Reading Festival granted licence to go ahead by council

Reading Festival is one step closer to going ahead this summer after the local council granted its event licence.

It comes after the government confirmed Covid-19 restrictions would end on 19 July, meaning large events like festivals could run.

Reading Borough Council said there would need to be "detailed consideration" on how to minimise the risk of coronavirus.

The festival is expected to take place from 27 to 29 August this year.

Festival boss Melvin Benn previously told the BBC he was "very confident" Reading Festival would take place, having been cancelled last year due to the pandemic.

A council spokesperson said it was "anticipating" the festival would go ahead now the licence had been approved, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

They added that organisers, Festival Republic, would have to work with emergency services to make sure the event ran "as smoothly and safely as possible".

The line-up for this year's event is set to include Stormzy, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Post Malone, Disclosure, Liam Gallagher and Queens of the Stone Age.

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