18/03/09 - Radio 1 Big Weekend Secured!

The Radio 1 Big weekend is the biggest free live music event in Europe and is held annually in a town or city in the UK. This year will be the ninth staging of the event and Radio 1 has chosen Swindon as the venue and specifically Lydiard Park over the weekend of May 9 & 10th.

Two councillors used their powers of persuasion to entice Radio 1’s Big Weekend to Swindon.

Councillors Justin Tomlinson and Phil Young, the cabinet member for culture, regeneration and economic development, have secured music fans’ dreams by convincing the BBC that Swindon can deliver.  The councillors pointed out to the BBC the town’s experience of handling the UK Corporate Games in 2006 – when 12,000 people descended on Lydiard Park.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Swindon and will see us enjoy a national and international spotlight for the weekend itself and the run up to it. Maidstone staged the event last year and we have visited them to discuss the experience which by all accounts has been nothing but positive.

Swindon Council is working in partnership with BBC Radio 1 to stage the event and it is a massive coup for Swindon.  

The big weekend will feature a line up of top live music on both nights (last year Madonna was the headline act to give you some idea of the calibre.)  Snow Patrol and N-Dubz are just two of 50 top acts coming to Lydiard Park on Saturday, May 9 and Sunday, May 10 for the free event.  20,000 people will attend on each day and the tickets are free with people invited to register in the run up to the event with a ballot taking place to decide who is allocated a ticket. Approximately 65% of the tickets are allocated to the local population (Swindon Borough and the immediate surrounding area) making this a locally inclusive event.           

Apart from the obvious reputation gain the Big Weekend has a number of other positives including:

• It will help us achieve many of our LAA targets (engagement in arts, belonging, satisfaction, young people participating and a number of other national indicators)
  
  
• A place marketing opportunity that has an estimated £1.5 million value – national exposure, blanket BBC coverage for two months, first area and Council in the South West to have the event, SBC brand on all printed material and in publicity  
  
  
• Opportunity to showcase all of our events and venues to a regional and national audience and drive up footfall and revenue
  
  
• Opportunity to showcase Lydiard as a major events venue and secure follow up income generating events
  
  
• Brings in an estimated additional 1.3 million pounds to the local economy over the weekend
  
  
• There are ‘fringe’ events in the week before the event based in and around the town with local bands show cased and BBC DJs hosting events.
  

A special website has been launched which will have all information about the event including details for residents: www.swindonbigweekend.com

Cllr Phil Young, "Radio 1 could have taken this anywhere – any council would want this. We knew we were competing against other councils and we had to make sure everything was in place. Location was a big factor.  People in Radio 1 were hugely excited when they saw Lydiard Park.  The council was also able to put forward a solution on how traffic will be dealt with, involving shuttle buses.  We demonstrated that we had enough understanding of the area to handle traffic successfully.  We are finalising the details now. We intend for Lydiard to be a car-free zone apart from vehicles for disabled drivers. The last thing we want is thousands of people stuck in a traffic jam missing part of the concert. There is an awful lot of work going into that now.''

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, "When the BBC approached the Council last year about hosting the weekend, we did all we could to show how keen we were to host the event.  I am sure you will share my enthusiasm for this high profile event and recognise just how important it is for Swindon’s reputation. This is a fantastic opportunity for local residents to enjoy a great weekend at Lydiard Park.''