Coldplay have been announced as the final headliner for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2024 to kick-start a summer that concludes with the global superstars playing the world-renowed Glastonbury Festival for a record-breaking fifth time.
The three-day music spectacular will take place in Stockwood Park from Friday 24 May to Sunday 26 May with over 100,000 music fans expected to be in attendance.
Coldplay, who are one of the biggest-selling groups of the 21st century, with over 100 million albums sold, said: “We wouldn’t be anywhere without Radio 1 and we’re super excited to come to Luton this year and play Big Weekend.”
The announcement of Coldplay, who are also on a world tour this year to promote their Music of Spheres album, completes the Luton line-up, which also includes local heroes Myles Smith and JW Paris on the BBC Introducing Stage on Saturday and Sunday respectively, plus Bedford’s Alfie Templeman, who has played Luton before on a Transmission Indie show at the now defunct The Edge on Park Street.
JW Paris this week released their new single ‘Who Are You’, out on Blaggers Records, which was named Track of the Week on the Luton-based Vandalism Begins at Home Radio show, who have been long time champions of the band.
Posting on Facebook, rockers JW Paris fronted by Lutonians Danny Collins and Aaron Forde, said: ‘Can’t wait to support some GLOBAL artists @coldplay. Lutonians we want you there at our biggest moment.’ Smith posted on his Facebook page: ‘WE’RE COMING HOME LUTON’.
Coldplay will play out the three-day extravaganza, joined be Sabrina Carpenter and Vampire Weekend on the main stage on Sunday May 26, while beabadoobee will headline the New Music Stage. They join the already stellar line-up made up of RAYE, Charli XCX, Chase & Status, Rag‘n’Bone Man, Becky Hill, Rudimental, Aitch plus many many more.
The line-up for Sunday 26 May (in alphabetical order):
Radio 1 Main Stage
- Coldplay
- Declan McKenna
- Olly Alexander
- Sabrina Carpenter
- Vampire Weekend
Radio 1 New Music Stage
- beabadoobee
- CMAT
- Everything Everything
- FIZZ
- Olivia Dean
- Sea Girls
- Teddy Swims
With another big artist to be announced in the coming weeks.
The full line-up for the other stages can be found Radio 1 Big Weekend website.
Tickets for Radio 1’s Big Weekend go on sale at 5pm tomorrow (Thursday 21 March) and will cost £29.50 (plus a £4.50 booking fee per ticket). For more information, please go to www.bbc.co.uk/backstage/bigweekend.
As with previous Big Weekends, tickets will be geographically weighted with an element of preference given to local residents: 40 percent of tickets will be reserved for those living in Luton; 30 percent of tickets will be reserved for those living in the surrounding areas; whilst the remaining 30 percent of tickets will be available for the rest of the UK. The booking process will be handled by Ticketmaster – the only official ticketing agent for Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
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, shining a light on the local area and providing a major boost to the local economy. There is always a huge demand for tickets, with the festival selling out within minutes every year. 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.
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.
The line-up for Friday 24 May (in alphabetical order):
Radio 1 Main Stage
- Becky Hill
- Chase & Status
- Ella Henderson
- Rudimental
Radio 1 New Music Stage
- Dimension
- Diplo
- Eric Prydz
- Hannah Laing
- Kenya Grace
- Sonny Fodera
With more big names to be announced in the coming weeks.
The line-up for Saturday 25 May (in alphabetical order):
Radio 1 Main Stage
- Aitch
- Griff
- Joel Corry
- Mabel
- Rag‘n’Bone Man
- RAYE
Radio 1 New Music Stage
- Alfie Templeman
- Caity Baser
- Cat Burns
- Charli XCX
- Dylan
- The Last Dinner Party
- Shygirl
- Tems
