Reading gets new festival

The Reading Festival site is to host a new "world music" festival. The two-day Heavenly Planet Festival will take place on 10th and 11th July 2009, and is expected to attract 15,000 people. The local council have committed to the new festival for three years.

Reading 2008 Downloads

OK, none of this strictly legal, your honour, but here are the Reading 2008 sets I've found on the web so far:

Babyshambles
Bloc Party
Cajun Dance Party
The Cribs
Dizzie Rascal
Editors
The Enemy
Feeder
Foals
The Last Shadow Puppets
Justice
The Music
Mystery Jets
Pendulum
Queens Of The Stone Age
The Raconteurs
The Rascals (9 songs)
Seasick Steve
The Subways
We Are Scientists

Can't tell you anything about sound quality, source of the audio or anything else, as I haven't downloaded them. I suspect they're either from TV or radio highlights broadcasts.

Council praises Glastonbury

Mendip District Council have praised the organisers of Glastonbury, describing it as "possibly the best managed event of its kind in the world. We know how important it is to Mendip and how important it is to ensure it remains one of the best in the world," added Mendip councillor Tom Killen. The festival has also come in for praise from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, the Environment Agency, Somerset Primary Care Trust and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue.

Glastonbury 2009 headliners "confirmed soon"

Emily Eavis has stated that next year's Glastonbury headliners will be confirmed soon, but states that they don not include (as rumoured) Coldplay, U2 or The Rolling Stones. She did, however, confirm that Franz Ferdinand and The Ting Tings will be playing. Bookmakers are currently making Radiohead favourites, followed by Oasis and Muse. Tickets for next year's festival go on sale on 5th October.

Babyshambles Reading set on-line

A portion of Babyshambles' Reading 2008 set is online. Not sure what the quality's like, but I suspect it's from a radio broadcast, as it looks like part of the full show. Download it by clicking here.

Reading 1978 remembered in Uncut

The latest issue of Uncut (on sale now) has a one-page feature on the 1978 Reading Festival, which saw the arrival of punk acts, including Sham 69, Penetration and The Jam at the festival. The article has several eye-witness accounts of the festival and some pictures. Trawl around the darker recesses of the internet and you may find the TV broadcast of that year's festival, too, which is well worth seeing if you get the chance.

Ash to release 1996 Reading show

Ash are to release their 1996 Reading Festival set as part of an expanded "collectors' edition" re-issue of their debut album "1977". The triple-CD set also includes the mini album "Trailer", a live set recorded for Austrailian radio and a disc of rarities, B-sides and demos. Expected release date is 3rd November. For more details, and tracklisting, see the official Ash website.