Reading and Leeds Festival: Covid vaccine passport need 'likely'

Organisers say they are confident this summer's festivals will go ahead

Music fans at this year's Reading and Leeds Festivals will "almost certainly" need some sort of vaccine passport, the organiser has said.

Festival boss Melvin Benn said he was confident the events would go ahead after plans to ease lockdown were announced in February.

But he said it was likely festival-goers would have to prove they were Covid-free or had been vaccinated.

The twin-site festival is due to take place between 27 and 29 August.

Under the government's plan, limits on social contact in England could be gone by 21 June, if Covid is under control.

• Will I need a vaccine passport to go to the pub or travel?

• What can I do now... and what comes next?

Mr Benn said it was difficult to predict what safety measures would be required later in the summer.

In "an ideal world" we would be able to go about "our daily business" as though it was pre-March 2020, he said.

"Whether we get to that I don't know," he said.

Headline acts announced so far include Stormzy, Liam Gallagher (pictured) and Queens of the Stone Age

The festival, which has already sold out, will also have a dedicated Covid medical director and team on site and will be bound by the same safety protocols as bars and restaurants, Mr Benn said.

"I'm taking the prime minister at his word that from June the legal restrictions will be off and as he and the culture secretary said: 'We are looking forward to a summer of fun'.

"If it is cancelled everyone gets a refund - that's pretty normal - but I'm certainly anticipating it going ahead," he added.

Headline acts announced so far include Stormzy, Liam Gallagher and Queens of the Stone Age.