Justin Timberlake to headline new UK festival

Justin Timberlake and Olly Murs are the first headline acts announced for a new UK concert series called Chelmsford City Live.

Promoted by Live Nation and Cuffe and Taylor, the 30,000-capacity series will take place at Chelmsford City Racecourse, a horseracing track in Essex, in July 2025.

Chelmsford City Live comprises four standalone concerts, including Timberlake (4 July) and Murs (6 July), with the final two headliners yet to be announced.

The 6 July concert will be Murs’s biggest-ever hometown show and will feature support sets from Blue, Lemar and DJ Mark Wright.

Since its inception in 2015, Chelmsford City Racecourse has held race-day open-air concerts with Madness, Simply Red, UB40, Rick Astley, Boyzone, Roger Sanchez, Beverley Knight, Armand Van Helden and more.

“The venue essentially provides us with a blank canvas that will enable us to attract some of the biggest names in the world of live music today and that means our options are endless,” says Cuffe and Taylor promoter Ben Hatton.

“The venue essentially provides us with a blank canvas that will enable us to attract some of the biggest names in the world”

“We hope this is the start of a very long relationship with the team at Chelmsford City Racecourse and we look forward to welcoming global artists to this most beautiful part of the world.

“It is also particularly special to me as I’m Essex born and bred so to be presenting huge scale concerts on my home turf is something I’m very excited about.”

The announcement comes a month after Live Nation-backed Cuffe and Taylor announced a new 35,000-capacity concert series in Cardiff, Wales.

Meanwhile, the UK is set to gain a new dancehall festival, organised by one of the genre’s most successful artists, Alkaline.

The Jamaican artist and New Era Productions will launch the New Rules festival at OVO Arena Wembley in London on 17 April 2025.

The event, which has previously taken place in Kingston (JM) and New York (US), will mark Alkaline’s return to the UK after eight years.

“Alkaline’s brand and the demand for the New Rules Festival are undeniable. When we analyse the fan base, which is expanding globally, there is a clear appetite for culturally significant and wholesome entertainment experiences. New Rules Festival provides the market with that,” said Kereena Beckford, Alkaline’s manager.

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