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In the 9 year history of the BBC Big Weekend, the biggest and best has taken place in Swindon.

Speaking shortly before a stunning crescendo by The Prodigy at Lydiard Park on 10 May, BBC Radio 1 Director of outside events Jason Carter was full of praise for Swindon Council and partner organisations in delivering an excellent two days of top line music. “The weekend has exceeded expectations. We’ve had fantastic weather and everything has come together to make the Swindon event the best ever.

“At 20,000 people per day, we’ve had more people attending than before and they have really enjoyed themselves. The combination of artistes playing for free and fans with free tickets has created a great atmosphere. Those lucky enough to be here are treating it as a very special occasion and the performers have picked up the vibe; there’s a lot of delight here.”

Mr Carter praised the performance by Swindon Council. “The aim of the Big Weekend is to bring live music to underserved areas and I approach several local authorities in the Autumn for initial discussions about working together to put on a high quality event. Obviously we need to be convinced that council’s know how to cope with such a large undertaking; it’s a very steep learning curve to be able to organise for 40,000 fans and a few thousand people behind the scenes who descend upon an area.

“I had a very good instinct about Swindon Council’s ability to deliver for us. Our partnership with them has been excellent.”

Police happy with big weekend and report only 20 arrests out of 40,000 visitors

Wiltshire Constabulary report that the policing operation for the Radio 1 Big Weekend went very smoothly. Twenty arrests were made across the weekend including arrests for possession of Class A drugs, assault, theft and the use of a counterfeit note. 

Additionally a small number of street cautions and a number of fixed penalty notices were given in regards to possession of cannabis.

Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett, commander of the Swindon division of Wiltshire Contabulary, said, "We had great weather and great crowds over the two days. Our key objective is always public safety and working closely with our partners we ensured everyone had fun safely.

"This was a fantastic occasion for Swindon and the success of the event is testament to all the hard work put in by those involved in both the planning and across the weekend itself. It was very pleasing to hear a number of happy revellers thanking officers for their support as they left Lydiard Park yesterday evening."

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