Work to prepare the 'hidden' site started in July and it will be mid-September before the last crews depart

Paul Whitehouse

ITS sister event in Reading may have degenerated into a mudbath worthy of Glastonbury at its worst.

But even after a week of questionable weather, the start of Leeds Festival was yesterday blessed with a much needed burst of late summer sunshine.

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After more than a decade, the event is now well established as one of the key dates in the Yorkshire entertainment calendar.

And while organisers have fine-tuned the logistical challenges of creating what they describe as a temporary “small town” on the Bramham Park site, they have no control over the elements.

So fortunately, while their colleagues in Reading worried about the possibility of the River Thames spilling onto the site, even the mud from previous days’ rain had dried out by yesterday morning.

This meant the festival uniform of designer wellingtons adopted by many people appear somewhat unnecessary, even though a slight shower appeared unexpectedly later in the day.

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Revellers had been arriving since Wednesday for the three days of music that started yesterday lunchtime.

They could have been forgiven for assuming the festival site had appeared almost from nowhere, it is so well masked from nearby roads. The truth is very different, with teams of workers involved in the massive construction project from late July in order to get it read in time.

The scale of the event is slightly bewildering, involving the installation of more than 40 miles of security fencing, with 100 cabins taken on site and as many as 500 litter bins installed.

To get the 4,000 staff and 230 performers around the sprawling site, 27 golf buggies have been hired.

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Food outlets expect to sell 50,000 burgers alone – besides an incalculable total quantity of other foods and drink.

On Monday the job of returning Bramham Park to its normal appearance will begin and although that job will be slightly shorter, it will be mid-September before the last crews depart.

The Festival is now in its 11th year, having outgrown its original home at Temple Newsam.

In that time the complexion of the event has also changed, with a high emphasis now put on environmental concerns.

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Fans are now encouraged to arrive by public transport and use the recycling bins provided.

The festival organisers are clearly proud of their success in that field, with about 40 per cent of the crowd expected to have come by bus, coach or train.

Even more made use of shuttle buses between the festival site and Leeds city centre, designed in part to keep traffic levels down to a manageable level.

A Festival Republic spokesman said yesterday: “People started arriving on Wednesday so they’ve had pently of time to get into the spirit of the festival and the atmosphere is really great.”

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By yesterday morning the festival culture was very much in evidence. While breakfast tents optimistically offered bacon sandwiches, many campers seemed to prefer the refreshment offered by two litre bottles of strong cider.

In the campsite, many were restocking their provisions with crates of beer, though by early afternoon that had taken its toll, with some of the crowd finding it too difficult to stand up to listen to the bands perform.

This year’s line-up disappointed some regular festival-goers when it was announced in the spring. Tomorrow’s headline act of Guns’n’Roses is the best known name.

At one point an internet spoof made it appear they had pulled out, but that did not stop the 70,000 tickets from selling out

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Yorkshire’s musical talent is not so well represented this year as last, when both the Arctic Monkeys from Sheffield and Leeds’s Kaiser Chiefs appeared.

Wakefield band The Cribs had to remind the crowd what Yorkshire can offer and they did so with the flair expected of a band playing on home turf.

By the time they appeared late yesterday afternoon the crowd was already in a receptive mood, having been warmed up by other visiting bands.