All the free and paid for gigs announced so far for Sunderland Music City

Sunderland-born Emeli Sandé, who now performs as her real name, Adele Sandé, will return to the city to perform at The Fire Station on Saturday, June 21, kicking off a week-long opening celebration of music dubbed Welcome to Sunderland Music City.

June 21 will be a big day of live music on Wearside with performances taking place across the length and breadth of the city.

More than a dozen venues across Wearside will host paid, free and pay what you feel music events on the big day.

Independent, The Fire Station, Live Lounge, Pop Recs, The Peacock, The Dun Cow, The Engine Room, The Saltgrass, The King’s Arms, Mexico 70, Gatsby and Washington Holy Trinity Church will all host music events, with a dedicated programme and clash-finder to be released ahead of the big day via musiccity.uk and social media.

Free wristbands for music fans will also be available to collect from The Fire Station and Pop Recs on the day, with businesses in the city encouraged to promote discounts and offers to music fans wearing their Sunderland Music City wristband with pride.

The following week will see two-time BRIT Award winners Franz Ferdinand return to Wearside for the first time in over a decade to play The Fire Station on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, just days before they perform at Glastonbury Festival.

The indie rock icons also have a strong Wearside connection with frontman and guitarist Alex Kapranos growing up in the city.

Across the Year of Music, running from June 2025 to June 2026, Sunderland can look forward to more than 500 music events.

The ‘Welcome To Sunderland Music City’ paid events on June 21 are as follows:

* 2pm until 7pm: Cool for Cats DAY DISCO at Pop Recs – £5 adv, £7 on door

*6pm until 11pm: KLANG All Dayer at The Saltgrass – pay what you feel

*7pm until 11pm: Primaveras, live at Independent - £8

*7.30pm: Adele Sande, live at The Fire Station – from £29

*7.30pm: Martin Stephenson & The Daintees, live at Washington Holy Trinity Church - £22

*11pm until 4am: THE SESH at Independent - £7 on the door

Tickets for all paid events on June 21 are available to purchase from individual venues.

Tickets for Adele Sandé, (a.k.a Emeli Sandé,) go on sale via thefirestation.org.uk on Friday at 10am.

Free live music will take place at the following venues on June 21:

*5pm until 7pm: Jason Holcomb Live Jazz Ensemble at FireSide (The Fire Station)

*7pm until 10.30pm: Social Saturday DJs at The King’s Arms

*8pm until 10.30pm: The Spitting Vicars, live at Live Lounge

*8pm until 10.30pm: Tamala All-Stars, live at The Peacock

*2.30pm until 5pm: Stumble Inn Folk Players, live at The Dun Cow snug

* 8pm until 11.30pm: live DJs at Mexico 70

* 9pm until 4am: DJ Nath Brown and DJ Hendo at Gatsby

What else is happening on June 21?

Young Musicians Project, The Bunker and Sunderland College will also be programming events on June 21 across the city.

The Bunker will open its doors for an open day, there will be a Young Musicians Project showcase in the city, while Sunderland College students will be performing at Park Lane.

Designated Sunderland Music City busker locations will also be established across the city; music will be everywhere.

Emerging talent will be situated at five points in the city – in front of Roker Pier, outside of the Holiday Inn Sunderland, The Fire Station, Independent and at Market Place in the city centre – from 11am until 3pm.

As well as the five designated Sunderland Music City busker locations, budding musicians can also get involved – no licence is required to busk in Sunderland, and the Sunderland Music City team is encouraging musicians to create your own busker spot in the city, share your details with the @musiccity.uk socials, and Sunderland Music City will promote your involvement in the day.