LEONA LEWIS and Plan B are the first two acts confirmed for BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend, a mammoth free festival planned for June next year on Hackney Marshes.


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Billed as the first event of the London Olympics – the 2012 Games starts seven days later – the Hackney Weekend also fills a gap in the outdoor music calendar vacated by the Glastonbury festival, which is having a year off.

“I’m so excited about the excitement it will bring to the area,” said Lewis, born in nearby Islington.

“Radio 1 are going to put on the biggest show in their history and it is happening in East London – I couldn’t be happier.”

Lewis isn’t wrong about the size of the Hackney Weekend. It is planned to feature at least 80 acts on several stages and have room for 100,000 people.

Hackney Weekend takes place on 23 and 24 June 2012. Ticket details are to be made available in the coming months, though most of the tickets are to be handed out free to people who live in the local area.