Gareth Gates and Bay City Rollers to headline London Parade 2027
Pop Idol star Gareth Gates and Scottish pop icons the Bay City Rollers will lead New Year's Day celebrations in London as the annual parade returns with 8,000 performers from around the world.
Gareth Gates and the Bay City Rollers have been announced among the headline acts for the London Parade 2027, which will take place through the capital's streets on New Year's Day. The musicians will join around 8,000 performers from numerous countries for the annual event, which attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators and a global television audience. The Bay City Rollers, who topped the US Billboard chart in 1975 and sparked the "Rollermania" phenomenon during the 1970s, are set to bring a Scottish flavour to the celebrations.
Band member Woody Wood said: "What a great way to kick start the New Year, a wee Shang a Lang to get things going. Don't forget your tartan KOR (Keep on Rolling)."
Gareth Gates, who rose to fame on Pop Idol in 2002 before enjoying a stage career in productions including Les Misérables, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Legally Blonde, said he was delighted to be taking part.
He said: "Performing live in the London Parade, for such a massive street audience and hundreds of TV stations across the World, is right up there as a career highlight for me.
"I have watched the parade down the decades and always wanted to be a part of such an extraordinary event. I am sure that my fans will take the opportunity to come join the party with me on January 1st."
The parade's executive director, Joe Bone, said: "It's party time in London and everyone's invited, there's no better free, family knees up-on the planet.
"We are nothing if not eclectic. Who else could have amassed such a multi-talented mix?"
The event will also feature performers from across Central and South America, representatives from London boroughs, ceremonial horse-drawn carriages, The King's Horses and a themed entry from toy retailer Hamleys. The two-mile route will begin near The Ritz Hotel at Green Park before passing through Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street St James's, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square. The parade is scheduled to run from 1pm until 4.30pm on January 1.
Organisers said the event generates hundreds of millions of pounds for London businesses and has raised millions for charities across the capital.
This article is produced by SWNS based on content distributed by GlobeNewswire.