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Radio 1 Big Weekend Opens in Sunderland With Tight Security and Last‑Minute Lineup Changes

Organisers have completed the Herrington Country Park build and put travel, entry and safety measures in place to handle about 100,000 ticket-holders over the three-day festival.

Overview

  • The festival opened on Friday May 22 with gates, stages and site infrastructure finished and organisers saying they expect roughly 100,000 people across the weekend.
  • Strict entry rules are in force: every attendee and bag may be searched, only one A4-size bag (W21cm x H30cm x D8cm) is permitted, no outside alcohol is allowed and last entry each day is 9pm.
  • Event organisers published a detailed banned-items list that includes drugs, drones, large umbrellas, professional cameras, glass and nitrous oxide dispensers to protect crowd safety.
  • Local travel measures have started with multi-day road closures on the A183 and A19 corridors, no-parking zones and shuttle buses run by Big Green Coach from Park Lane, Heworth Metro and Belmont Park & Ride.
  • Lineup changes were announced on Friday morning: Horsegirl withdrew due to illness and Danny Howard will perform a back-to-back DJ set with a secret special guest, for which Patrick Topping has been widely speculated but not confirmed.