The Guardian's review of this year's Reading and Leeds festival argues that dance music, particularly tech house, has become the dominant force at what was once seen chiefly as a rock and pop rite of passage for teenagers after their GCSEs. Following a poorly received genre-themed running order in 2025, organisers embraced a deliberately eclectic, "borderless" lineup this year, adding new stages including the chandelier-decked Ballroom, though the review notes it is DJs on the dance-focused Warehouse stage who draw the biggest and most energetic crowds of the weekend.

Highlights included a "spellbinding" Saturday double bill of Charli xcx and Fontaines DC, the latter previewing new material from their forthcoming album Dopamine Chamber, plus strong sets from Chase and Status, Bar Italia and Slovakian pop star Adéla, while Thursday headliners Kasabian were judged lacklustre. Tech house DJs such as Kettama, Josh Baker, Omar+ and Max Dean drew some of the weekend's most packed crowds, though overcrowding forced the cancellation of sets by Silva Bumpa and a Skepta/Prospa back-to-back. The review also criticised the new Canopy stage, curated by Live Nation-owned Festival Republic and dubbed the "nepo baby" stage for featuring children of Dave Grohl, Liam Gallagher and the Beckhams, saying its programming largely overshadowed more deserving young acts like Tooth and Sade Olutola.