I visited Leeds Festival for the first time - here’s everything I thought about it

If you’re a young person who lives in Yorkshire, it’s commonly assumed that you’ve visited Leeds Festival at least once. Yet, it is a rite of passage that has always passed me by.

Different plans, COVID-19, and bad budgeting, all meant that I’d never known much about Leeds Festival beyond my friends' anecdotes and their Instagram posts. That is, of course, until 2026, when I stepped foot into Bramham Park over the Bank Holiday Weekend for the first time.

Some parts of it I loved, some parts were lacking - but overall, it was nothing shy of brilliant. Here’s everything I thought about it.

The line-up

When it comes to music, 2010s nostalgia, indie earworms, and alt-pop, are all a few of my favourite things. This meant that this year’s Leeds Festival line-up, including acts such as Florence and the Machine, Declan McKenna, and Charli XCX, was certainly up my alley. The acts are hard to actually see unless you spend your day waiting to run for the best space, but I didn’t mind being a bit further back.

After all, there’s big screens to help your viewing, and the sound certainly travels far back. As well as this, I think the thrill of a festival is the audience as much as it is the star. There’s no better feeling than to be in the middle of a crowd even if you’re singing out of tune and dancing slightly off beat. At Leeds Festival, you have opportunities to do this in abundance.

My top act would have to be Florence and the Machine, led by Florence Welch, a soft-spoken star with a powerful voice. She made Bramham Park feel like a trip to another world with an ethereal performance of her best-loved hits such as Shake it Out and Spectrum (Say My Name).

For Dog Days are Over, a fitting final song for a festival, Welch instructed everyone to put their phones away, and though controversial, I loved this choice. Reluctantly, the glow of screens slowly disappeared, right before the satisfying crescendo of the iconic anthem, and it created a really magical moment that I have no physical record of, but I’ll remember forever.

I also really enjoyed Role Model, an indie-pop star known for heart-warming and heart-breaking lyrics delivered with fun melodies. Out of all the acts I saw, he was one of the most comfortable interacting with the audience and this, alongside a cool breezy atmosphere, made the performance what it was.

In particular, as a young fan became the duet partner on Love I You, she lived out the ultimate fangirl fantasy, and this was really joyous to see. Laughing and joking throughout, Role Model looked like he was having a good time, and that made us have a good time too.

The location

It is truly impressive how Bramham Park becomes a space where you can fit tens of thousands of festivalgoers, alongside stages, vendors, and tents too. When I first walked on to the site, I found myself overwhelmed with the amount of things to do. From fairground rides to vintage shopping to face paint, there’s plenty to do apart from listening to music. The classic festival dilemma is that you can’t do them all.

Downloading the official Leeds Festival app was a really useful way to navigate 200 acres of parkland because the interactive map shows where everything you need is. After finding my bearings, much of the landscape became quickly familiar.

Late in day one, my feet started to ache because the excitement had distracted me from how much I’d been walking to get from one stage to the other. That’s why I’d best advise you to make sure you take time to rest amidst all the fun there is to be had. There’s plenty of places to sit down for a breather, so definitely make use of them.

The transport

I travelled to and from Leeds Festival by car which was a surprisingly easy experience. Road signs clearly advertised exactly how to get to where I needed to be, and it was a short walk from the car park into the festival itself. Everything I feared; bad traffic, muddy terrain, and getting lost, proved to not be an issue in the slightest. If you’re heading to Leeds Festival on a day ticket, and you don’t want the stress and delays of public transport, car is definitely your best option.

I had also hoped to take the shuttle bus from the festival on day one to get an insight into a different way of travelling. However, when I left at about 9pm, there was limited clear direction as to where to go. Some festival staff led me one way, only for another to say I needed to walk in the complete opposite direction, and in the end, I ended up sharing a taxi with two other very lovely festivalgoers I had met that day.

It was far more expensive (though not so bad when split multiple ways), and frustrating given that the shuttle bus should have been an option if we knew where it was. It’s great that Leeds Festival has partnered with FirstBus to create an affordable and sustainable group mode of transport, but I think better signage is certainly needed because it was really confusing to find.

The food

Within Bramham Park are tons of food trucks offering a tremendous variety of treats to try. With options including crepes, loaded hash browns, and pizza, it was pretty easy to grab and go, exactly how festival food should be.

Price-wise, a lot of the stands were understandably inflated as hungry festivalgoers are often happy to spend more out of convenience. Taste-wise, I found that the food trucks filled me up well so that I had enough energy to dance, and that’s all I could ask for.

The food trucks tasted great, but what I thought was a really innovative option was the on-sight Co-op shop. Offering meal deals galore, this was a way to get familiar food on a cheaper budget, and stock-up on any other forgotten essentials too.

The people

At Leeds Festival I saw both the best and worst of people. In the big crowds, people can be ruthless as they all want the best view and it leads to pushing, shoving, and a snide comment or too. On the flip side, I met strangers who spoke to me as if we’d known each other for years, and showed kindness and generosity when they didn’t have to in the slightest.

I spoke to volunteers such as the Repair Cafe and Litter Free Leeds, doing amazing things without a single expectation of anything in return, and saw endless safety pop-ups to ensure everyone had a space at the festival to go to to feel safe.

I’d always seen Leeds Festival as a place you go post-GCSEs to either celebrate your success or commiserate your failures. That made me feel that at 24, I was maybe too old for it. However, I was gladly proven wrong. Though there were plenty of 16 year olds having the times of their life, I also saw people in their twenties, thirties, forties, and beyond. Some had even brought their kids too.

Overall thoughts

Now I’ve ditched the wellies and the pac-a-mac, I’m feeling tired post Leeds Festival. However, it’s a great kind of tired, built from experiencing so much in such a short space of time. My legs may be achey, and my ears may be ringing, but it’s worth it for a weekend which has been nothing shy of brilliant. All that’s left to say is bring on Leeds Festival 2027.