For the second year running, Radio 1’s Big Weekend will be held virtually due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

The annual event cancelled its in-person 2020 edition in Dundee last March, being replaced with a “remote festival” held online in May.

Now, it’s been announced that the 2021 edition of the festival will also be held online. As the BBC report, the four-day festivities will take place on BBC Sounds and the iPlayer from May 28-31, and is designed to be enjoyed “in parks, on beaches, in pub gardens” as coronavirus restrictions lessen.

The event promises a line-up featuring “the biggest acts on the planet” alongside “stars of the future”.

? #BIGWEEKEND RETURNS FOR 2021 ?

We’re bringing you 4 days of live music across @BBCSounds and @BBCiPlayer from the 28th – 31st May!

Get ready for brand new sets recorded exclusively for Big Weekend, alongside memorable Radio 1 performances from the Live Lounge and beyond ? pic.twitter.com/M4HfB1pUfH

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) March 24, 2021

Speaking on the announcement, Radio 1 breakfast show host Greg James said: “I’d hoped everything would have been back to normal by now to be honest.

“But as we’ve been doing for the last 12 months, we’ll be making the May Bank Holiday as fun and entertaining as possible with Big Weekend 2021.

He added: “We’ll keep doing what we can to thank our listeners and support the artists that have helped make the last year easier to manage.”

Elsewhere at the BBC, the annual 6 Music Festival is also heading online for 2021. Live performances from Michael Kiwanuka, Laura Marling and Bicep promised across this weekend (March 26-28), and will be broadcast on BBC Sounds and iPlayer, with highlights being played on BBC Radio 6 Music across the weekend. You can see the full line-up here.

Since the UK government outlined plans for England to gradually exit lockdown by the end of June, a number of festivals including Reading & Leeds, Green Man and 2000 Trees have all revealed that they now hope to go ahead as usual in 2021.

Reading & Leeds sold out of tickets just two days after the announcement, and promoter Live Nation sold 170,000 festival tickets in just three days following the news.