Reading and Leeds 2023: UK festival lineup, tickets, headliners including Sam Fender and Billie Eilish - price

A further 81 acts have been confirmed to play the 2023 Reading and Leeds festivals, including chart-topping pop star Mimi Webb, Brit Rising Star 2022 Holly Humberstone and Leeds-based rock group Yard Act, who have risen through the ranks after their BBC Introducing Stage debut in 2021.

Late last year, organisers announced that Billie Eilish will make history as she becomes the youngest solo artist to top the iconic festivals’ lineups.

The US star, who will be but a sprightly 21-year old by the time the events roll over the August bank holiday weekend, will top the bill alongside The Killers, Lewis Capaldi, Sam Fender, Foals, and Imagine Dragons.

Here is everything you need to know about it.

Who are the headliners?

Billie Eilish drew one of the biggest crowds the festival has seen when she last performed in 2019, and her stock as an international pop superstar has only grown in the years since. In 2022, she headlined the Friday night of Glastonbury, drawing plaudits for her energetic and crowd-pleasing performance.

Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi, whose second album ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’ is due out this year, makes his headline debut at the festival. He said: “I am so, so excited to be one of the headliners for Reading & Leeds Festival. Unreal that last time I played was to a wee crowd in 2018. Can’t wait to see you all next year.”

Brit Award-winner Sam Fender will headline after attending the festival as a teenager. He said: “I first went to Leeds Festival with Dean when we were teenagers. We had a wild time, a rite of passage. Ten years later and we’re headlining.”

Oxfordshire band Foals return as headliners for the first time since 2016, with frontman Yannis Philippakis saying they are “so hyped”.

“We’ll never forget the rush of headlining Leeds in the absolute pouring rain in 2016,” he added, “a show that was one of our most intense ever, or back in 2008 at Reading feeling possessed, climbing the rigging and launching myself headfirst into the crowd.”

Who else is on the line-up?

The line-up also features indie and rock acts Wet Leg, Declan McKenna and Inhaler alongside rappers Slowthai, Tion Wayne, Trippie Redd, and Central Cee. Dance music will feature with Becky Hill, Bicep Live, MK, Sub Focus, Giant Rooks, Ethel Cain, and The Last Dinner Party.

There will also be sets from Brit-award nominated Rina Sawayama, Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks and British singer-songwriter Tom Odell, who famously covered John Lennon’s song ‘Real Love’ for the 2014 John Lewis Christmas advert.

North London artist Bakar, who promises a genre-blending performance, and drill innovator Clavish will also perform at the festival alongside Reading rock band The Amazons who are appearing on home turf. Elsewhere, there will be sets from Scottish rockers The Snuts, drum and bass act Shy FX and chart-topping band You Me At Six.

Melvin Benn, managing director of organisers Festival Republic, said: “We are delighted to return… in 2023 with another epic six headline artists, and an incredible, genre-defying line-up that features some of the very best in modern music.”

How can I get tickets?

Tickets for the three-day sister events, which run from 25 to 27 August 2023 went on sale in December 2022. The three-day festivals return to their usual venues – Reading’s Richfield Avenue and Bramham Park in Leeds.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Weekend tickets for Reading and Leeds cost £286.20, while day tickets will set you back £101.20. There are also pre-payment plans available, allowing you to spread the cost of your ticket out over the months leading up to the festival.