Well, it’s fair to say that was one BIG Weekend. Dundee totally pulled off the challenge of hosting a major live music event in front of a massive Radio 1 audience.
The city succeeded in hosting a spectacular show and welcomed some of the biggest artists from around the world, from the Jonas Brothers to The 1975, to Camperdown Park.
I was lucky enough to be invited by the BBC to attend the festival as a guest.
It gave me a great chance to document the event first-hand, even if it meant being there from 10am to 10pm on the Saturday and the Sunday.
Everyone will have their favourites from the line-up.
On day one, mine were probably the Jonas Brothers and Jess Glynne. Dancing to DNCE’s Cake by the Ocean and Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand while my city put on a massive party for the world to see was an awesome experience.
The BBC’s Introducing Stage and the Radio 1 Dance Stage were fantastic too, and ROMY and Rudimental were amazing on the Future Sounds Stage.
Anne-Marie and Niall Horan were among the highlights on day two, while Nothing But Thieves’ love-in with Dundee City Council provided one of the most entertaining moments of the weekend.
Well, what can I say… #TeamDundee, in conjunction with BBC organisers, have really pulled it out of the bag.
The first two days have been, by all accounts, a superb showcase of music and our city.
A huge congratulations and thank you is owed to so many… pic.twitter.com/C7gxtYlbHM
— Councillor John Alexander (@CllrAlexander) May 29, 2023
But of course, it was Lewis Capaldi who was the star of the show. And his vocals and humour shone through.
What next after Big Weekend Dundee?
The Scottish superstar said Dundee felt like “home”. And I hope that’s the sense that a lot of people will take away from Radio 1’s Big Weekend in the city.
One of the best memories for me was seeing the absolutely joy on the faces of the Dundonians in the crowd – and on all of those visiting the city for the festival.
Camperdown Park made for a fantastic venue. We’re really fortunate to have such a beautiful setting for events like this. And I think we proved we can put on a show.
Dundee rarely gets the opportunity to shine when it comes to music festivals.
We don’t have a major festival of our own. There are some who say the city is too small to take its place on the festival circuit. But I hope that our second time hosting the Radio 1 Big Weekend changes that narrative.
Some are suggesting Camperdown Park could even host something like Rewind Festival in the future. It’s been a huge success for Perth. And it would be great to see Dundee getting in on the 80s revival action too.
I said last week that Big Weekend would be an opportunity to explore whether we could go it alone with a music festival of our own. And I think it is fair to say we’ve proved we’re more than capable.
We demonstrated in 2006 that we could host an event on the scale of Big Weekend and this year we underlined it.
Big Weekend’s return to Dundee was a long time coming. But it was worth the wait, because we got it absolutely right.
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