Councils scoop award for Big Weekend

Organisers of last year’s BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend have won another award for the helping to stage the successful event.

Exeter City Council and Teignbridge District Council were recognised by the Exeter Living Magazine Awards in the Events category. The Awards were held on Thursday night (6 April) at the University of Exeter’s Great Hall.

Fifty thousand music fans attended BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend at Powderham Castle last May, enjoying the sounds of Coldplay, Mumford and Sons, Ellie Goulding and many other acts.

Hosted by Radio 1 DJs, Radio 1’s Big Weekend is Europe’s largest free ticketed festival.
Exeter City Council and Teignbridge District Council worked hard with the staff from the venue, Powderham Castle, to ensure the festival was a big success.

The two-day event is estimated to have brought around £3.5 million worth of benefits to the local economy. Also, Visit South Devon has said that tourism alone would have seen an uplift of around £1.7 million as a direct result of event.

Alongside the two-day event, the BBC also hosted a spin-off Radio 1 Academy at the Phoenix in Exeter and at venues in Teignbridge. The Academy triggered a massive 98 million impressions on Twitter for the #R1Academy hashtag. More than 8,000 young people enjoyed a series of live ‘masterclasses’ from acts like Tom Odell and Jake Bugg, as well as workshops and training events designed at inspiring those who attended to work in the creative industries.