BBC Radio 1 has given us the first details of its live music and events schedule for its Summer of Dance and we're set for an absolute scorcher. The station and the Radio 1 dance family is taking the big beats across the UK and beyond with Annie Mac, Pete Tong and Danny Howard leading the tribe.
Manchester is the first destination for a dance-off as Parklife Festival pitches the tents up on 11th and 12th June for a weekend of solid sounds. Over the years it's become a must for festival goers and it now sees over 70,000 flocking to see who's footing its diverse line-up. Radio 1 will be recording a special Essential Mix from the event and broadcasting it to your homes on 18th June for the people who missed out or those who want to relive it.
Before taking things further north to Scotland for T in the Park, the BBC is heading abroad to Croatia to join the house and techno heads at Hideout Festival. It's the station's very first visit to the Eastern European country and it'll be getting to know it a little bit better on 27th June with its pool party, headlined by Heidi, Monki and B.Traits and recorded and played out through the airwaves.
A location BBC Radio 1 knows very well indeed is Ibiza as the little White Isle has been visited annually for two decades. Last year during peak season, the tastemakers in dance music celebrated 20 years of fiesta frolicking with a weekend of headline acts across the island from Ushuaïa to Ibiza Rocks Hotel. The legendary weekend will of course return in 2016 from 5th to 7th August, broadcasting special shows featuring sets from the old school to the new timers in dance, alongside the Radio 1 dance family. We haven't yet got confirmation of venues and line-ups, but thousands flock to Ibiza specifically for this event so we'd suggest you give this a mulling over.
After lapping up some serious rays, it's back to UK soil for V Festival which marks another first for Radio 1 with it getting its own stage. On 20th August, Annie Mac and Danny Howard will be hosting a stage at the Chelmsford and Staffordshire locations and putting on some of the biggest and brightest artists in dance. The Summer of Dance stage will be broadcast live on Radio 1 from 7-10pm with a line-up that includes Eric Prydz, DJ EZ, Gorgon City and Monki. Closing the summer chapter for 2016 is a stint at Bestival on the Isle of Wight with Pete Tong bringing its millions of listeners a two hour Essential Mix to be broadcast on 17th September.
Amongst all that action, Radio 1 will also be appearing at festivals such as Radio 1's Big Weekend, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, SXSW.
A lot of dates and a lot of opportunities to discover new talent and find your favourites. If you miss out, stick the headphones in for the broadcasts and picture yourself there. Job's a good un.
