Common People festival to return to Southampton

It will be held on Southampton Common over the second bank holiday weekend in May.

The inaugural festival was held earlier this year and will be back for two days on May 28 and 29.

Organised by former Radio 1 DJ and brains behind Bestival, Rob Da Bank, this year's Common People saw acts such as Fatboy Slim, Grace Jones,Years & Years, Clean Bandit and De La Soul perform in the heart of Southampton.

Some 35,000 people flocked to the Common over the two days, making the festival a huge success and encouraging people behind it to make sure it returned to the city.

It has also been revealed that a sister festival will be held in Oxford on the same weekend.

Organiser hope to announce news on the line-up in a fortnight's time.

The festival also boosted the local economy by an estimated £1 million.

Rob da Bank said: "It was a great success from all sides. We achieved what we set out to do. There were so many things that could and do go wrong at festivals - the weather for a start, but it was lovely and we sold tickets well in advance; 35,000 people came and the headliners were great as well as the local band stage too.

"The local economy felt the benefits too as about £1 million in extra income came into the city over the weekend.

"We know that 29 per cent of the visitors were from outside the area and many would have stayed in local hotels.That’s something we’re very proud of," Rob said.

Looking ahead to next year he added: "It will be back the same weekend with the same idea. We are not planning to expand wildly. It will be the same kind of experience with exactly the same format. "

Cllr Satvir Kaur, Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Leisure commented: “It’s fair to say that Bestival’s first Common People event was a rip roaring success...there was something for everyone and [it] made me extremely proud of our city. I’m looking forward to continuing our relationship with Bestival to ensure that next year’s event is even bigger and better!