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BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different location within the United Kingdom each time. It was the biggest free-ticketed music event in Europe, until a fee for tickets was introduced in 2018, and always includes a host of new artists.
The festival is a spin-off of Radio 1's "One Big Sunday", where in each Sunday during the summer months a different town would host the roadshow, usually next to a beach or in a large park. These were also free, but non-ticketed and held from 2000 to 2002. Both events are successors to the Radio 1 Roadshow which toured the country during every summer from 1973 and continued throughout the 1990s.
Originally a "One Big Weekend" would run twice a year, although that last happened in 2004. Since 2005 it has been held once a year instead, usually in May, with the exception of 2012 when a larger festival took place over the weekend of 23–24 June in Hackney, East London.
The form of the event has varied over the years, from one tent at the events in 2003 to as many as six stages in 2012. Every event since 2013 has consisted of one outdoor main stage, one tented second stage, and one much smaller stage dedicated to showcasing emerging talent supported by BBC Introducing. Additionally, the early events dedicated their Saturday exclusively to dance music and their Sunday to bands. The dance day was replaced by a second day of bands from 2006 onwards, although there was a dance-orientated ‘Outdoor Stage’ between 2007 and 2012. The ‘dance day’ was effectively reinstated for the 2013 event in Northern Ireland, with a day of electronic music being held on the Friday night of the weekend. This approach has been repeated in most years since.
The next edition of the event was scheduled to be held between 22 and 24 May 2020 in Dundee, with Camperdown Park becoming the first site to host the event twice. The event however was cancelled in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and went virtual. The 2021 Big Weekend was also moved into a virtual mode.
In late 2021, it was revealed that Radio 1's Big Weekend would return in a live tradition for the first time in three years, with Coventry being the host city for this event on 27 to 29 May 2022.
On 30 January 2023, it was announced that Dundee would host Big Weekend from 26 to 28 May 2023. The city was originally due to host in 2020 but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 29 January 2024, it was announced that Luton would host Big Weekend from 24 to 26 May 2024. A full Friday programme took place in Luton, with all stages being used on this day for the first time, although it was still generally based around dance music.
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BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend AI simulator
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BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different location within the United Kingdom each time. It was the biggest free-ticketed music event in Europe, until a fee for tickets was introduced in 2018, and always includes a host of new artists.
The festival is a spin-off of Radio 1's "One Big Sunday", where in each Sunday during the summer months a different town would host the roadshow, usually next to a beach or in a large park. These were also free, but non-ticketed and held from 2000 to 2002. Both events are successors to the Radio 1 Roadshow which toured the country during every summer from 1973 and continued throughout the 1990s.
Originally a "One Big Weekend" would run twice a year, although that last happened in 2004. Since 2005 it has been held once a year instead, usually in May, with the exception of 2012 when a larger festival took place over the weekend of 23–24 June in Hackney, East London.
The form of the event has varied over the years, from one tent at the events in 2003 to as many as six stages in 2012. Every event since 2013 has consisted of one outdoor main stage, one tented second stage, and one much smaller stage dedicated to showcasing emerging talent supported by BBC Introducing. Additionally, the early events dedicated their Saturday exclusively to dance music and their Sunday to bands. The dance day was replaced by a second day of bands from 2006 onwards, although there was a dance-orientated ‘Outdoor Stage’ between 2007 and 2012. The ‘dance day’ was effectively reinstated for the 2013 event in Northern Ireland, with a day of electronic music being held on the Friday night of the weekend. This approach has been repeated in most years since.
The next edition of the event was scheduled to be held between 22 and 24 May 2020 in Dundee, with Camperdown Park becoming the first site to host the event twice. The event however was cancelled in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and went virtual. The 2021 Big Weekend was also moved into a virtual mode.
In late 2021, it was revealed that Radio 1's Big Weekend would return in a live tradition for the first time in three years, with Coventry being the host city for this event on 27 to 29 May 2022.
On 30 January 2023, it was announced that Dundee would host Big Weekend from 26 to 28 May 2023. The city was originally due to host in 2020 but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 29 January 2024, it was announced that Luton would host Big Weekend from 24 to 26 May 2024. A full Friday programme took place in Luton, with all stages being used on this day for the first time, although it was still generally based around dance music.