Music
10 Mar 26

CMAT, Dermot Kennedy and Niall Horan announced for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend

CMAT at 3Arena on December 5th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

The annual music festival will take place in Sunderland's Herrington Country Park from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 May.

CMAT, Dermot Kennedy and Niall Horan have been announced for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend.

The three Irish acts will take to the main stage on Sunday alongside Grammy Award winner Olivia Dean, who will close out the festival.

Singers Zara Larsson, Louis Tomlinson and Lola Young are set to take to the main stage on the Saturday, while DJs Fatboy Slim and Sonny Fodera will kick off the festival on the first day.

Sunderland last hosted Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2005, when the line-up included artists such as Gwen Stefani, Foo Fighters and the Black Eyed Peas.

Every year, BBC Radio 1's flagship event, Big Weekend, takes place in a new location, frequently in towns and cities that don't host many major live music events.

In previous years acts such as Taylor Swift, Stormzy, The 1975 and Bruno Mars have all taken to the main stage.

Last week, tickets for the first day went on sale. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday will go on sale on Wednesday, March 11, at 5PM, with local residents getting priority.