Reading Festival chaos: Tents torched as people leave early in fear of violence
29 August 2022, 14:18 | Updated: 29 August 2022, 14:58
Tents have been destroyed after Reading Festival descended into chaos on its final day, forcing people to leave early.
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Footage shared on social media showed tents being torched and brawls breaking out during the last day of the festival, with violence taking over.
Reports online suggested limited security meant there was a struggle trying to get crowds under control as they threw chairs among other items into large bonfires.
The chaos kicked off at around 4pm on Sunday, with videos showing fires burning across different areas of the campsite.
Festival-goers set alight parts of the campsite at Reading Festival
Thames Valley Police said in a statement: "There were some fires in the campsite on Sunday, but festival security had water pumps and extinguished these within minutes.
"There was some disorder in the campsite at about 4.30pm on Sunday, but this was dealt with within minutes by festival security and about fifty people were ejected from the site.
"Those ejected were safeguarded by the festival organisers, Thames Valley Police, and British Transport Police to ensure they could get home safely."
She's moving to the arena but security are thin on the ground. This is orange camp off Little John's Lane pic.twitter.com/1VmP25xfLw
— Alison (@999bradders) August 28, 2022
Amber Vellacott, 26, said she and her boyfriend escaped the festival after the violence began.
"We saw fires start at about 4pm in various camps, the crews & security were fast on them, but all the kids were surrounding and egging it on, throwing rubbish & cans into them," Ms Vellacott told the Mirror.
"We felt the whole vibe of the camp sites change, and when we saw people start picking up tents and rubbish, throwing them into the trees & across the camps, we thought it was best to pack up and head out - annoyingly so!
"But it just didn’t feel safe for two grown adults, let alone all the kids there. When we left at about 7pm, there was a fair bit of security but not masses."
Crowds gather around bonfires at Reading Festival
According to MailOnline, one witness said that fans of rival music genres clashed at the event after different acts performed on the same stage after one another.
Fights were said to have broken out between hip-hop and alternative festival-goers.
It comes after police at Reading's sister event - Leeds Festival - confirmed on Sunday that a 16-year-old boy had died following a suspected drugs overdose.
The teenager fell ill on Saturday at the music event and was taken to hospital, but he died on Sunday.
West Yorkshire Police said they are looking into whether he had taken a particular type of MDMA.
