Dundee is set to play host to this year’s BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend with Lewis Capaldi, The 1975 and Anne-Marie among the first acts to be announced.
On Monday, January 30, Breakfast Show host Greg James announced that Dundee’s Camperdown Park will welcome over 80,000 music fans to the three-day festival taking place between May 26 and May 28.
Anne-Marie, Arlo Parks, Capaldi, Niall Horan, Raye and The 1975 were announced as the first artists at the bank holiday weekend festival.
The Big Weekend was set to go to Dundee in 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic could not go ahead as planned.
Dua Lipa, Harry Styles and AJ Tracey were some of the acts expected to play in 2020.
The annual festival brings UK and international artists to cities that may not otherwise host large-scale events in an effort to shine a light on the local area and provide a boost to the local economy.
Capaldi said: “I’m very excited to be playing in Dundee for Big Weekend, I never managed to get tickets last time so I’m very excited to be able to come along and enjoy it as well as playing.”
John Alexander, Dundee City Council leader, said: “This is an incredible opportunity for Dundee and we are looking forward to hosting such an exciting event at Camperdown Park after the disappointment of 2020’s cancellation.
“Radio 1’s Big Weekend will showcase Dundee not only to the tens of thousands of people who attend, but also the millions who will watch and listen through the BBC. We expect a huge economic boost for the area as the event has been worth millions of pounds to previous host locations.”
Greg James, Radio 1 Breakfast Show host, said: “We were gutted not to come to Dundee due to the pandemic so it’s massively exciting to finally fulfil our promise this year. I was on holiday close to Dundee in the summer and decided I wanted to move there so doing Big Weekend nearby is just the first part of my cunning plan to get out of London. I’m glad Radio 1 have fallen for it.”
Aled Haydn Jones, head of Radio 1, said: “Radio 1’s Big Weekend always delivers the biggest and hottest artists from around the world and what better place to bring them than Dundee! We’ve got some brilliant ideas for the event this year and a few special guests who we’ll be bringing along to celebrate with us.”
Further information, including the full line-up and ticketing details, will be announced in the coming months.
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