Leeds Festival Dance Stage Shut Down Mid-Set — Couple Ubers 80 Miles to Creamfields Instead
Reading & Leeds 2026's newly built dance-music stage, The Warehouse, was shut down multiple times on Saturday and Sunday, August 29–30, over crowd safety concerns, according to NME. The closures cancelled or cut short several electronic and house sets at both festival sites — and pushed one couple at Leeds Festival to book an 80-mile Uber to Creamfields, the electronic festival running the same weekend in Cheshire.
What happened at The Warehouse
The festival's official app repeatedly flagged The Warehouse as closed over the two days. At the Leeds site, Julian Fijma's Saturday set was cut short after the tent became overcrowded, and a back-to-back set by Skepta and East End Dubs was cancelled the same day on safety grounds. At Reading, a Skepta and Prospa back-to-back was also cancelled. Other affected sets across both sites included Riordan, Omar+, Locky, Alisha and Silva Bumpa.
The Warehouse had been announced last month as a new permanent stage built specifically for dance music, alongside Reading's separate The Yard stage focused on electronic and alternative club culture. Organisers had billed the 2026 changes as the festival's biggest stage and site overhaul to date.
£300 for a ticket, £300 for the ride
Fan Aiden Warhurst and his partner posted in a Creamfields community group appealing for tickets, writing that all the house music at Leeds Fest had been shut down, and that they were about to Uber to Creamfields and would take any ticket. After the post drew attention, Warhurst said in the comments he was willing to pay "whatever it takes." He later said the couple ended up buying last-minute tickets at £300 each, adding that the taxi fare came to "probably another £300."
The lineups on each side
Reading & Leeds 2026 is headlined by Florence + The Machine, Fontaines D.C., Dave, RAYE, Charli XCX and Chase & Status, with other acts including Sombr, Role Model, JADE, Kneecap, Geese, Skye Newman, Holly Humberstone, Gurriers, Westside Cowboy, Declan McKenna, Maisie Peters, Paris Paloma, Overpass and Duke Dumont. The same weekend, Creamfields 2026's lineup features Eric Prydz, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Alesso, Martin Garrix, Tiësto and Disclosure.