BBC Radio 1 are hosting a huge concert in Hackney next year, as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad celebrations.

The line-up will include local stars Leona Lewis and Plan B alongside 80 international and UK acts.

The concert is taking place at Hackney Marshes, on 23 and 24 June next year – traditionally Glastonbury weekend. (Don’t panic – you won’t have to choose between the two: Glastonbury’s taking a year off in 2012.)

There’ll be around 100,000 tickets available for the concert, which Radio 1 is describing as “the most ambitious event in the station’s 44-year history”. The majority of the tickets will be allocated to people living in Hackney (one of the Olympic boroughs) and to the surrounding areas.

There’ll be six stages showcasing the best of the Beeb’s various stations, and the event will replace Radio 1′s One Big Weekend for next year.

“To be part of this event is so important to me,” said Lewis, who performed with guitarist Jimmy Page at the Beijing 2008 Olympics Closing Ceremony to signal the handover to London as the host of the 2012 Games.

“I’m so excited about the opportunities and the excitement it will bring to the area. Radio 1 is going to put on the biggest show in their history and it is happening in East London. I couldn’t be happier.”

Plan B said, “It is great to have a musical celebration in the area where the Olympics are being held.”

Hackney Weekend 2012 will form part of the opening weekend of the London 2012 Festival, the UK-wide cultural celebration and finale of the Cultural Olympiad, running from 21 June to 9 September 2012.

Ruth Mackenzie, the director of the London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad, said, ‘We’re delighted that Radio 1′s Hackney Weekend is part of the London 2012 Festival line-up. It is a perfect fit with our ambitions for the Festival to appeal to young people, to showcase world class talent and to work with our partners in Hackney.”

More announcements about the line-up will be revealed in due course… Who would you like to see performing at Hackney Weekend 2012?