Reading and Leeds Festival headliners' pay as Billie Eilish set to make history

25 August 2023 , 07:00

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The headline artists including Billie Eilish, The 1975, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Foals and Sam Fender could demand up to £1 million

Reading and Leeds Festival has kicked off in style, with thousands of music lovers heading to both sites for a weekend of fun.

Over the course of the three days, the likes of Sam Fender, The Killers, The 1975, Billie Eilish and Foals take to the stage to perform alongside acts including Only The Poets and You Me At Six will be performing at Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds. But over the years, artists have been paid staggering amounts for their headline slots on Main Stage East and Main Stage West.

The gates at the festival opened for the festival on Wednesday and are expected to see over 80,000 people venture to each site before they close for another year on Monday morning. But while Lewis Capaldi has pulled out of the event due to battling with his Tourettes, many more artists have been lured by lucrative paycheques.

Sam Fender is one of the main headline acts for the festival (Berkshire Live / Ben Mole)

But just how much could the headline artists be paid?

Sadly for us, the exact amount they're paid is kept under lock and key, well, contracts. But there are several facts involving how the various artists are paid for their appearances. One of the most obvious is the level of stardom they have, as the biggest acts who play later in a set will be paid more.

The stages they play on will also be a contributing factor, as the bigger the stage means more festival-goers in attendance. While the likes of Imagine Dragons and Billie Eilish are headlining Leeds on Friday and Reading on Sunday, typically, the Saturday headliner usually receives a higher pay cheque.

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The 1975 will take to Main Stage West for the festivals (Getty Images)

It has been reported that UK festivals' payment for services have ranged from £1million for major acts down to £25,000 for smaller performers at some of the nation's biggest festivals, including Reading and Leeds.

Before The Mirror heads to Leeds, we're here to bring you all you need to know in order to prepare yourself. This year, there are various safety measures put in place to protect festivalgoers with each campsite having a designated AIRS Hub (Assistance, Information and Response) which will work alongside the security and stewards.

As well as this, various measures have been put in place to ensure that everybody across both sites as safe as possible, with a new list of banned items being distributed – this can be seen here. We've also confirmed the set times for each act across the three days, ensuring you can plan around who you want to see and the all-important, toilet and food breaks.

Daniel Bird