Europe's Biggest Dance Show

Last updated

Europe's Biggest Dance Show
Genre Dance
Running time
  • 420 minutes (2019–May 2020)
  • 480 minutes (October 2020)
  • 270 minutes (2021)
  • 330 minutes (2022–present)
Country of origin Various countries
Language(s)primarily English
Home station
Syndicates Various broadcasters
Produced byDan Morris
Original release11 October 2019 (2019-10-11) 
present
No. of episodes8 editions
Audio format Stereophonic sound
Website

Europe's Biggest Dance Show is an annual multinational dance music simulcast hosted by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, in collaboration with several European radio stations, all of which are owned by public broadcasters which are members of the European Broadcasting Union. The show reaches several millions of listeners all over Europe.

Contents

Background and history

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced on 27 September 2019 that it would join radio stations from seven other countries, and a potential audience of 18 million listeners, in hosting a one-off dance music simulcast on 11 October. [1]

The first simulcast began at 19:00 BST and ended at 02:00 BST on 12 October, with Annie Mac introducing for BBC Radio 1 in London. Seven radio stations across Europe joined the simulcast: 1LIVE, Fritz  [ de ], Mouv', NPO 3FM, RTÉ 2FM, SR P3 and Studio Brussel. Each radio station contributed an hour of dance music from their respective countries, except in the case of 1LIVE and Fritz, who contributed 30 minutes each from Cologne and Berlin respectively. Some stations chose to feature at least one live DJ set as part of their contribution. [2]

Dan Morris
@DanDJMorris

Replying to @FutureHouseSelf @ahj

Lots of lines! Each participating station linked to us, we’ll mix the programme and then send the whole show back to participating stations. 🤓

11 October 2019 [3]

Each radio station sent their feeds to Broadcasting House in London, where they were mixed by BBC senior technical producer Dan Morris before being sent back to the radio stations for broadcast.

Despite the simulcast being billed as a one-off event, two subsequent editions of the simulcast were presented in May and October 2020 respectively, before it became an annual event, with new editions presented in the following years and more radio stations joining the simulcast. [4] [5] Since the 2021 edition, each participating radio station, including 1LIVE and Fritz, has contributed 30 minutes of dance music from their respective countries instead of an hour. [6]

In March 2024, BBC Radio 1 launched a spin-off event called Europe's Biggest Soundsystem Party alongside partner stations 1LIVE and Mouv'; this was followed in February 2025 by Europe’s Biggest Gig, with contributions from RTÉ 2FM, Studio Brussel, 1LIVE and, for the first time, Rás 2. [7]

Participating broadcasters

The following table lists the countries, broadcasters and radio stations that have participated in Europe's Biggest Dance Show as of 2025.

Table key
Inactive countries which participated in the past but did not participate in further editions as of 2025
CountryBroadcaster(s)Station(s)CityDebut yearLatest participationAppearances
Flag of Austria.svg Austria ORF FM4 Vienna
2025
5
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium VRT Studio Brussel Brussels
2025
8
Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia ERR Raadio 2 Tallinn
2025
3
Flag of Finland.svg Finland Yle YleX Helsinki
2025
6
Flag of France.svg France Radio France Mouv' Paris
2
Flag of Germany.svg Germany WDR (ARD) 1LIVE Cologne
2025
8
RBB (ARD) Fritz  [ de ] Berlin
2025
8
Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland RTÉ RTÉ 2FM Dublin
2025
6
RTÉ Pulse [b]
1
Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia LSM Latvijas Radio 5 [c] Riga
2025
1
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands NPO NPO 3FM Amsterdam
2025
5
Flag of Norway.svg Norway NRK NRK mP3 Oslo
2025
6
Flag of Spain.svg Spain Catalunya Ràdio iCat  [ es ] Barcelona
1
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden SR SR P3 Stockholm
2025
8
Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine Suspilne Radio Promin Kyiv
2025
4
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom BBC BBC Radio 1 [d] London
2025
8

Editions

The following table lists the editions of Europe's Biggest Dance Show. Countries in bold are countries that made their debut in the simulcast in their respective years.

YearDate(s)ParticipantsParticipating countriesRef.
2019 11–12 October8
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of France.svg France
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
  • Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[10]
2020 8–9 May8
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of France.svg France
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
  • Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[4]
23–24 October9
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of Finland.svg Finland
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
  • Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
  • Flag of Norway.svg Norway
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[5]
2021 29 October9
  • Flag of Austria.svg Austria
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of Finland.svg Finland
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
  • Flag of Norway.svg Norway
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[11]
2022 14 October11
  • Flag of Austria.svg Austria
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of Finland.svg Finland
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
  • Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
  • Flag of Norway.svg Norway
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[12]
2023 22 September11
  • Flag of Austria.svg Austria
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia
  • Flag of Finland.svg Finland
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Norway.svg Norway
  • Flag of Spain.svg Spain
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[13]
2024 20 September11
  • Flag of Austria.svg Austria
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia
  • Flag of Finland.svg Finland
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
  • Flag of Norway.svg Norway
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[14]
202526 September13
  • Flag of Austria.svg Austria
  • Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
  • Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia
  • Flag of Finland.svg Finland
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany
  • Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
  • Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia
  • Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
  • Flag of Norway.svg Norway
  • Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
  • Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
[15]

Notes

  1. Although it did not participate in the October 2020 edition, FM4 broadcast the show as part of its weekly dance music show La boum de luxe. [8]
  2. The 2024 edition was simulcast on RTÉ 2FM's sister station, RTÉ Pulse, due to coverage of Culture Night on RTÉ 2FM. However, on-air imaging still referred to the Irish participation as being from RTÉ 2FM. [9]
  3. Latvia's participation in the 2025 edition will be featured as part of BBC Radio 1's time slot in the broadcast via a live link-up.
  4. Since the October 2020 edition, the show is simulcast on BBC Radio 1 and its sister station, Radio 1 Dance.

References

  1. "BBC Radio 1 to host biggest dance show ever". BBC . 27 September 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  2. Mago, Mike (11 October 2019). "3FM doet mee aan Europe's Biggest Dance Show". NPO 3FM (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  3. Dan Morris [@DanDJMorris] (11 October 2019). "Lots of lines! Each participating station linked to us, we'll mix the programme and then send the whole show back to participating stations. 🤓" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  4. 1 2 "BBC Radio 1 to host return of Europe's Biggest Dance Show". BBC . 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  5. 1 2 Martin, Roy (16 October 2020). "Europe's Biggest Dance Show returns at Radio 1". RadioToday. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  6. "Das war: 1LIVE Europe's Biggest Dance Show mit Felix Jaehn". WDR (in German). 25 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  7. "BBC Radio 1 to host Europe's Biggest Gig". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  8. Schönauer, Matthias (23 October 2020). "Europe's biggest dance show: Europa tanzt vorm Radio". ORF (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  9. "RTÉ celebrates Culture Night 2024 - everything you need to know". RTÉ.ie . RTÉ. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  10. Hofstadt, Jens F. (6 October 2019). "Acht Radiostationen präsentieren "Europe's Biggest Dance Show"". RADIOSZENE (in German). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  11. "BBC Radio 1 to host return of Europe's Biggest Dance Show". BBC . 8 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  12. "Ukraine joins Europe's Biggest Dance Show for the first time as it returns to BBC Radio 1". BBC . 5 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  13. "Europe's Biggest Dance Show returns to BBC Radio 1 for 2023". BBC. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  14. "Europe's Biggest Dance Show is to return to BBC Radio 1". RadioToday. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  15. "Europe's Biggest Dance Show returns with record number of stations". RadioToday. 22 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.