Reading and Leeds Festivals 2021 will go ahead this summer with headliners Stormzy, Liam Gallagher and Post Malone

  • Video report from ITV News reporter Romilly Weeks

Reading and Leeds festival will go ahead this year following the government's announcement of the roadmap out of lockdown, organisers have said.

In a tweet the official Reading and Leeds account said: "Following the government's recent announcement, we can't wait to get back to the fields this summer. LET'S GO."

The sister events – known for their mix of rap, rock and pop – are due to take place between August 27 and 29 after both were cancelled in 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic.

Headline acts include the likes of Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, Post Malone, Catfish And The Bottlemen, Disclosure and Queens Of The Stone Age.

Acts including Charli XCX, Yungblud, rapper Jack Harlow, rockers Neck Deep and Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid were recently added to the bill.

Reading will return to the Richfield Avenue venue while Leeds will once again take place in Bramham Park.

According to plans announced on Monday, the government hopes to lift all remaining restrictions on social contact by June 21 at the earliest.

This would mean larger events can go ahead and nightclubs can finally reopen.

Rapper Stormzy will be one of the headline acts at Reading and Leeds. Credit: PA

The UK festival circuit has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic with its 2020 season effectively wiped out.

In January Glastonbury was cancelled for a second successive year after organisers said they had tried to “move heaven and earth”.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has launched an inquiry into the future of festivals.

Last month the committee wrote to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to ask him to extend Government-backed insurance schemes to music and performing arts festivals.

Festivals added £1.76 billion in gross value to the economy in 2019, with almost one in three Brits watching Glastonbury on TV.

For more from the world of arts and entertainment, listen to the ITV News podcast, Unscripted, brought to you by Arts Editor Nina Nannar