Roundhay Park presented the first-ever American Express presents Roundhay Festival over the weekend, and the scale of the transformation in the huge green space immediately stood out. With gates opening around 1pm each day and a capacity near 70,000, the site filled steadily with thousands of people ready for music under the Yorkshire sky. Road closures around Princes Avenue, Street Lane and nearby roads kept things contained, while the park’s open layout, stages, bars and food areas created a proper festival setup.
On Friday 3 July, the energy built from the afternoon into a full-on party headlined by Pitbull. Acts like Jason Derulo, Tinie Tempah, Lil Jon and Los Tucanes de Tijuana played the Main Stage, while East Stage sets from Jazzie Martian, CJ Alldayy and others kept different areas lively. By evening the field was packed, and Pitbull’s headline slot around 8:50pm delivered the high-octane show expected. Backed by a live band and sharp choreography, he ran through hits including “Fireball,” “Time of Our Lives,” “Timber” and “Give Me Everything.”
The whole site lit up with dancing and sing-alongs — plenty of bald caps in the crowd added to the fun, collective party mood. It genuinely felt like Leeds had turned into one big celebration for the night.
Saturday 4 July brought a different but equally memorable atmosphere. Afternoon sets on the Main Stage from Kerr Mercer and Jacob Alon led into Jessie Murph and then Conan Gray around 6:50pm, whose performance drew big reactions and sing-alongs across the field. The East Stage kept things moving with Nieve Ella, Ber and Maya Lane. As evening arrived, Lewis Capaldi closed the night in the headline spot. His set connected strongly with the crowd — emotional delivery, huge choruses and that unmistakable voice echoing across Roundhay Park.
Fans were fully into it, phones up and voices loud on the big numbers. The milder weather helped everyone stay comfortable and enjoy the full day.Both days had that classic festival mix: walking between stages, grabbing drinks (beers mostly £6–7), and soaking up the atmosphere in a massive park setting. Attendance across the weekend topped expectations, with well over 100,000 people reported in total.
Families, groups of friends and all ages mixed together, and the organisers kept things moving smoothly despite the logistical challenge of such a large new event in a residential area. There were some local grumbles about road closures and communication beforehand, but on the ground the focus stayed firmly on the music and shared experience.This debut delivered two contrasting but memorable evenings — a high-energy party on Friday and heartfelt anthems on Saturday – all set in one of Leeds’ best green spaces.
The first Roundhay Festival showed the park can comfortably host events on this scale, leaving crowds buzzing from the live music and strong turnout. A solid foundation for what could become a regular summer highlight.
Photo Copyright © Gary Mather
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