Radio 1 returns to Ibiza for the 21stconsecutive year this weekend with an exclusive Radio 1 and 1Xtra dance family line-up due to perform during our legendary Friday night party that will be taking place tonight at Ushuaia. It's a who's who of DJ talent - Annie Mac, Pete Tong, Danny Howard, Kolsch, MistaJam, B.Traits, Toddla T, Heidi, George Fitzgerald, Monki and DJ Target - and a testament to the commitment Radio 1 has shown to electronic music over two decades.
Hundreds of thousands of British clubbers head to Ibiza over the summer with the Radio 1 Ibiza weekend being the high water mark of the entire season. Ibiza continues to be a really important part of our calendar as global DJ talent converges on the island - this year we have recorded Essential Mixes with Carl Cox at Space, Andrea Oliva at Ants, Solomun at Pacha and Paradise at DC10. We've also continued our long standing relationship with Café Mambo where our DJs including Nick Grimshaw and The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Annie Mac, Danny Howard and MistaJam will be broadcasting their show's from - bringing the party spirit to listeners back home in the UK.
This year, we've extended our offering with a whole summer of dance music for our young listeners. The Radio 1 dance family have been hitting the road and hosting stages at some of the biggest dance events across the UK and Europe in 2016, with our Ibiza broadcasts being the centre piece.
However, it's not just about dance music, Radio 1 and 1Xtra's commitment to specialist music spans a range of genres. 1Xtra's MC Month ran for the whole of July where we took our Street Studio out to four cities around the UK - Nottingham, Cardiff, Manchester and London - to record over 350 up and coming UK MC's, with the best ones making it to air. Charlie Sloth, Sian Anderson, A.Dot and DJ Target were all on hand in these cities to offer advice and encouragement to these grass roots performers.
On July 4th, Radio 1 hosted a 10 hour celebration of independent record labels, with the DJs solely playing music from artists that are signed to independent record labels from 6pm-4am, and earlier in June we celebrated rock music with Radio 1's Rock all-dayer which included live performances from Twin Atlantic, All Time Low, Moose Blood, Frank Carter &the Rattlesnakes, Blink 182, Creeper, A Day to Remember, Neck Deep and Against the Current.
Add this to Radio 1's Future Festival - an annual event in January where we showcase our musical recommendations for the coming year, where in 2016 we showcased Billie Martin, Section Boyz, Vant, Nao, Rationale and Mura Masa.
Plus, I cannot forget about one of my favourites, 1Xtra's yearly trip to Jamaica in February, where we take David Rodigan, Seani B and Toddla T to Kingston to record sessions and freestyles with some of the hottest artists. Last year's Alkaline freestyle has received almost 1.2million views on 1Xtra's YouTube channel.
With nearly 70 hours of specialist programming on Radio 1 a week, around 200 sessions a year and our work with BBC Introducing at many UK festivals, Radio 1 and 1Xtra are plugged in to the artists that are bubbling away under the mainstream. Specialist music is our life blood because they are the songs and artists of the future.
BBC Radio 1 in Ibiza takes place from 4th - 6th August. On Radio 1, online and via the BBC iPlayer Radio app.