Radio 2 In The Park 2026 Heads to City Park in Stirling for Three‑Day Festival
Radio 2 in the park 2026 will take place at City Park in Stirling from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August 2026, bringing artists and the station’s presenters to the city for a weekend of live music and nationwide broadcasting. The decision matters because it moves the broadcaster’s flagship live event to Scotland for the first major Radio 2 live music event there since 2018 and is expected to draw tens of thousands of attendees.
Radio 2 In The Park 2026: City Park, Stirling set for August 7–9
The three‑day festival is scheduled for Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August 2026 at City Park in Stirling. Programming will be aired on Radio 2, Sounds and iPlayer, and organisers plan performances across three stages. A Friday‑night DJ party will open the weekend, with presenters based in the city throughout the event.
Scott Mills and Radio 2 presenters to broadcast from the city
Scott Mills revealed the location and dates on his Breakfast Show and will be among the station’s presenters who decamp to Stirling for the weekend. The Breakfast Show attracts a weekly audience of 6. 5 million listeners, and Radio 2 is described as the UK’s most listened to radio station with a weekly audience of 12. 7 million. Organisers say many of the station’s presenters will be in the city for the full weekend of programming and live sets.
Production: three stages, Friday‑night DJ party and national coverage
The live set‑up includes three stages across City Park, a returning Friday night DJ party to kick off the schedule and full broadcast coverage on the station’s platforms. The scale of the production is designed to support tens of thousands of music fans expected to attend and to deliver performances for audiences listening and watching at home and on the move.
Local reaction: Cllr Susan McGill and Stirling landmarks lit in orange
Stirling Council Leader Cllr Susan McGill welcomed the announcement, saying the festival will be an "unforgettable celebration of world‑class live music" set against the backdrop of Stirling Castle and described it as the city’s biggest such event to date and a boost for the wider region. To mark the news, Stirling’s National Wallace Monument and the Tolbooth live music venue were illuminated in orange.
Context: festival history, past artists and wider radio headlines
The Stirling event follows last year’s Radio 2 in the Park in Chelmsford, 2024’s event in Preston and the 2023 festival in Leicester. Last year’s line‑up included artists such as Bryan Adams, Def Leppard and Belinda Carlisle. Radio 2 has a history of engagement in Scotland, having covered Celtic Connections and staged outside broadcasts over the years, including the Glasgow finale of Paddy McGuinness’ Children in Need Challenge in 2024. This Stirling weekend is the first major Radio 2 live music event in Scotland since Music’s Biggest Weekend at Scone Castle, Perth in May 2018; Radio 1’s Big Weekend took place in 2023 at Camperdown Country Park in Dundee.
Further details about the full artist line‑up and ticketing will be announced at a later date. What makes this notable is the combination of large live audiences on site and simultaneous national broadcasting across three platforms, which creates both a local economic impact and a significant national reach.
The announcement arrives amid a string of other industry and entertainment developments mentioned alongside the festival news: a global superstar has announced a first Scots show in 16 years; a major country artist has scheduled a Glasgow show; DJ David Guetta, 58, has welcomed his second child with a girlfriend aged 34; Matt Edmondson and Mollie King have launched a real‑time whodunit podcast; global brands will bring extensive coverage of the BRIT Awards; Jazz FM has announced the full lineup of awards nominees for 2026; the Radio Academy has rebranded to Audio Academy with a new Chair appointed; Bauer will take BRITs coverage across Europe; Ofcom plans to force stations to create local news locally; CWR has named Lorna Bailey for weekday Breakfast; Dorset Coast Radio is celebrating DAB+ expansion; the Radio Maria chief has signed off after expansion; Radio 2 and Radio 4 feature in BPG nominations; and a Sonifex sales manager has retired after 49 years.
Organisers and city leaders frame the move to Stirling as both a cultural event and an economic stimulus; the immediate effect will be a concentrated weekend of performances, presenter activity and broadcasts that are expected to draw tens of thousands of music fans to City Park while delivering content to millions of listeners and viewers nationwide.
