PMJ FEATURE SUNDERLAND MUSIC CITY STATUS BUILDS WITH BBC ONE’S BIG WEEKEND ANNOUNCEMENT

Music City Mural, The Fire Station, Sunderland. Image Credit: taken by Lewis Newton.

Sunderland won music city status in January 2025. Since then, BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend has been announced to take place in Herrington Park in May.

Many outside of the city would not expect Sunderland to be a music city status due to its industrial past.

Sunderland’s music industry has grown of the past two decades, with Bands such as Frankie and the Heartstrings and The Futureheads, making a well-known name for themselves, putting Sunderland on the music map.

Frankie Francis who is the lead singer for Frankie and the Hearstrings expanded on the importance of Sunderland being a Music city, with being able to help other cities around the world but also the bonus of extra attention the city gets from its newest titles.

Frankie Francis (Music City Officer Communications and external Engagement) Said: “Yeah, so we’re currently in a huge project called The Year of Music, which is like a kind of funded period of time for some of the Music City, which ends in June. But before we end, we’re actually hosting, I don’t know if this is a bit of an exclusive but. That’s fine.

So you’ll see some comms going out about this in the next week or so, but in June, Sunderland is actually hosting the music cities network, Summer Summit, which means all the other music cities in the world are sending representatives to have a working summit in Sunderland. So we’re going to kind of build a conference around that, which will be a nice way to end the year of music.”

When Sunderland applied to be a music city, many people would have not believed the reaction of the Music City Network. Francis added: “we were really expecting to get a hard time off the music cities network to be able to meet their requirements, but they were completely blown away. So much so that they often use our music strategy. which we’ve offered the next 5 years. They use that as a kind of exemplars music strategy and roll it out in other major cities like Valencia”.

Sunderland music city has also developed and created its own radio station, which acts as a platform to promote music and artists from Sunderland, no matter how inexperienced or experienced.

Sunderland is home to many music venues where anyone can either perform or just play an instrument for the first time, places like The Bunker has been revolutionary for grassroot musicians. Furthermore Independent, which host music during the week, and is a night club on weekends, is well-known for its atmosphere.

Graphic Design image of PopRecs Sunniside. Credit Polly Stuart/@PollysCreative

PopRecs, built from the ground up from Frankie and the Hearstings, and is still ran by band member Michael McKnight. What was once supposed to be a two week pop up for their second album, is now one of the more easily recognised venues in the north east.

PopRecs has its own music venue, which has events, such as Kool for Kats, and tribute band acts.

Polly Stuart (Graphic Designer and Barista at PopRecs) Said: “Grassroots music venues are so important for the future of musicians, they give up and coming artists platforms that are accessible which isn’t always a possibility in bigger venues. PopRecs is a prime example. Its community lead, not profit venue in Sunniside, Sunderland.

However, Sunderland holds a music festival every year in Roker on the beach cliffs, where you can see dolphins in the ocean behind the stage.

Summer Streets is weekend long festival on the coast, where local bands can perform to large crowds, to get their voices heard and where audiences can listen without spending a penny.

The Big Weekend has returned to Sunderland for the first time in 21 years, where The Black-eyed peas, The Foofighters and Gwen Stefani all headlined. Now in May Fatboy Slim, Zara Larson and Oliva Dean are set to take the main stage.

This is such an important event for the local area and community, as it will leave such a footprint financially, and hopefully persuade them to come back in the future for a third time.

The event further supports those of the north east, as people who have a north east postcode will get ‘first dibs’ on the tickets. With 80% of the sales going to those of the north east.

Up and coming Sunderland artists will also be performing on the big stage of the weekend, with Tom A Smith supporting on the first day of the big weekend.

Francis added: “We know that the people of Sunderland and the Northeast will support it. We just need the right people to make the right calls, to make it affordable, accessible, and enjoyable. And yeah, it’s an amazing thing for the city. Absolutely amazing. The eyes of the world are going to be on us again.”

The Fire Station was once you guessed it, a fire station, but is now the home to the biggest indoor music venue in the city. The venue host over 200 events every year.

Emily Jackson Marketing Executive Sunderland Music City Said: “Grassroots venues are the lifeblood of Sunderland’s music scene. They are where creativity begins, where new voices find their confidence, and where communities come together through a shared love of live music. Without these spaces, the Sunderland’s music scene would not continue to flourish, or even exist.”

The Riverside development of Sunderland has only supported Music in this city, with the sheepfolds opening in 2022, a main stage is in the open area, where people can enjoy some nice food and drinks while listening to local music, either right before or after the match.

Sunderland Crownwork’s has also announced the start of development of the Media Studios, which will expand the number of jobs available in the music industry, linking to the radio.

Sunderland, Attempt at The Fire Station for the Guinness World Record for the most musicians to play the same instrument in relay. Credit: Thomas Jackson/Alamy

Overall Sunderland’s music is always evolving which goes hand in hand with the cities everchanging developments. The future looks very bright for Sunderland as a city and its music industry.