By Kyle Horne
Photo Credit: Matt Eachus
Last week, Reading and Leeds festival announced a whole “new world” of stages, marking one of the biggest overhauls of the festival to date, as they posted impressive mockup videos of their new stages to their social media feeds.
Notably missing from the stage lineup however, was the much loved BBC Introducing stage – a stage that has once hosted acts including Olivia Dean, Blossoms and Ed Sheeran in the early stages of their respective careers.
Hopeful musicians have for the longest time uploaded their tracks to the BBC Introducing uploader, for potential inclusion on local BBC Introducing radio shows, and for a handful of lucky applicants, get the chance to play at major UK festivals, offering them the experience of a lifetime and allowing their sounds to be heard by the thousands that take to the fields each year.
However today it has been announced by festival organisers – Festival Republic – that the BBC Introducing stage will not exist at Reading and Leeds festival this year, and has instead been replaced by new stage ‘The Canopy’.
This move has been criticised by many today, with Only The Poets’ frontman, Reading-based Tommy Longhurst speaking to the BBC earlier, while festival fans have taken to X (Twitter) to express their disappointment.
One added: “Big, big mistake”, while another “For years I’ve defended some of the bizarre changes […] we all know [they] haven’t worked.”
Tommy from Only The Poets told the BBC he’s “sad” to see the BBC Introducing stage go, while in an earlier interview with ADRENALINE Magazine, the frontman reflected fondly on the band’s origins, citing Reading Festival and the BBC Introducing stage as one of their biggest inspirations.
Festival organisers have defended the move, saying that they’re keen to “open up [their platform] to a much wider pool of emerging talent”, where this would previously be chosen by BBC radio disc jockeys.
Reading and Leeds festival is due to take place from Thursday 27th August to Sunday 30th August 2026 – festival iteration “2.0” that festival organisers are dubbing the “biggest overhaul” in the festival’s history.
For more information head to https://www.readingfestival.com/ and https://www.leedsfestival.com/.
Text Copyright 2026 © Kyle Horne/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Photography Copyright 2026 © reserved to its rightful owners as credited in this article.
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