"The sun brought the good mood," 20-year-old Caitlin told Newsbeat at the end of night one.
Tickets for the final day, featuring Olivia Dean's first major headline slot, were piping hot, too.
It's after a remarkable nine months for the singer since she released her second album The Art of Loving.
"It's completely changed my life," she told the crowd.
Chart records, huge sold-out tours and a tonne of awards have followed.
She can now add another achievement to the list.
If there were any doubts about how her often intimate and understated style would suit a main stage festival finale, they melted away within minutes.
As the Sunday sun set over Sunderland, her performance radiated with the warmth it left behind.
And fans from around the world were there to see it.
Kameel, 27, flew from New York after missing out on tickets to her US tour and coming across Big Weekend on Instagram.
"Olivia Dean resonates with me," she tells us.
"She's a person of colour, and so it's great to hear her music and her story - and her vocals are insane."
