Muse and Florence to headline first day of Radio 1's Big Weekend

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Matt Edmondson and Greg James
Image caption,

Matt Edmondson and Greg James open Radio 1's Big Weekend in Norwich

From now until 11pm, it's all about the music at Earlham Park in Norwich for Radio 1's Big Weekend.

There isn't even a whiff of Eurovision - instead there's Muse, Florence and the Machine, David Guetta and Fall Out Boy.

5 Seconds of Summer open the main stage while the In New Music We Trust gives that honour to Slaves.

There's also a BBC Introducing stage, which features a number of bands from Norwich and the surrounding local area.

Up to 25,000 people will come through the gates on Saturday.

The same goes for Sunday when Taylor Swift and Foo Fighters drive, train, or more likely helicopter into East Anglia.

Some of the first people through the gates were 25-year-olds Victoria Curtis and Kirsty Prescott.

Victoria's wish list of acts to see includes "Florence, Fall Out Boy and David Guetta definitely".

While Kirsty adds "Snoop, obvs. Clearly".

Both girls admitted they had been queuing for three hours to get on site at Earlham Park, having got up at 5.45am to get there.

Also part of the first wave entering the park were 16-year-old Jessica and her friend 17-year old Eleanor who had travelled from Lincoln.

"We wanted to be near the front, because this is our first festival," Eleanor told Newsbeat.

"We're not going to run, but we are going to speed walk to the front."

Jessica said: "We want to see David Guetta and Snoop Dogg.

"We're expecting a lot of people might fall over, but also expecting a lot of really good music as well."

"We're so excited!" Kirsty told Newsbeat before marching off to the stage.

5 Seconds of Summer opened the main stage.

Watch 5 Seconds of Summer perform What I Like About You at Big Weekend, external

"Damn awesome, the crowd looked like they were having a good time," drummer Ashton Irwin said after coming off.

Bassist Callum Hood: "Yes it is daunting, everyone is still a little unsure at that time of day but it's our job to kick start them and get them into the mood for more music.

"For us this is the first kind of festival vibe that we've ever done and it's great to be asked to open it."

Slaves opened performances on the In New Music We Trust stage.

As they came off, Laurie Vincent told Newsbeat: "That felt exhilarating."

Issac Holman said: "Yeah, it's crazy having that big a stage to work with was really fun."

Watch Slaves perform The Hunter at Big Weekend, external

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Issac Holman and Laurie Vincent from Slaves spoke to Newsbeat after coming off stage

He acknowledged that it was good to have the space for his energetic standing-up drumming, or as he put it "there's a bit of hips and that, I need a bit of room for that for swinging them around".

This is the duo's first Big Weekend as performers.

Issac added: "It's an honour. I still can't really believe we were on the bill for it. It's wicked."

Snoop Dogg is also performing and Radio 1 had a Norwich City football shirt made for him.

The team are playing Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final on Monday at Wembley Stadium.

Snoop Dogg models his Norwich shirt., external

Snoop Dogg shows off the number 20 shirt, external

Live coverage of Radio 1's Big Weekend in Norwich will be on Radio 1 and 1Xtra across the weekend.

For the latest photos, videos and social media reaction from Radio 1's Big Weekend visit bbc.co.uk/bigweekend

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