I cannot believe I am headlining this festival
At Herrington Country Park near Sunderland, a young London artist named Olivia Dean closed BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend before tens of thousands of people — the same festival where, just three years prior, she had played the stage reserved for those still finding their footing. Her journey from emerging act to Grammy, Brit, and Mobo Award winner speaks to something enduring in the human story: that genuine artistry, given time and space, tends to find its audience.
- Olivia Dean headlined BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend at Herrington Country Park, closing a three-day festival before tens of thousands in 24-degree heat — a striking leap from the Introducing Stage she occupied just three years ago.
- Her set arrived backed by the full weight of a landmark year: four Brit Awards, a Grammy for best new artist, and three Mobo Awards for her album The Art of Loving, making her ascent one of the most rapid in recent British music.
- Pink fireworks, confetti, and a number one single in 'Man I Need' brought the festival to its climax, with Dean herself expressing open disbelief at the scale of the moment she was living.
- Irish singer-songwriter CMAT matched the emotional intensity on the same day, turning a personal reckoning with online body-shaming into a defiant, theatrical stage moment that drew one of the weekend's loudest crowd responses.
- Across three days, the festival mapped the current landscape of UK and international pop — from Niall Horan's surprise appearance to Ezra Collective's jazz-carnival energy — with Dean's closing set as its defining punctuation mark.
On a warm Sunday afternoon at Herrington Country Park near Sunderland, Olivia Dean stood before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and prepared to close BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. Three years earlier, she had played the same festival's Introducing Stage. Now she was the headliner.
She opened with 'Dive' and moved through a set built for the occasion — floral staging, a live band, shimmering dresses catching the afternoon light. Between songs, she spoke with genuine disbelief. 'I cannot believe I am headlining this festival,' she told the crowd. The past year had given her every reason to feel that way: four Brit Awards including best British artist and best album, a Grammy for best new artist, and three Mobo Awards for her second record, The Art of Loving. Her music — soulful, genre-fluid, infectious — had built a fanbase that crossed generations. When she launched into her number one single 'Man I Need,' pink fireworks erupted and confetti fell. 'This has just been magic,' she said at the end. The crowd agreed.
Dean was not the only artist to leave a mark on the final day. CMAT, fresh from winning the Ivor Novello Award for best album for Euro-Country, delivered a set that was part concert, part theater — line dancing, dramatic floor collapses, and a pointed moment of self-reclamation. Recalling 'very nasty comments' about her appearance after the 2024 festival, she removed her shirt to reveal a ruffled two-piece and announced, simply, 'I'm actually very sexy,' before performing a song that confronts extreme beauty standards head-on.
Elsewhere across the three-day event, Maisie Peters debuted tracks from her new album, Ezra Collective drew crowds spilling out of tents with their jazz-funk-carnival energy, and Niall Horan made a surprise appearance during Myles Smith's set. Zara Larsson and Fatboy Slim had headlined earlier days. But it was Dean's closing performance that seemed to crystallise the weekend's meaning — the story of a young woman who, armed with her voice and an uncommon authenticity, moved from emerging artist to festival headliner in three years.
Olivia Dean stood at the main stage of BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend on Sunday afternoon, looking out at tens of thousands of people gathered in the heat of Herrington Country Park near Sunderland. The temperature had climbed to 24 degrees. She was about to close out the entire festival—a moment that, three years earlier, would have seemed impossible. In 2023, she had played the Introducing Stage, the platform for emerging artists. Now she was the headliner.
Dean opened with "Dive," her voice cutting through the afternoon air with the kind of clarity that stops a crowd mid-conversation. She moved through "The Hardest Part" and "So Easy (To Fall In Love)," each song delivered with the precision of someone who has spent the last year proving she belongs at the very top. The stage around her was built for this moment—floral arrangements, a live band, the kind of production that signals arrival. She wore shimmering dresses that caught the light. Between songs, she spoke to the crowd with genuine disbelief. "I cannot believe I am headlining this festival," she said. "To think of everything that has happened since then is just crazy."
The past twelve months had been extraordinary. In February, Dean won four Brit Awards, including best British artist and best album for her second record, "The Art of Loving." She had taken home a Grammy for best new artist. Three Mobo Awards followed. Her songs—infectious, soulful, genre-fluid—had built her a fanbase that crossed generations and continents. She had topped charts. She had become, as the industry likes to say, a moment.
As her set reached its climax, Dean launched into "Man I Need," her number one single. Pink fireworks erupted across the sky. Confetti fell. The crowd roared. When it was over, she told them simply: "This has just been magic." Their applause told her they agreed.
Dean was not alone in delivering a standout performance that final day. CMAT, the Irish singer-songwriter, had just won the Ivor Novello Award for best album for her latest record, "Euro-Country." She brought that momentum to the main stage with a set that was part concert, part theater—two-stepping, line dancing, at one point dramatically collapsing to the floor. She performed "Stay For Something," "When A Good Man Cries," and "I Don't Really Care For You." But the moment that landed hardest came when she addressed the crowd directly. After playing Big Weekend in 2024, she said, she had received "very nasty comments" about her physical appearance. "It's crazy because I'm actually very sexy," she announced, removing her shirt to reveal a light blue, semi-transparent ruffled two-piece. The audience erupted. She then performed "Take A Sexy Picture Of Me," a song that calls out the extreme beauty standards women face.
Across the festival grounds, other artists were making their own statements. Maisie Peters, a Brighton singer-songwriter, played her first Big Weekend, having just released her stripped-back third album, "Florescence." She debuted new tracks including "Questions" and "My Regards." Ezra Collective, a jazz band known for creating atmosphere at festivals, delivered a percussive, high-energy set that moved between jazz, funk, reggae, and carnival. Festivalgoers spilled out of the tent to catch them.
The three-day event had featured an array of talent. Dermot Kennedy had belted out crowd-pleasers on the main stage. Kehlani brought heat. Niall Horan, the former One Direction member, made a surprise appearance during Myles Smith's set to perform their collaboration "Drive Safe." Flo, the girl group that had declared "R&B is back" when they won their Mobo Award earlier in the year, proved the point during their New Music stage performance. Jorja Smith delivered what was described as a "party set." Holly Humberstone brought a more gothic vibe. Zara Larsson, the Swedish pop star, had delivered an electric headline set on an earlier day. Fatboy Slim, the veteran DJ, had taken the crowd on a nostalgia-fueled ride.
But it was Dean's closing performance that seemed to crystallize what the weekend had been about—the current state of British and international pop music, the rise of artists who refuse to be contained by a single genre, and the particular moment we are in, where a young woman from London can go from the emerging artist stage to headlining a major festival in three years, armed with nothing but her voice, her songs, and the kind of authenticity that audiences recognize immediately.
Citas Notables
I cannot believe I am headlining this festival. To think of everything that has happened since then is just crazy.— Olivia Dean, reflecting on her rise since playing the Introducing Stage in 2023
This has just been magic.— Olivia Dean, closing her headline set
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What strikes you most about Dean's trajectory from 2023 to now?
The speed of it, honestly. She wasn't an overnight success—she'd been working for years—but the recognition compressed into such a short window. Brits, Grammy, Mobos. It's the kind of acceleration that usually breaks people, but she seems genuinely grounded by it.
Do you think the festival setting matters to her performance?
Absolutely. There's something about playing to thousands of people in daylight, in the heat, where you can't hide behind production or darkness. She had to deliver on pure vocal power and presence. The fireworks at the end felt earned, not just spectacle.
CMAT's moment with the shirt—was that defiance or celebration?
Both, I think. She was directly addressing the cruelty she'd experienced, but she wasn't asking permission to be sexy or confident. She was stating it as fact and moving on. The audience understood the difference between that and performative shock.
Why does Big Weekend matter as a platform?
It's BBC Radio 1, so it reaches millions. But more than that, it's a festival that still feels like it's about discovery and current music, not nostalgia. You get emerging artists and established ones on the same bill. It's a barometer of where music actually is.
What does a headline slot like Dean's signal about her future?
That she's not a trend. The industry is betting on her as a lasting artist, not a moment. The next question is whether she can sustain this without burning out or losing the thing that made people connect with her in the first place.