Glitter, sunshine and huge crowds as Radio One's Big Weekend hits Sunderland
North East artists shared the spotlight alongside major headline acts during three days of music and cast iron good times at Herrington Park
Twenty one years after BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend last rolled into Sunderland with the swaggering company of Foo Fighters, Gwen Stefani and The Black Eyed Peas, the festival returned to Wearside at the weekend. And it was nothing short of glorious across the board.
Across three unbelievably sunny days (don’t be surprised if you see some out-of-towners turning up for a mini break in Houghton-le-Spring next May bank holiday), around 100,000 people descended on Herrington Country Park armed with bucket hats, iced coffees, factor 50 and enough glitter to keep the North East sparkling well into autumn.
Glitter beards, incidentally, emerged as one of the weekend’s undoubted fashion triumphs. Fair play to every single wearer and a special shout out to North East comedian and TV comedy maker, Jason Cook who fully leaned in.
Sunderland securing European football over the same weekend only added to the many reasons to celebrate (among the red and white members of the crowd, anyway).
And then there was the music.
Friday night belonged to Fatboy Slim, who turned the opening dance party into one giant open-air rave. Saturday’s crowd roared for Zara Larsson, while Sunday closed with a magnetic headline set from Olivia Dean.
In between there were cracking performances from top drawer acts such as CMAT, Ellie Goulding, Lola Young, Myles Smith, Kehlani and Dermot Kennedy. A couple of One Directioners (Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson) also dropped by to do a sunshine-soaked set each.
But the weekend belonged to Olivia Lauren Dean.
As the 27-year-old bounced onto stage, the sky over Herrington turned a soft shade of pink, which felt a little too perfectly timed. This lass has got some pull.
Of course whispers had swirled all weekend about whether Sam Fender might appear to perform their chart-topping (12 non-consecutive weeks and counting) duet Rein Me In. He didn’t. But by the time Olivia delivered a string of faultless performances from her back catalogue including smash album The Art of Loving, it was obvious nobody felt short changed.
Nice To Each Other, Baby Steps, Man I Need and So Easy were just a few of my sparkling highlights.
Talk about a full-circle moment too - this Grammy and Brit winner was topping the bill just three years after appearing on the BBC Introducing stage at the same festival when it was up in Dundee in 2023.
That stage again provided a huge platform for North East talent this year, with artists including Tom A. Smith, Heidi Curtis, Swindled and Emma Harb among those making their mark.
Let’s see who amongst them are vying for the headline slot in a few years time… and let’s hope the Big Weekend is back in the North East before the decade is out.