Come Together Festival, set to take place on 4 and 8 June, will also star Kaiser Chiefs, Perrie and Courteeners. Lower down on the bill, the festival with also have a focus on emerging local artists, including Andrew Cushin, Sonny Tennet and Charlie Floyd.
At a glitzy press event in central Newcastle, Toby Leighton-Pope, Managing Director of TEG Europe, the ticketing company behind the event, outlined his vision for the festival. “We reached for the stars this year, and we hit them,” he said of the stellar lineup for the brand-new festival.
Leighton-Pope was convinced that Newcastle was long overdue a music event of this scale. “It keeps going back to bringing everyone together, bringing the city together,” he told guests. Meanwhile, Robbie Williams assured us “it’s gonna be one big party” on a special video recording played to guests at the media event.
Nick Atkinson, Vice Chairman of the Freemen of Newcastle, the organisation which looks after Town Moor, said he was “still pinching myself that this is happening. [...] In future years we’re talking about Oasis and Beyoncé [playing the festival], and I don’t think those are throwaway comments. That space commands big, big global acts.”
Sonny Tennet and Andrew Cushin gave exclusive performances for the media event in February, both of whom are Newcastle-based artists excited to hit the big stage. “There is so much talent in the North East, so it’s a great way to recognise local artists,” Tennet told the Courier.
The festival has also announced the Sir Graham Wylie Foundation, a charity that supports children and young people across the North East, as Come Together’s official charity partner. CEO Angie Jenkinson highlighted the organisation’s work in building the North’s first music therapy centre, in Jesmond. “We would like every child or young person who could benefit from music therapy to have access to it free of charge,” she said. “Music can transform lives.”