- Music
- 30 Jan 18
Billed as a replacement for Glastonbury, which is taking a break for 2018, BBC's Biggest Weekend will take place across four cities in the UK from May 25-28.
It has been confirmed radio 6 Music will broadcast from Belfast's Titanic Slipways from May 25-26.
Manic Street Preachers, Beck, Courtney Barnett, and Public Service Broadcasting will be performing over the two nights, with more acts to be announced in the coming weeks.
The Belfast Telegraph reports Manic Street Preachers saying: “The Biggest Weekend is in Belfast, which is good in itself.
"We’ve played there a lot over the years, we did one of the greatest gigs ever there back in The Limelight in 1990. And then we’ve had subsequently just lots of great gigs there, just amazing ones. It is good to spread 6 Music’s message far and wide.”
Shaun Keaveny, BBC Radio 6 Music’s breakfast presenter, said: “I am a Belfast virgin, so am absolutely chomping at the bit to immerse myself in the culture of one of Britain’s great cities when BBC Radio 6 Music visits for the first time for BBC Music’s Biggest Weekend.
"6 Music will be bringing a superlative line up of artists - with Beck, Manic Street Preachers, Courtney Barnett and Public Service Broadcasting announced today and more to come.”
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Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Nuala McAllister said: “Belfast is such a great music city; we’ve earned our stripes when it comes to hosting large scale events, as the MTV EMAs proved in 2011, and we really know how to enjoy ourselves.
"So I can’t wait to see the warm and enthusiastic welcome for the acts when they play Titanic Quarter. With coverage similar to that offered to Glastonbury across BBC Radio and extensive TV coverage across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four – and of course, online, The Biggest Weekend is also providing an amazing global platform on which to share our beautiful city, encouraging even more people to visit and discover what makes Belfast so memorable.”
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Billy Ocean, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Snow Patrol have been lined up to perform at the festival's other venues over with weekend, which include Coventry in England, Perth in Scotland, and Swansea in Wales.
Around 175,000 tickets for The Biggest Weekend go on sale on Monday February 12 from Ticketmaster.