Stars Come Together as Town Moor festival gets under way

New event can be start of something huge for city

- By HELEN DALBY Editor-in-Chief

THE Chronicle team has watched with excitement over the past couple of weeks as a huge stage and festival village were built on the Town Moor and the final preparations completed for Newcastle's first outdoor music festival in a long while.

It has been fantastic to see Newcastle literally come together for a festival of the same name and embrace the opportunity to pin the city firmly to the summer festival calendar.

The opening night of Come Together saw top acts Andrew Cushin, Perrie and Kaiser Chiefs deliver excellent performances to a chilly but joyful crowd, before Robbie Williams stole the show with his headline set and a dazzling pyrotechnic display that lit up the sky.

Come Together is Newcastle's first rock and pop music festival since This Is Tomorrow came to an end back in 2021. And judging by the crowds of happy faces gathered to welcome Robbie, sing and dance on the Town Moor this Wednesday, it's not before time and very welcome.

This is a vibrant party city, known for its eating out and nightlife scene and its friendly revellers. And this is a city, and region, where stars who are rightly proud of their North East roots are born and developed - the roll of honour of North East musical legends would take some unfurling.

It was particularly lovely to see South Shields' Perrie Edwards perform her first solo gig on home turf as part of Come Together this week - and even better when Robbie brought her back on stage to duet with him on Relight My Fire.

Whether or not you're into football, you couldn't fail to be caught up in the buzzing atmosphere in and around the city after Newcastle United's Carabao Cup win back in March.

The subsequent open-top bus parade through the city and down to the Town Moor brought in crowds of 300,000 and unforgettable scenes of jubilation and celebration.