Sunderland lives Lush Life at Radio 1’s Big Weekend

For three days the Wearside skyline was soundtracked by chart-toppers with barely a cloud daring to gatecrash the party, as festival ponchos were put aside for sunglasses and SPF.

More than 100,000 people swept passed the park over the weekend from far and wide – some travelling from as far afield as Southampton,

It was the first time the festival had been to Sunderland in 21 years, when Gwen Stefani headlined in 2005.

On Friday, legendary DJ Fatboy Slim brought the festival’s first full day to an end with a set of the pounding dance anthems which made him a household name. It topped off the Big Weekend’s first-ever dedicated dance music day.

Saturday brought about more big-name artists from the world of pop.

(Image: NNP)

Zara Larsson closed Saturday with a blitz of big choruses and fun dance routines that have come to symbolise her resurgence in recent years, partly down to viral trends on TikTok.

She played the last Big Weekend in the North East when she joined the likes of Miley Cyrus and Billie Eilish on the billing.

(Image: PA)

Ellie Goulding’s set earlier in the day was another nostalgia-filled journey on a day which felt like it may well have been 2016 all over again.

Louis Tomlinson added to that feeling with a rendition of One Direction hit ‘History’.

(Image: NNP)

(Image: NNP)

Olivia Dean brought the Big Weekend to a soulful close as Sunday’s headliner with her sunset set wrapping up three days of pop and sunshine.

(Image: JOSHUA NICHOL)

(Image: North News & Pictures Ltd)

(Image: NNP)

Bucket hats, denim shorts and football shirts were the uniform of choice, with grass banks doubling as sun loungers between sets as fans stretched out to the sound of new discoveries on the smaller stages.

(Image: North News & Pictures Ltd)

(Image: NNP)