Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds to headline new waterfront music in Dundee

One of Scotland's biggest concert promoters has revealed plans to stage a new annual festival on Dundee's waterfront.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Inhaler are the first acts confirmed for Dundee's new Summer Sessions festival.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds have been confirmed as the first headliners of the Dundee Summer Sessions in June at the city's new Slessor Gardens.

DF Concerts, who were formed in Dundee in 1982, said more artists and dates would be announced for the inaugural event at the park, which was completed the year before the city’s new V&A museum opened.

Summer Sessions have previously been staged in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow and Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.

Dundee's Slessor Gardens will be hosting the city's new Summer Sessions festival next summer.

Travis, Sir Tom Jones, Lionel Richie, Simple Minds and Michael Kiwanuka will be performing previously postponed shows at the Edinburgh Summer Sessions in August, with Simply Red added to the line-up today.

DF Concerts staged a weekend-long festival at Slessor Gardens when the city's V&A museum was unveiled, with Primal Scream, Lewis Capaldi, Be Charlotte, Gary Clark and Kyle Falconer all in the line-up of the one-off event.

The open-air venue has also played host to Simple Minds, Midge Ure, The Pretenders, UB40, Little Mix, Steps, Rita Ora and Olly Murs since 2017.

Gallagher, the band formed by the Oasis songwriter and guitarist n 2010, will be bringing his group to Dundee for the first time when they play on Saturday 11 June.

The band, who have notched up four number one albums, have previously staged outdoor shows in Scotland at Edinburgh Castle and Scone Palace.

DF Concerts chief executive Ellis said: “Dundee is the spiritual home of DF, having started here many moons ago, so we are delighted to return with the Summer Sessions and bring some incredible music to the city.

"We are excited and extremely proud to announce Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds as the first ever headliner for Dundee Summer Sessions and we could not wish for a more iconic artist to launch the festival.

“Dundee is a city full of energy, creativity and ambition and so provides a perfect home for Summer Sessions and the quality of artists that will come to play the Festival.”

Mark Flynn, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development commitee, said: “The success of the concerts that have been staged at Slessor Gardens so far, and its place as a fantastic venue to see bands of all types, has attracted interest from a wide variety of promoters.

“I am delighted to see the diary slots available for next summer filling up fast with top class acts like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, that are bound to fire the public’s imagination and get them turning out in their thousands.”

The new waterfront festival in Dundee has been confirmed days after the city played host to the launch of a major Scottish fashion festival. The first ever runway show at V&A Dundee was staged to launch the Scotland Re: Design Festival.

Slessor Gardens is currently playing to Dundee’s first ever Christmas festival, which includes a Bavarian bar, an ice rink, a ferris wheel and traditional funfair.