Coldplay shows prompt call for city-wide festival

Coldplay, fronted by Chris Martin, will play at Hull's Craven Park on 18 and 19 August 2025

There are calls for a city-wide music festival to be staged in Hull to coincide with next year's Coldplay shows.

The band announced they would play concerts at Craven Park on 18 and 19 August 2025 before heading to Wembley.

Paul Lakin, the chief executive of Hull KR, the rugby league club that owns Craven Park, said he was absolutely thrilled.

He said it would be "the biggest show" the city had ever seen.

'Absolutely embrace it'

The stadium has hosted numerous big acts, with local legends The Beautiful South selling out during Hull's tenure as City of Culture in 2017.

Other major performers have included The Who, Little Mix, Rod Stewart and Tom Jones.

"However, this is on another level," Mr Lakin said, "with Coldplay bringing their full and same production that will be inside Wembley Stadium. Nothing will be scaled back.

"What we need to do as a city is absolutely embrace it – which I know we will – and possibly even create a festival of music for the week."

Hull and London will be the only UK and European cities where Coldplay will perform next summer.

Mr Lakin said he would work with city officials to ensure the shows were a huge success.

Mike Ross, leader of the Liberal Democrat-led city council, said: "To have a world-renowned act such as Coldplay performing in Hull really demonstrates how the city has become a culture and tourism destination.

"Hull is a city of great music culture and so we’ll be working closely with Hull Kingston Rovers and others to see how we can make this a really exciting moment for the city that’s remembered for years to come."

However, Daren Hale, leader of the Labour opposition group, said the council's "lacklustre" communications "do not do justice to what a huge public coup this is for Hull's reputation as a major live-music venue".

Coldplay has said that 10% of the proceeds from the Wembley and Hull shows will be donated to the Music Venue Trust which supports grassroots venues and artists.

Pre-sale tickets will be available on Thursday 26 September before a general sale begins at 09:00 BST on Friday 27 September.

Coldplay are due to release their 10th studio album, Moon Music, in October with the band claiming it will be their most "eco-friendly" record.

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