Almost 70,000 festival goers will be welcomed to Leicester’s Victoria Park this September, as the location is confirmed for a major flagship event, hosted by BBC Radio 2.
Presenter Zoe Ball revealed Radio 2 in the Park will be heading to the city park on Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17, in an announcement on her radio show.
According to the station, it will be Radio 2’s biggest ever live music event outside London, with 35,000 music lovers set to arrive on each day of the festival.
The full artist line-up will be revealed on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show tomorrow (Tuesday, June 13) between 8am and 9.15am.
Leicester’s City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, expressed his excitement ahead of the event.
“We’re very excited to be welcoming Radio 2 in the Park to Leicester this summer. Victoria Park has a proud tradition of hosting these big events and they are always a tremendous boost to the area,” he said.
Announcing the news, Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2, said: “We hope it will bring together music lovers from across the nation – whether joining us in Leicester or tuning in wherever they are – with our brilliant family of Radio 2 presenters sharing all the infectious energy of the event on and off stage. Tune into The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show tomorrow, where she will reveal our spectacular line-up… and let the countdown to Radio 2 in the Park this September begin!”
Radio 2 in the Park will be the network’s first flagship event since Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park in 2019, which featured performances from Pet Shop Boys, Westlife and Clean Bandit amongst others. During the pandemic in 2020, Radio 2 Live At Home brought performances including Sheryl Crow in California, Erasure in the UK and New York, The Killers on the Caesars Palace roof in Las Vegas, John Legend in LA, Nile Rodgers & CHIC feat. Rebecca Ferguson in the UK and New York, and Craig David, Sir Tom Jones, McFly and The Pretenders in the UK. Radio 2 Live in 2021 featured Manic Street Preachers in Cardiff, Steps in Manchester, Westlife in Belfast and Texas in Glasgow each performing in front of a small, socially-distanced audience. Radio 2 Live in Leeds in 2022 was cancelled as a mark of respect following the death of Her Majesty The Queen.
According to the BBC, Radio 2 is the UK’s most listened to radio station, with a weekly audience of 14.46 million (RAJAR Q1, 2023) and the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show is most listened to breakfast show in the UK with an audience of 7.26 million (RAJAR Q1, 2023).
Along with Zoe Ball, the network’s presenters include Leicester’s own OJ Borg, plus Michael Ball, Rob Beckett, Tony Blackburn, Rev. Kate Bottley, Rylan, Fearne Cotton, Sara Cox, Jamie Cullum, Gary Davies, Paul Gambaccini, Angela Griffin, Bob Harris and Vernon Kay. Others include Cerys Matthews, Scott Mills, Jason Mohammad, Trevor Nelson, Dermot O’Leary, Elaine Paige, Mark Radcliffe, Romesh Ranganathan, DJ Spoony, Liza Tarbuck, Jeremy Vine, Michelle Visage, Johnnie Walker, Jo Whiley, Phil Williams, Claudia Winkleman, Steve Wright and Owain Wyn Evans.
Tickets for Radio 2 in the Park – go on sale on Wednesday 14 June at 8.15am, and will be available via www.bbc.co.uk/radio2inthepark
