BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2022: tickets selling fast for festival despite lineup criticism
BBC Radio 1 has announced the lineup and ticket details for its Big Weekend 2022, but have been hit with a backlash over a perceived lack of female artists on this year’s roster.
The popular festival is returning on 27-29 May and this year it’s taking place in Coventry.
It will mark the first time the festival takes place in-person since 2019, after both the 2020 and 2021 events moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Radio 1 has also started to release the lineup with the likes of Calvin Harris, Yungblud, Anne-Marie, Sigrid and Mimi Webb confirmed so far.
There will be four stages across the weekend including the main stage, dance stage, BBC Introducing stage and Future Sounds stage.
Tickets for the event are likely to be in high demand when they go on sale this week, as previous years have sold out in minutes.
You can find out everything you need to know including ticket details, the full lineup so far and more below.
Where is BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2022?
This year’s BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is taking place at War Memorial Park in Coventry.
If you’re a Coventry Council Resident then there’s a way to access tickets for the festival using your postcode, you can find out more below.
How to get Radio 1 Big Weekend tickets
Tickets will go on general sale on 18 March via Ticketmaster.
BBC Radio 1 has confirmed that there are 8,000 tickets available for Friday and 39,500 tickets available for both Saturday and Sunday.
Once you’ve selected your preferred festival day you want to get tickets for, you’ll be asked to choose from a ‘Pot’.
Pot 1 is reserved for Coventry Council Residents, Pot 2 is reserved for those living in remaining Coventry ‘CV’ postcodes, Birmingham ‘B’ postcodes and Leicester (LE1,2,3,4,5,6, 8,9,10,17,18,19) postcodes.
Once you’ve selected Pot 1 or 2 you’ll need to tap ‘unlock’ and enter your postcode without any gaps and in upper case to get through and purchase tickets.
Pot 3 is the remainder of tickets for those who aren’t residents. They are unreserved tickets and you won’t need to enter a postcode but they’re likely to sell out fast.
Tickets will cost £12.50, plus booking fees for Friday and £21.50, plus booking fees for Saturday and Sunday. Festival goers can only purchase a maximum of two tickets per person.
Who’s on the lineup?
This is the confirmed lineup so far with more names to be announced ahead of tickets going on sale.
Saturday 28 May
Main Stage – Calvin Harris / Ed Sheeran / Aitch / AJ Tracey / Anne-Marie / Central Cee / Joel Corry / Yungblud
Future Sounds Stage – Sam Fender / Easy Life / Fontaines D.C. / KSI / Mimi Webb / Sigrid / Tom Grennan
BBC Introducing Stage – Artemas / Celina Sharma / Deyah / Jordan Mackampa / Tamera / Thomas Headon / USNA / Willow Kayne
Sunday 29 May
Main Stage – George Ezra / Becky Hill / Dermot Kennedy / Jax Jones / Lorde / Mabel
Future Sounds Stage – tba
BBC Introducing Stage – Alfie Indra / Crawlers / Danniella Dee / Hope Tala / Lizzie Esau / piri & tommy / Queen Millz / Sad Night Dynamite
Backlash as fans react to this year’s lineup
As mentioned above, despite the excitement around BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, there have been some eyebrows raised at the lack of female artists on the lineup.
The main stage lineup for Saturday was announced on 14 March and features Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, AJ Tracey and Yungblud, however the only female act is Anne-Marie.
Later in the day the lineup for the second biggest stage was announced and this time it was one better as it features two female acts: Sigrid and Mimi Webb.
But some questioned why a major festival from a mainstream radio station is showcasing so few female artists on its lineup.
One Twitter user echoed what many thought, saying: “there are so many talented female artists rn what is this”.
Others said, “eight headline acts and the only woman is Anne-Marie”, and “only one woman… is very embarassing tbh”.
Somebody else added: “Just one woman on your lineup? Do better @BBCR1 it’s not that f**king hard”.
only one woman on the main stage line-up for a major festival in 2022 is very ? isn’t it. https://t.co/Tx7vUvXezD
— David Chipakupaku ????????? (@David_Chippa) March 14, 2022
Only one woman… is very embarassing tbh https://t.co/tOLtTvoYGL
— Andy ??? (@ndyharmon) March 14, 2022
Eight headline acts and the only woman is @AnneMarie! ?♀️
This @BBCNewsbeat article from @SteveHReports hasn’t aged well… https://t.co/Pom4Pseaw4 https://t.co/ddB8KQvi9e— H G (@MissGBiology) March 14, 2022
there are so many talented female artists rn what is this https://t.co/8jJtGCBREA
— ellie ☾ ✰ (@guimaraellie) March 14, 2022