Leeds Festival has been a huge calendar staple in the north since the dawn of the millennium. The second venue, at Temple Newsam, was added to accompany Reading Festival in 1999 as demand increased and then moved again to Bramham Park.
Since then, acts like Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, Arctic Monkeys and The White Stripes have commanded the headline spot on the main stage. Tens of thousands of people crowd through the gates of Bramham Park each year, with their tents in tow.
But who are the brains behind the operation? And who is responsible for bringing one of the UK's favourite festivals to life?
Who organises Leeds Festival?
The earliest form of Reading festival began as an opportunity for jazz, rhythm and blues musicians to play at Harold Pendelton's National Jazz Festival. Originally played at several London and Home Counties sites throughout the 1960s.
By the time the festival had evolved and moved to Reading, the jazz element was all but forgotten, making way for the progressive rock, hard rock and blues acts that made some of the festival's most historical performances. The 70s and 80s saw some iconic performances from the likes of Jethrow Tull, the Boomtown Rats, Alice Cooper and Status Quo.
After a slump in the late 80s and early 90s, which included an infamous appearance from Meatloaf that ended with the star being pelted with bottles of urine and storming off stage, Harold Pendelton and his Marquee Club later stepped aside. Taking their place was Mean Fiddler, who made the decision to introduce a second site in the north, forming the Leeds half we all know and love.
At the helm of Mean Fiddler now is Melvin Benn, a festival mastermind with experience on V Festival (another Mean Fiddler offering) and Glastonbury. Benn saw Mean Fiddler acquire the rights to Reading, introduced Leeds and transform into Festival Republic.
Who is Melvin Benn and Festival Republic?
Festival Republic are the main organisers of Reading and Leeds festival. They are also the brains behind Latitude, Wireless and Download.
At the helm, is managing director Melvin Benn. A keen festivalgoer himself, Benn has been instrumental in organising Reading and Leeds Festivals.
His first event was a free festival in Battersea Park, London, for the Trade Union Congress, for 20,000 people. He got his big break when Mean Fiddler acquired the Reading Festival rights in the late 1980s.
He was appointed chairman of the board of directors at Wembley Stadium, a role he took on from 2011 to 2016. Benn has since sat as a representative for the Concert Promoters Association and helped in the creation of the Pop Code, a health and safety guide for outdoor events.
He served as director of Glastonbury Festival for a decade. During his tenure, he was credited with bringing the festival forward to a point where the local council planning committee were confident granting multi-year licences for the Somerset event.
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