'We're meant to dance': Radio 1's Big Weekend has one focus on its first day

ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleNaomi ClarkeBBC NewsbeatGetty ImagesThousands of music fans will attend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend"Music is one of the best ways to bring everyone together," says BBC Radio 1's Charlie Hedges. The Dance Anthems DJ "cannot wait" to perform on the main stage during the dance-focused first day of the station's Big Weekend in Sunderland, she tells BBC Newsbeat. "I think that's what we need right now, right? Good music, good times." Tens of thousands of fans are expected to attend this year's three-day event, with pop stars Zara Larsson and Olivia Dean headlining on Saturday and Sunday. But Friday will be the first time the festival will be using all of its stages to host a "huge dance party" across the opening day, Radio 1 says. It will see veteran DJ Fatboy Slim, Australian producers Fisher and Sonny Fodera, Birmingham-born singer Clementine Douglas and American DJ MK on the decks at Herrington Country Park. Dance music has a rich history in the UK, with disco, acid house and techno among the genres which drew crowds to dancefloors in the 1970s and 1980s. Things ramped up further in the 1990s, with jungle, garage and drum & bass fuelling underground raves and clubs. The 21st Century saw dance music splinter into even more sub-genres, providing something for everyone to move to. But in recent years there appears to have been a renaissance of electronic dance music (EDM), with the likes of Fred Again and Sammy Virji headlining UK festivals. And artists including Charli XCX, SOPHIE and PinkPantheress have helped to revitalise hyperpop. Big Weekend's dance-focused Friday is set to reflect the diversity of the genre - spanning styles and generations, with bassline DJ Notion, trance-focused Marlon Hoffstadt and German hardcore DJ HorsegiirL all on the bill as well. Clementine Douglas, who will be performing on the main stage with a live band, tells Newsbeat she has seen dance music emerge "out of the underground and go more mainstream". "You have a lot of pop-dance crossover acts now that are really smashing it," she says. While it has remained popular over the years, Spotify says consumption of dance music for under-25s has grown 73% across the world since 2020. Whether it's hyping yourself up at home, on a dancefloor or in a field, dance music has often been seen as a way for people to escape momentarily from what is going on in their lives. Douglas says there is something about the "repetitive beat" and everyone "gathering to release some pent-up energy" which feels like a way to connect to our ancestral roots. Radio 1 DJ Hedges agrees that it doesn't matter if you're with a big group or on your own, there is something special about "being present and experiencing something together". "I don't think there's anything else in the world that gives that to you," she says. And it's a similar feeling for her when she is DJing. "When I'm standing on that stage and playing to thousands and thousands of people, the amount of times I get [emotional]... because it's just incredible," Hedges says. British DJ Cassö was among those to add to dance music's surge when his breakout hit Prada, which turned Raye and D-Block Europe's Ferrari Horses into a dance banger, soared to number two in the UK singles chart in 2023. He tells Newsbeat he finds creating and attending dance events "just changes something in your brain because you're just there grooving non-stop". "It just feels really good, to put it plainly. "You can move around, you can shake your body. What more do you want? We're meant to dance," he says. And scientific studies suggest dancing can improve your mental health and memory, as well as helping with pain due to the endorphins it releases. The 23-year-old music producer created his track Prada at home and released it on Soundcloud before it went on to secure more than a billion streams. There has been major growth in electronic music content on social apps like TikTok, according to the platform, which saw a 50% increase in videos using the hashtag #ElectronicMusic in 2024. Cassö says being able to now create and release your own dance music from your bedroom has been the "best thing" for the genre as he feels previously record labels "would be a little bit more cliquey". "Now, if you're talented, you have a much higher chance of shining through." Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

'We're meant to dance': Radio 1's Big Weekend has one focus on its first day

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