Reading Festival gets into full swing today with a line up of top acts, including: The Offspring, New Found Glory, Jimmy Eat World, Pulp and Muse just to name a few. However, the festival does not only bring live music to many fans, but also a great financial boost to the economy.
Last year during the festival, the town of Reading accumulated £31 million from 90,000 visitors and in total spent £12 million on artists, supplies and staff. This resulted in a £16 million boost for the economy. Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic stated, “Festivals and the live music industry contribute significantly to the British economy.”
But it is not only Reading that benefits as many participants have been busy buying supplies needed for their weekend away. Commercial properties that will have benefitted from the festival are those that sell necessities like: camping equipment, footwear, food and drink, toiletries and clothing.
Conversely, many shops and local businesses will see their takings drop during the bank holiday weekend as many local people will simply avoid the town centre due to the mass of festival crowds. But it is just for one weekend and the pros of running the festival definitely outweigh the cons. Besides the festival has been running for 40 years, so surely local residents have got use to it by now. However, prices have changed over the last 40 years as in the 60’s you could get a weekend ticket for £2.50 and a day ticket for only one pound.
Participants are in for a treat this year as a supersized tent will house the Radio One/NME stage, which can hold 18,000 to 20,000 people. Melvin Benn who runs Festival Republic said, “I’ve bought a brand new tent for the second stage and it is the largest tent in Europe, it’s completely reshaped the site.” This year 87,000 people will embark upon Little Johns Farm in Richfield Avenue.
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