Thousands soak up sun at scone
Palace music event a massive success
Jamie Cullum visited the kids at North Muirton Primary School before heading for Scone Thousands of music fans soaked up the sun at the BBC Biggest Weekend at Scone Palace.
Held on Friday, May 25 and Saturday, May 26, a bumper crowd turned out to see top names such as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Simple Minds and Nigel Kennedy with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
The Friday event saw the greats of classical music perform on stage, hosted by BBC Radio 3.
Highlights of the day included the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Dame Evelyn Glennie, and pianist Jamie Cullum – who even stopped off to perform at North Muirton Primary School’s weekly assembly.
Saturday saw 20,000 people attending the day which was hosted by Sara Cox, Claudia Winkleman and Ken Bruce from BBC Radio 2.
Acts such as The Shires, Amy Macdonald and Emeli Sande delighted the crowd, with the two-day event brought to a dazzling finish by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, who also played some of Oasis’ best-known tunes.
Many of the acts and presenters praised the atmosphere, with Sara Cox raving about the event on her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on Monday.
Rhys Hughes, head of live music and events, popular music Amy Macdonald and, below, Noel Gallagher
at the BBC said: “Our Biggest Weekend brought brilliant music from Radio 2 and Radio 3 over two days to the fantastic crowds who attended in person in Perth and to millions more across the UK. Working together with many partners across Tayside, we hope we showcased both great music and a great part of Scotland.”
Stephen Brannigan, head of house opening at Scone Palace, said they would be happy to oblige if the event ever came back: “It was the latest in a line of successful outdoor events to put us on the map and something we definitely would like to see more of.”
The event ran Sara Cox from BBC Radio 2 introduced the acts on stage
smoothly, with predicted traffic chaos failing to materialise. Cllr Angus Forbes, convener of environment and infrastructure at the local authority, said: “The traffic management plan developed by a multiagency group led by Perth and Kinross Council was a success, working as designed to bring 20,000 people safely on and off site. I’d like to thank local residents and businesses for their patience during the event. “Events of this size will always have an impact on people living nearby, and it is important that we get feedback
from people about how things worked so that we can learn lessons for the future.
“Events like this have a significant positive economic impact for the local economy, both directly with 8000 of the attendees coming from outside the immediate locality, and from the publicity associated with seeing Perth and the surrounding area beamed across the world.”
There were no arrests inside the arena over the two days, although two people were arrested outside the arena after the Friday event. Inspector Gordon Fotheringham from Police Scotland said: “It was an outstanding weekend.
“The crowd came to have a great time and there is little doubt they succeeded.”
It was the latest in a line of successful outdoor events to put us on the map