New York, NY (Top40 Charts) BBC
Radio 1's Big Weekend UK 2020 will take place over the May Bank Holiday weekend as planned (Friday 22 - Sunday 24 May 2020), but with a crucial difference: this year's festival will take place remotely for the first time.
Sam Smith, Biffy Clyro, Anne-Marie,
Young T & Bugsey and
Rita Ora are the first artists to join the bill, with all five performing new live sets. Over 100 artists will be involved, with more acts to be announced in the coming weeks.
Radio 1's Big Weekend 2020 was originally planned to take place in Dundee's Camperdown Park, but was cancelled in March of this year after restrictions were put in place to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Radio 1's Big Weekend UK 2020 will aim to reinstate the festival spirit, with over 50 brand new live sets recorded by artists from their own homes, as well as bringing back around 50 of the most memorable performances from previous Big Weekends.
Biffy Clyro say: "We are delighted to be performing at
Radio 1's Big Weekend UK 2020. As much as we'd love to be performing live on stage, this will be a whole new experience for us and we cannot wait!"
Anne-Marie says: "I'm so excited that
Radio 1's Big Weekend is happening this year, even though it'll be from my living room I still can't wait!"
Rita Ora says: "I'm so excited to take part in
Radio 1's new Big Weekend 2020 with all of you!!"
Radio 1 Breakfast host Greg
James says: "I'm so pleased we can bring the listeners a brand new version of our Big Weekend this year. It's our absolute favourite event of the year and we love saying thanks to our listeners for being such a big part of the radio station.
"It'll be a great opportunity to re-live some of our favourite performances from over the years and although it'll be a technical nightmare, having some new performances from artists' houses will be great for everyone to have something fun to watch and listen to over the Bank Holiday Weekend. And if it all goes wrong, we can just blame the pandemic and say that at least we tried."
Aled Haydn Jones, Head of Programmes for
Radio 1, says: "Every year
Radio 1's Big Weekend is an opportunity for us to give something back to our listeners, and this year will be no different. I'm delighted that, despite the challenging times we find ourselves in, we're still able to host an event that brings people together. We look forward to celebrating across the Bank Holiday weekend with over 50 incredible new live performances, around 50 classic sets, five stages, and some of the biggest artists in the world, with the most exciting new acts."
Performances will take place across five virtual stages: the
Radio 1 Stage, the
Radio 1 Dance Stage, the Headliner Stage, the 1Xtra Stage and the BBC
Music Introducing Stage. The
Radio 1 Stage will be made up of all new performances, including Sam Smith, Biffy Clyro, Anne-Marie,
Young T & Bugsey and Rita Ora, while the
Radio 1 Dance Stage will feature brand new DJ sets from some of the hottest names in dance music.
The Headliner Stage will feature some of the best headline performances from past Big Weekends, including Katy Perry's set at
Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull and Miley Cyrus' stormer from Middlesbrough. The 1Xtra Stage will be hosted by the 1Xtra DJs and will feature a mix of new sets, and archive performances from the likes of Alicia Keys, Dave and J Hus.
The BBC
Music Introducing Stage will feature new performances from over 40 emerging artists across the weekend. Each of the local radio shows that make up the BBC
Music Introducing network have nominated an artist from their region to perform, allowing the stage to showcase the breadth of the new music scene across the country.
Fans will be able to attend the festival from the comfort of their own homes by tuning in to
Radio 1 across the weekend, with full sets available on BBC Sounds. More details, along with the full line up and set times, will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Festival merchandise is now available to purchase via the
Radio 1 website. All profits will be donated to, and split equally between,
Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need as part of The Big Night In Appeal.
Each year ahead of
Radio 1's Big Weekend, the station runs an extensive outreach programme designed to give young people an introduction to working in the creative industries, and this year will be no different. A range of workshops, panel discussions and classes will be run via video conferencing and via social media, with sessions aimed at providing young people with the skills, knowledge and motivation they need to take those all-important first steps in their careers.
All profits from sales of merchandise will be donated to two charities. Fifty percent of donations will be paid to
Comic Relief which is the trading name of Charity Projects (registered charity in England and Wales, charity number 326568 and in Scotland, charity number SC039730) and 50 percent of donations will be paid to BBC Children in Need (registered charity in England and Wales, charity number 802052 and in Scotland, charity number SC039557).
The Big Night In Appeal is a joint initiative between
Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need.
