There will be 100,000 tickets available for BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend 2012, which will be staged across two days, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June 2012, on Hackney Marshes. As the BBC's biggest ever free-ticketed live event and part of the London 2012 Festival, Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend will feature over 100 UK and international artists performing on six BBC stages including the Radio 1 Main Stage, Radio 1Xtra Arena, Dance Arena, In New Music We Trust Stage and the BBC Introducing Stage.

Listeners can start registering their interest to attend the event by registering their details and uploading a photo at bbc.co.uk/radio1 between 8.15am on Monday 6 February and 11pm on Monday 19 March. Then, for those who have registered, there will be two opportunities to apply for a ticket - 11am on Sunday 25 March and 4pm on Monday 26 March, online or by phone. The majority of tickets will be reserved for those from Hackney and the other five Olympic boroughs, with allocation on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets are free, but there will be a small fee of £2.50 per ticket to cover ticket handling and administration costs. 


This event is being produced in partnership with Hackney Council.

Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney said:
‘Radio 1 are bringing the biggest event in their history to Hackney and we're playing our part to make it the best ever. The line-up is impressive and, with much more to come, the Hackney Weekend will be at the top of the list for music fans this year. The BBC couldn't have made a better choice - the Hackney Marshes is a unique venue, there's a huge level of local enthusiasm and, with the Olympic Games in Hackney, we're better prepared than anyone to host the event.’


Radio 1 will be embarking on a month of outreach activity in East London ahead of the main event. This activity includes the Radio 1 & 1Xtra Academy, opening on June 1, which every young person in the area will be invited to attend and take part in workshops and sessions on a range of subjects including business, the arts, career development and media skills, including radio production and journalism.


One of the six stages at the event will be the BBC Introducing stage, which will be a platform for brand new talent from the local area.  They will be announcing how aspiring new musicians from the area can get involved over the coming months.


BBC Three has been confirmed as Radio 1's television partner and will be the only channel where viewers can see the whole event. BBC Three will also produce a range of additional programming in the run up to the weekend, details of which will be announced in the coming months.