Summertime Ball

History

The event is promoted and broadcast by the Capital network. There have been five different sponsors since its first event. From 2012 until 2018, Vodafone UK was the sponsor. In 2009, Barclaycard sponsored the ball. In 2010 ASOS.com sponsored the event, with Starbucks sponsoring the event in 2011, Apple Music sponsoring the event in 2019 and Barclaycard once again sponsoring the event from 2022 onwards since sponsoring the 2009 event.

Event by year

2009

The first Summertime Ball took place on Sunday 7 June at Wembley Stadium, with headline acts Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis and Akon. The supporting headliners were Blue and Katy Perry.

The event was hosted by Capital London presenters Rich Clarke, Kat Shoob, Lisa Snowdon and Johnny Vaughan, and was sponsored by Barclaycard.

2010

Summertime Ball took place on Sunday 6 June at Wembley Stadium. The backstage action ran from 10am to 4pm, while the Ball itself started at 4pm and ended at 9:30pm. It was hosted by Capital Breakfast DJs Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon.

2011

The Summertime Ball 2011 was sponsored by Starbucks and took place on Sunday 12 June at Wembley Stadium. Jennifer Lopez was the headline act for this year's ball. Tickets for the event sold out on 3 June 2011. However, in the weeks running up to the Summertime Ball, Capital held on-air competitions to allow listeners to win tickets to the event.

The first Summertime Ball to be aired across the Capital network of radio stations was presented by James 'The Bassman' Bassam, Greg Burns and Rich Clarke. Roberto presented interactive content and Kat Shoob was a backstage reporter.

2012

The Summertime Ball 2012 was sponsored by Vodafone and took place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 9 June 2012. Katy Perry and Coldplay were both headline acts for this year's ball, with Justin Bieber and Jessie J being supporting headline acts. The line-up for this year's event was announced on localised Capital Breakfast shows across the United Kingdom on 21 April 2012. This year the event features a brand new logo. Ticketmaster sold out in all categories.

2013

The 2013 Summertime Ball was held on Saturday 8 June 2013 at Wembley Stadium. It was announced on 24 April 2013 that Justin Timberlake would be the guest presenter hosting the ball for 2013. Tickets went on sale on Friday 26 April at 8am, and sold out in under 2 hours. The 2013 Vodafone Summertime Ball featured the most acts ever for a single Capital FM ball with 21 performers. The headliners, Robbie Williams and Taylor Swift made their ball debuts on Saturday 8 June, with will.i.am, performing at his fourth ball, but his first one solo, and Olly Murs, who made his debut Summertime Ball performance, being the supporting headline acts. The Wanted's fourth appearance at this ball made them the most frequent performers at the Summertime Ball. Band member Nathan Sykes returned after having major throat surgery earlier on in the year, making this his first performance after his throat surgery. Justin Timberlake also performed at the event, despite only being listed as a host rather than a performer.

2014

The 2014 Summertime Ball was officially announced by Capital FM on Monday 28 April 2014, and the announcement stated that ticket and venue details will be announced the following week. On 6 May, it was confirmed that the ball would return to Wembley for the fifth consecutive time and be held on Saturday 21 June. The first headliner, Miley Cyrus was announced on 7 May. The full line-up followed on 8 May, with Pharrell Williams and David Guetta as other headliners. Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, Little Mix and Enrique Iglesias were later revealed to be the supporting headliners of the mini-festival. Tickets officially went on sale the following day. Marvin Humes opened the show with an introductory DJ set.

2015

The 2015 Summertime Ball returned to Wembley for the sixth consecutive time and was held on Saturday 6 June 2015. The show sold out within the second few hours of ticket shows. On 27 April 2015 One Direction announced they were going to be the first headliners for the show. LunchMoney Lewis was added to the lineup on 19 May, with Rixton, Carly Rae Jepsen and Nick Jonas being added the following day. Former The Wanted star Nathan Sykes joined the lineup on 22 May. After appearing at the ball four times together with The Wanted and joining Jessie J on stage at the Summertime Ball last year plus his awaited performance this year, it was Sykes' sixth consecutive appearance since 2010 making him the most performed act to date. Sam Smith was due to perform, but withdrew from the show due to illness. Kelly Clarkson performed bare foot at this ball.

2016

The Summertime Ball returned to Wembley for the seventh consecutive year on Saturday 11 June 2016.

Little Mix and Tinie Tempah were the headliners for 2016.

Zayn Malik was due to perform at the event, but pulled out last minute due to nervous health issues and later apologized to fans

2017

The Capital Summertime Ball with Vodafone returned to Wembley Stadium on Saturday 10 June 2017 with the event being announced on Friday 28 April 2017 by Roman Kemp and Vick Hope via Capital Breakfast. They announced 7 acts per-day from Monday 7 May until Wednesday 9 May and the headlining act was announced on Thursday 10 May with tickets going on sale the same day and selling out in 30 minutes. Maroon 5 pulled out of the event and were replaced by Liam Payne and Sigala on Thursday 8 June. Bruno Mars and Little Mix headlined the event with Shawn Mendes and Niall Horan as supporting headliners.

Capital FM produced three programs dedicated to this event: on 10 June 2017, it broadcast live backstage from 6am to 3pm with Rob Howard, Will Cozens and Jimmy Hill, then live coverage from Wembley from 3pm to 11pm by three presenters in order: Ant Payne, Vick Hope and The Bassman, and finally JJ ran an "Afterparty" edition until 2am at night; on the next day, JJ reviewed every best moment from the event on his slot 7–10pm. After this, the network moved back to normal programming. Highlights of the event were aired on Capital TV from 7:00pm to 10:30pm on the day of the ball. This was the final performance of Dua Lipa and Sean Paul together with their song No Lie.

2018

The Capital Summertime Ball returned to Wembley on Saturday 9 June 2018 and was announced by Roman Kemp and Vick Hope on Capital Breakfast on Friday 28 April. 5 acts were announced everyday from Monday 30 April 2018 until 3 May 2018. Tickets went on sale on Thursday 3 May 2018 and sold out in 5 days. Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello headlined the event, with Rita Ora and Charlie Puth as supporting headliners. Marvin Humes did a DJ set from 2:40pm before the main show began at 3pm.

2019

The 2019 Summertime Ball was held on Saturday, 8 June 2019 at Wembley for the 10th consecutive year. The lineup was announced on Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, Vick Hope and Sonny Jay from Monday, 29 April 2019. The lineup was announced by being revealed on billboards across the United Kingdom. The person who spotted the 'Ballboards' had to text 83958 with their location and the artist they saw and as a result of confirming an artist Kemp would give the caller a pair of tickets to this year's event.

The headliner was announced to be Calvin Harris on 2 May 2019. Marvin Humes did an Introductory DJ Set at 2:00pm, with the show starting at 2:30pm BST and finishing at approximately 10pm BST. Roman Kemp, Vick Hope and Sonny Jay hosted the Ball. Tickets sold out six days after they went on sale.

There was also a livestream on the Capital FM website, the Global Player app and on Capital's channel on Apple News which started at 2:30pm BST hosted by Vick Hope, Jimmy Hill and Marvin Humes (as Backstage Reporter). The livestream was also available to watch on Capital's TikTok page hosted by HRVY. Highlights & vlogs of the 2019 Summertime Ball were uploaded to Capital's and other people's YouTube channels from Sunday 9 June 2019. There were also Ball updates on Capital's Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages.

2020 and 2021: COVID-19 cancellation

The 2020 Summertime Ball was due to be hosted on Saturday 6 June 2020 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, on 19 March 2020, Capital announced that it had cancelled the Ball due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Government issued advice surrounding the event. On 6 May 2020, Capital announced a replacement event called The Best of the Capital Summertime Ball. The two-hour special showcased highlights from the previous decade and was shown on Sky One, Capital FM, YouTube and Global Player from 5:00pm BST on 16 May.

The ball was cancelled for the same reason in 2021. However, unlike 2020, there was no replacement.

2022

For the first time since 2019, Capital FM Summertime Ball returned to Wembley Stadium on 12 June 2022. The lineup was confirmed on the Capital Breakfast show on 25 and 26 April. There was a Global Player presale that took place on the 26th with general sale taking place on the 28th.

2023

The 2023 Summertime Ball took place on 11 June at Wembley Stadium. The line-up was announced on 24 and 25 April.

It was hosted by Capital Breakfast's Roman Kemp, Siân Welby and Chris Stark. This was Stark's first Summertime Ball since joining the station in October 2022 and Kemp's last Summertime Ball as he confirmed his departure on Capital FM to focus on his television career. Highlights from the gig were shown on ITV (plus streaming services ITVX and STV Player) for the first time on 17 June 2023 from 7pm to 8:30pm BST.

2024

The 2024 Summertime Ball took place on 16 June 2024 at Wembley Stadium.

Jordan North hosted the event for the first time since joining Capital in April 2024 after Roman Kemp left the station. Chris Stark & Kemi Rodgers also co-hosted the event. An announcement was made on Capital Breakfast on 26 April where North, Stark and Welby confirmed the ball's date and when the tickets go on sale on 1 May 2024. The line-up for the Summertime Ball was announced at 7 a.m. on 29 and 30 April on Capital Breakfast. Kemi Rodgers hosted the ball for the first time, as Welby announced on 4 June that she would be going on maternity leave and Rodgers would cover for her over the summer.

This was MistaJam’s last Summertime Ball DJ set after he announced his departure from "The Capital Weekender" on 29 June 2024.

2025

The 2025 Summertime Ball took place on Sunday 15 June 2025 at Wembley Stadium. An announcement was made on Capital Breakfast on 25 April where North, Stark and Welby confirmed the date and when the tickets go on sale. The line-up for the Summertime Ball was announced at 7am on 28 & 29 April. Tickets for the ball will go on sale at 9am on 30 April. Tickets to this year's ball went on to sell out in just over 8 hours. On 13 June 2025 it was announced that Jade would open the show. Doors will open at 1:30pm with the ball kicking off at 3:30pm and wrapping up at 9:30pm. Saturday 14 June will be Soundcheck Saturday.

For the first time since 2019, the breakfast presenters will not have an on-air backstage show at the Summertime Ball. However, Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby will provide backstage updates all weekend for those listening on Capital. ITV1 will air highlights on 22 June 2025 at 5:30pm.

2026

Wembley stadium and expected for Sunday 7 June

References

References

1. "Capital's Summertime Ball 2019 FAQs".
2. "Capitals Summertime Ball In Numbers… 9 Stats That Prove How INSANE The #CapitalSTB Really Is!".
3. (9 June 2012). "Summertime Ball | #CapitalSTB". Capital FM.
4. "Capital's Summertime Ball 2015 SOLD OUT! Fans Snap Up All 80,000 Tickets Within Hours".
5. "WOAH! One Direction Join Capital's Summertime Ball 2015 Line-Up And Liam Payne Is "Well Excited"".
6. "Kiss Us Quick Nathan! The UK Singing Sensation Joins Our Summertime Ball Line Up".
7. "Capital Summertime Ball 2015 Line-Up: One Direction, Ariana Grande And Avicii Confirmed".
8. "Instagram post by Capital • Apr 28, 2016 at 7:02am UTC".
9. "Instagram post by Capital • May 11, 2017 at 8:30am UTC".
10. "Instagram post by Capital • Jun 8, 2017 at 8:06am UTC".
11. "Instagram post by Capital • Jun 10, 2017 at 4:37pm UTC".
12. "Instagram post by @ellaeyre • Jun 10, 2017 at 6:59pm UTC".
13. "Capital on Instagram: "Class of 2018 😍 #CapitalSTB – Tickets are now on sale, link in bio 👊"".
14. "Capital's Summertime Ball 2019".
15. "Capital's Summertime Ball Is Back But There's A Huge Twist To The Line-up Reveal...".
16. "Capital's Summertime Ball 2019 Tickets Are Now SOLD OUT".
17. "Capital's Summertime Ball 2019: How To Watch, Listen & Stream".
18. "Capital's Summertime Ball 2019 Line-Up: Check Out All The Stars Taking To The Wembley Stage!".
19. "Capital on Instagram: "#CapitalSTB. Wembley. You. Us. And this lot... 😍"".
20. Fletcher, Harry. (19 March 2020). "Capital's Summertime Ball at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium cancelled as organisers react to threat of coronavirus". Evening Standard.
21. (16 May 2020). "Relive with the Best of Capital's Summertime Ball with Barclaycard!".
22. (16 May 2020). "Capital FM's 'virtual' Best of Summertime Ball - here's how to watch". This is Local London.
23. Association, The Football. "Capital FM Summertime Ball".
24. "Capital's Summertime Ball line-up 2022".
25. Laurie, Ali. (18 May 2023). "ITV to broadcast Capital's Summertime Ball and Jingle Bell Ball 2023".
26. "Capital Summertime Ball 2024 (Date TBC)".
27. "Capital's Summertime Ball 2025 FAQs".
28. "Capital's Summertime Ball with Barclaycard 2025 line-up reveal".