Sam Fender’s “incredible” weekend at St James' Park delivered an astonishing boost of at least £15m for the North East economy, business chiefs say.
The North Shields singer-songwriter played two sell-out gigs to more than 100,000 adoring fans who flocked to Newcastle on Friday and Saturday, in what rapidly became an iconic moment for the city. The homecoming concerts, combined with the annual Blaydon Race on Friday night, produced an electric atmosphere on Tyneside and have left city bosses purring at the cultural and economic legacy that the weekend has left.
Stephen Patterson, chief executive of the NE1 Ltd business improvement district company, praised the “huge celebration of Newcastle, the city, its people and its musical and sporting history”. Initial estimates of the events’ impact on the regional economy have suggested they were worth at least £15m.
