Sam Fender collaborates with Greggs to create pop up experience during St James Park shows

Greggs and Sam Fender have announced a Newcastle city centre collaboration across the two days Fender is scheduled to play in the North East this summer. The North Shields artist will be playing Newcastle United’s St James Park on Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10 with the famous bakery also getting involved in the two days of musical action.

Suspitions of a collaboration between the two emerged earlier this week when the Grainger Street branch of the bakery group changed their sign to depict Fender eating a pastry.

Fender Unplugged, as the project will be known, will take over Greggs’ Grainger Street shop, transforming it into an immersive dive bar experience. The pop is hoped to offer fans the ultimate pre-gig experience ahead of Fender’s sold-out shows by celebrating homegrown, northeast talent, with a series of intimate performances some even selected by Fender himself.

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Free tickets for the event will need to be booked in advance with four sessions per day from 12 noon until 6:30pm, giving fans enough time to head into the stadium.

Each session will last for 75 minutes, with complementary classic Greggs options served up and washed down with Newcastle Brown Ale.

Local talent confirmed to be taking the stage for the intimate acoustic sets includes hip-hop artist Kay Greyson, Bugman, The Peevie Wonders, Cortney Dixon and Chintzy Stetson.

Tickets to the events are free with 240 in total up for grabs and will be on sale from 10am on Monday, June 5, through Greggs’ social media pages.