Preston rocks and raves for the city’s Weekender event!

Organisers have hailed the weekend as a big success with two days of dance, pop, rock, indie and punk music taking centre stage.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Sound came to town with a mix of dance anthems and big-name DJs and performers, filling the Flag Market with ticker tape and timeless classics.

Sunday was dedicated to brilliant regional bands who warmed up the afternoon revellers before Britpop stars Space performed in front of the Harris, supporting post-punk raconteurs The Buzzcocks and From the Jam who headlined the night with their mod-rock classics.

The weather also played its part as Preston basked in May Day weekend sunshine, bringing hundreds more fans to the event. Organised by Preston’s Business Improvement District (BID) The Bank Holiday Weekender is the first of a number of outdoor events taking place in the city throughout 2024.

Pete Alexander, from the BID’s event organising group, and curator of ‘Sunday on the Square’, said: “From set up on Saturday to the last encore on Sunday, The Preston Weekender was an incredible success for the city.

“Saturdays huge dance night, followed by a host of local bands proving their quality and professionalism, gave superb performances throughout the day, supporting the headliners, and providing a fantastic show for the City.

“We are delighted with the feedback from guests, and the artists, who brought some great community spirit to the event and showed that Preston really is on the musical map when it comes to staging events like this, which can hopefully be repeated in the future with city support.”

Closing the show, headliners, From The Jam, said: “This is our first big outdoor event of the year, and the Preston crowds were brilliant”.

Steve Diggle, from the Buzzcocks, said: “Preston was a great show, it was on fire!”