Sunderland Year of Music 2025/2026: Six Months In

Video Description

Six months down, six months to go. Can you believe we're halfway through an incredible Sunderland Year of Music. The Sunderland Year of Music kicked off in June 2025 with an amazing opening week with Emeli Sandé and Franz Ferdinand. We were delighted to be part of Summer Streets Festival in July and BBC Proms come to Sunderland for the first time ever at The Fire Station. What a moment. We presented One City, One Voice across three sites in the city centre in partnership with our friends We Make Culture, The Bunker CIC, and Northern Academy of Music Education. Our National Mackem Day celebrations at Sheepfolds Stables with ALS: SAFC Fanzine established a new musical tradition in August, and music legend Dave Stewart returned to Sunderland for two special nights at The Fire Station in September, where he was unveiled as the first ever member of the Sunderland Music Wall of Fame. We brought live music to Ryhope Engines Museum and the award-winning Unity in the Community followed across two heart-warming days of music, food and community spirit at Sunderland Minster and The Beacon of Light. We've partnered with amazing venues like Pop Recs Ltd and Independent, schools like Dame Dorothy Primary School, and organisations like the Sunderland Nigerian Families Group - plus many, many more. We've supported over 100 artists in the last six months, developed community projects like Just Let Your Soul Grow with our friends at the Cultural Spring, arranged over a dozen professional development sessions, celebrated our musical heritage in partnership with KR Illustrates, released our own beer with Vaux Brewery, attempted a Guinness World Record, created dedicated busker points in the city, ran our own Christmas songwriting competition, began our year-long piece of music SonOrbitUs, and secured significant new funding for Sunderland's music ecosystem - all of which has been, and will be, invested back into our city to support our practitioners. The intention behind all of our events and activations has been to follow our wider goals: to bring economic, cultural and social benefits to Sunderland through music accessible to all. It's difficult to pick one moment from the last six months, but we're all so proud of our partnership with Love, Amelia, an amazing charity helping to support children and families living in poverty in our city. £51,684.10 was donated to the charity in December thanks to the generosity of the people of Sunderland. Music Against Child Poverty will be back in 2026, bigger than ever. And what else is to come? It's not just going to be a Big Weekend in 2026, it's going to be a Big Year for everyone who calls Sunderland Music City their home. We've got so much planned including an incredible closing week to the Sunderland Year of Music in June 2026, bringing together our global partners across the Music Cities Network, as we celebrate our status as only the second Music City in England alongside Manchester. Say it louder for those at the back: Sunderland is a Music City, and our Year of Music is just getting started.