reading-festival-2022

Just a third of acts announced for Reading and Leeds include women or non-binary people

Can’t say anyone’s shocked


Reading and Leeds festival 2022 has just announced its first wave of acts and if this is anything to go by, the event is set to continue its trend of under-representing women.

Of the 31 acts announced, just 11 are female, have female band members or are non-binary. These acts include Megan Thee Stallion, Little Simz, Wolf Alice and Joy Crookes.

Last year, just 14 per cent of the entire Reading and Leeds festival lineup was made up of female acts, and that was up from nine per cent the previous year.

Parklife led the way last year, with 44 per cent of the festival’s lineup comprised of female artists.

Other artists on the bill for this year’s Reading and Leeds include Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me The Horizon and Dave.

Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic (the company behind the festival) told NME: “With so many amazing acts set to play, Reading & Leeds is set to return as the ultimate festival weekend of the summer: defining the sounds of modern ground breaking music. I cannot wait!”

Here’s the full list of acts performing at Reading and Leeds 2022:

Arctic Monkeys
Arrdee
Bastille
Bring Me the Horizon
Circa Waves
Chloe Moriondo
Dave
Denzel Curry
Fever 333
Fontaines D.C.
Glass Animals
Griff
Halsey
Hybrid Minds
Jack Harlow
Joy Crookes
Jxdn
Kid Brunswick
Little Simz
Megan Thee Stallion
Madison Beer
Måneskin
Pale Waves
Pink Pantheress
Polo G
Rage Against The Machine
Run The Jewels
Tai Verdes
Wallows
Wilkinson
Wolf Alice

More acts are set to be announced.

Reading and Leeds festival will take place on the August bank holiday weekend (26th-28th). Tickets are on sale from 9am on Friday 10th of December. Click here for info on tickets to Reading and here for Leeds.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Ranked: This year’s big UK festival lineups with the fewest female acts

• ‘It was surreal’: What it was actually like to go to the first festivals since lockdown

• Priti Patel says student drug use is ‘directly leading’ to an increase in violent crime and people dying