Radio 1’s Big Weekend is coming to Sunderland!
Written by Elizabeth Earl on 19th November 2025
The Radio 1 Big Weekend always draws a big, enthusiastic crowd.
BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is set to bring “the biggest names in music” to Sunderland in May 2026, when the festival will take place at Herrington Park – with around 100 acts performing.
The announcement was made by presenter Greg James, who said: “Radio 1 is going back to the glorious North East! The best nights out by far. I started my radio career there, some of my favourite artists are from there and I can’t wait to be adopted as a Mackem next summer.”
The festival’s line-up is set to be announced in the coming months, and will include headliners as well as emerging artists.
This year’s Big Weekend was held in Liverpool, with performances from Sam Fender, Blossoms and Lola Young.
Information on tickets is yet to be released, but this year they cost £33 per day and sold via Ticketmaster, with priority given to local residents.
In the past, tickets for the event were free, but fees were introduced in 2018.
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It won’t be the first time Herrington Park has hosted the Big Weekend; the festival took place there in 2005, when The Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani, Foo Fighters and The Futureheads performed.
The BBC said that the festival will provide a significant boost to Sunderland’s economy, and that previous events have generated “millions of pounds for host cities”.
The announcement comes as Sunderland continues to celebrate its Year of Music after becoming a part of the Music Cities Network, a global non-profit organisation which aims to “build better music ecosystems”.
We asked University of Sunderland students who they would like to see perform at the festival next year: their picks included Grammy-nominated singer Raye, former Little Mix member and South Shields native JADE, and Sunderland-based band Swindled.
