Reading and Leeds Festival: Sam Fender set times and how to watch on TV

The August Bank Holiday weekend can mean good weather and family traditions to many, but for music fans across the UK it is the date for one of the largest weekends of music in the calendar.

Reading and Leeds festivals traditionally take place over the long weekend and this year sees some incredible North East representation when North Tyneside’s Sam Fender headlines the duo of festivals which signal the beginning of the end of UK festival season.

Fender was announced as part of the lineup back in December 2022 and will play a full headline set alongside Foals, The Killers, Lewis Capaldi, Imagine Dragons and Billie Eilish.

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What days is Sam Fender playing Reading and Leeds Festivals?

The festivals take place over two events at opposite ends of the country with each artist playing each site on a different day.

Fender will play at Reading Festival on Friday, August 25 and Leeds Festival on Saturday, August 26.

The set at Leeds will run between 9:20pm and 10:50pm on Main Stage East. The Reading set will run between 9:50pm and 11:15pm on the site’s Main Stage East.

How to watch Reading and Leeds Festivals on TV

Only Reading is televised by the BBC, which has a deal to show sets from throughout the weekend. Unless an artist does not want their set to be televised, all main stage sets are shown live and are usually available to stream on the services iPlayer system the following day. Fender’s Reading set on Friday is expected to be shown live on the BBC.