Last year saw a secret gig by the Kaiser Chiefs at Leeds, the irresistible rise of The Enemy and The Pigeon Detectives on the NME/ Radio One Stage as both bands moved on to platinum album sales, a Kate Nash show on the Carling Stage that was packed to the rafters and three of the biggest bands in the world headlining the Main Stage. The Reading and Leeds Festival has always been the moment of the summer when bands rise to prominence and last year was no exception.

Now, it’s back. The TENTH year of the Leeds Festival, still the North of England’s only music festival, coincides with the TWENTIETH Reading Festival since the people at Festival Republic rescued the event from a slow slide and made it into the world famous rock n roll spectacular that we all know and love. Over the years a host of bands have started their careers at one or both of the sites, from Nirvana to Underworld, Arctic Monkeys to Editors, Foo Fighters to Coldplay, the biggest names in music have written the opening chapters of their amazing stories at the world’s best festival. Perhaps that’s why this year’s event arrives clutching its third NME Best Live Event award in a row.