Leeds Festival 2024: Drivers warned of severe delays as festivalgoers head to Bramham Park

Alexandra Wood
By Alexandra Wood

Senior reporter

Published 21st Aug 2024, 16:00 BST
Motorists are being warned of severe delays on roads ahead of the Leeds festival this Bank Holiday weekend.

The RAC and transport analytics company Inrix say traffic will be especially bad on routes to the festival, held in Bramham Park, near Wetherby, with the A1, A1(M), M1, M62 and A64 affected from today.

They are predicting that journey times will double from lunchtime tomorrow along the A1 southbound between the Kirk Deighton and Bramham interchanges.

Around 90,000 festival-goers are expected to see headliners Liam Gallagher, Blink-182 and Fred Again.

Arrivals at the Leeds Festival, this afternoon, August 21, 2024. Release date – August 21, 2024. More than 90,000 people are due to attend the event at Bramham Park. The festival will feature headline performances from Lana Del Rey, Fred Again, Blink-182, Liam Gallagher, Catfish and The Bottlemen and Gerry Cinnamon across two main stages.Arrivals at the Leeds Festival, this afternoon, August 21, 2024. Release date – August 21, 2024. More than 90,000 people are due to attend the event at Bramham Park. The festival will feature headline performances from Lana Del Rey, Fred Again, Blink-182, Liam Gallagher, Catfish and The Bottlemen and Gerry Cinnamon across two main stages.
Arrivals at the Leeds Festival, this afternoon, August 21, 2024. Release date – August 21, 2024. More than 90,000 people are due to attend the event at Bramham Park. The festival will feature headline performances from Lana Del Rey, Fred Again, Blink-182, Liam Gallagher, Catfish and The Bottlemen and Gerry Cinnamon across two main stages.

Traffic experts predict this Bank Holiday will be the busiest on the roads in nine years.

People are advised to head out tomorrow evening after 6pm when the worst of the commuter traffic is over, or after 2pm on Saturday following the lunchtime rush.

RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “Whether you’re off to a festival, the coast or a theme park or meeting up with friends and family elsewhere, the usual trusted advice applies: leave as early as you can to avoid the jams or be prepared to sit in some lengthy queues.”

It comes as a survey by VisitEngland shows that 11m Britons are planning to go away for the night this weekend, bringing an estimated £3.1bn boost to the economy. The figures are an increase of 1.3m on last year.

A further 7.7m people are still undecided, with the weather and affordability of a trip a key factor in making a decision.

The Met Office is forecasting tomorrow to be wet and windy across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Some brighter spells are expected over the weekend, with scattered blustery showers, perhaps heavy on Saturday.

However temperatures generally are likely to be “rather cool”.