Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2024 to take place in Luton

Stockwood Park in Luton will play host to BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2024 with over 100,000 music fans expected to attend the live music spectacular from 24 May – 26 May 2024.

This year, Radio 1’s Big Weekend will be supersized with four stages running across three days: Radio 1 Main Stage, Radio 1’s Future Sounds, Radio 1 Dance and BBC Introducing. Radio 1’s flagship festival will showcase around 100 acts, from the biggest stars in the world to new and emerging artists, with the full line-up and ticketing details to be announced on Radio 1 in the coming months.

Radio 1’s Big Weekend kicks off the UK’s festival season by bringing some of the biggest UK and international artists to cities that may not otherwise host such a large scale event. From Miley Cyrus in Middlesbrough to Stormzy in Hull, Ed Sheeran in Coventry, Taylor Swift in Norwich, Bruno Mars in Derry, Camila Cabello in Glasgow and The 1975 in Dundee, music fans around the UK have seen superstar acts perform on their doorsteps. The festival shines a light on the surrounding area and provides a major boost to the local economy, with huge demand for tickets ensuring the event sells out almost immediately every year. Last year’s festival generated £3.7 million for the host city of Dundee.

This year, the BBC is working closely with Luton Council to ensure that Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2024 is a safe and secure environment for all those attending the festival.

Greg James says: “Radio 1’s Big Weekend is our favourite time of the year and we love taking it somewhere new every year. This year is the turn of Luton to experience the full Radio 1 treatment. It’s a simple mission really: we just want everyone who comes along to have the best time.”

Aled Haydn Jones, Head of Radio 1, says: “Radio 1’s Big Weekend always kicks off the UK festival season in style and I’m so excited that this year, it will be a three-day, four-stage, live music spectacular for our listeners to enjoy. We have some incredibly exciting ideas in the pipeline as well as some of the biggest artists to announce in the coming months, I can’t wait to celebrate in Luton.”

Cllr Hazel Simmons MBE, Leader of Luton Council, says: “The fact that BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, one of the UK’s largest and most popular music festivals, has chosen Luton is fantastic news for our town, especially our young people, and will showcase all the wonderful things about Luton.

“Not only will this event give a multi-million pound boost to Luton’s economy and provide a number of opportunities for local young people and businesses, with tens of thousands in attendance and millions tuning in across the BBC, it gives us an opportunity to step forward and showcase the very best of our ambitious, brilliantly vibrant, wonderfully diverse and transforming town.”

BBC Radio 1 will broadcast live from the festival site across the weekend, with performances and tracks available live and on demand across Radio 1’s iPlayer channel and BBC Sounds.