that I think are future headliners and um and I've seen a couple of people wandering
07:58around with t-shirts with acts on that I know are going to be future headliners uh already and and but
08:05I've I've stopped predicting that to the press and to the public because I think it's a burden
08:11on the people to say oh you're tipped as being a future headline how will you be because it's like
08:16well it puts people will always start asking them when are you going to headline Reading Festival and
08:21and it may be that they don't want to headline Reading Festival but um so uh yeah I mean it is one
08:27of the things that we do here obviously is we give acts a chance to go through the ranks and to come
08:32through the festival and to start on one of the smaller stages and come all the way through and
08:37um you know that very much is is you know what we do really it feels like with the changes and the
08:43new structure here for 2025 I don't know where we could go from here but 2026 of course is going
08:50to be a fallow year for Glastonbury everyone's gonna be looking at Reading I feel like you're gonna have
08:55even more people coming here are there any plans to maybe take things above and beyond play it no I'm
09:02not gonna I'm not going to increase the capacity um but you know and of course there is no Glastonbury
09:07in 2026 um um but ultimately people come to Reading Festival because of the artists that we book
09:15um and they don't come to Reading Festival because Glastonbury is not on or anything like that the
09:20Reading Festival is not second choice in that sense of it it's first choice about the artists that we book
09:25and um so that's um you know I think of it in that context really rather than in any other context
09:31and you know I can be very clear with you I've got two of the three headliners two of the three nights
09:38booked already for next year and really confident about the artists that we booked and um uh you know
09:44working on that third night and I feel in a stronger position than I can remember for an awful long
09:50time in terms of um uh you know the following year I can't remember when I've ever had two of
09:56the three nights booked by the time this year's festival I've had one of the nights booked by the
10:01time I can't remember that I've ever had two of the three uh and we're not far away from having the
10:06third one already booked so I think we're in a really good place and I think the changes that we've
10:12made will you know make people want to come back even more um but ultimately they'll come back to see the
10:17headliners and and and I think we'll be presenting great headliners for them
10:22onwards and upwards onwards and upwards okay thank you so much for taking time my pleasure really nice to
10:26chat to you
10:32you
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