BBC to move Scottish music festival after 'feedback' from local events

The broadcaster said it would move Radio 2 in the Park, due to be held in Stirling’s City Park, from August to September.

Tickets for the event, which was due to be held between 7 and 9 August, had not yet gone on sale, however, fears had been raised that other events to be held in the summer could be affected.

Festivals Back Doune The Rabbit Hole in Stirlingshire and Discovery Festival in Dundee, are both scheduled for July. Meanwhile, Party at the Palace, in Linlithgow, Replay Festival in Perth and the Summer’s End Festival in Brechin are all due to take place in August.

New dates for Radio 2 in the Park, the first major BBC music event to take place in Scotland since Radio 1's Big Weekend was hosted in Dundee in 2023, have not been confirmed.

A spokesperson said: "Since announcing the festival was coming to Scotland earlier in the year we have been engaging with local festival organisers and stakeholders. We are particularly grateful to the Scottish Independent Festival Association for their constructive feedback.

“We have taken the decision to move Radio 2 in the Park having listened to concerns about the impact of staging it in August, when other music festivals are taking place in the locality."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Independent Festivals Association said: Scotland is a wonderful place to host events of every scale, and the Scottish independent festival sector is a much-loved part of the cultural and economic life of communities right across the country.

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“We're grateful to the BBC for the thoughtful way they've engaged to consider the right timing and structure for this event, and we look forward to working with the BBC, EventScotland, VisitScotland, Stirling Council and other partners to make the weekend a great success and to keep Scotland's whole festival landscape thriving.”

However, Danielle McRorie-Smith, director for Go Forth Stirling BID Project, said the original August date had “represented a strong commercial opportunity for the city”.

She said: “The original August timing represented a strong commercial opportunity for the city, aligning with peak tourism, school holidays and one of the busiest trading periods of the year. From a local perspective, there was clear confidence across the business community in Stirling’s ability to host and maximise the impact of an event of this scale during that period.

“While we recognise the importance of supporting Scotland’s wider festival sector, it is important that decisions of this nature continue to place the direct economic impact on host locations at the forefront.”

She added: “Stirling’s proximity to major cities is one of its strengths — but it can also present challenges in ensuring the city fully captures and retains the economic benefit of large-scale activity. Opportunities like this are therefore particularly significant and should be fully embraced where they align with local economic priorities.

“That said, Stirling remains ambitious, outward-looking and ready to deliver major national events. We are pleased the festival will still go ahead and look forward to working with partners to ensure it brings strong footfall and economic benefit to the city when the new dates are confirmed.”