Festivals
Jim King
Chief Executive Officer, UK and European Festivals, AEG Presents
600,000
BST Hyde Park attendance across its 2026 run
2026
AEG Global Partnerships' own festival page states BST Hyde Park's attendance at 600,000 across its multi-weekend 2026 run, a company-published event figure rather than a personal metric.
Source: AEG Global Partnerships — American Express Presents BST Hyde Park (retrieved 2026-09-16)
Hero metrics are sourced, person-specific measures of live-music economic footprint. Company metrics are labelled as company metrics; no synthetic score is used.
CEO of AEG Presents' UK and European festivals division, responsible for BST Hyde Park, All Points East, Forwards, Rock en Seine, We Love Green and the new Roundhay Festival.
Last updated 2026-09-16
In short
Jim King is Chief Executive Officer, UK and European Festivals at AEG Presents. Runs AEG's European festival portfolio, which draws more than a million festival-goers a year across multiple countries. Jim King is CEO of AEG Presents UK and European festivals, a role in which he oversees BST Hyde Park, All Points East, Forwards Festival in Bristol, Rock en Seine and We Love Green in France, and the newly launched Roundhay Festival in Leeds.
Quick facts
- Current role
- Chief Executive Officer, UK and European Festivals
- Organisation
- AEG Presents
- Primary category
- Festivals
- Known for
- Founding and running BST Hyde Park; Launching All Points East; Launching Roundhay Festival in Leeds
Executive summary
Jim King is CEO of AEG Presents UK and European festivals, a role in which he oversees BST Hyde Park, All Points East, Forwards Festival in Bristol, Rock en Seine and We Love Green in France, and the newly launched Roundhay Festival in Leeds. Music Week's June 2026 interview with him and his own speaker biography for the International Festival Forum both describe this current remit.
King joined AEG in 2008 and originated BST Hyde Park and All Points East before being promoted to lead the company's wider European festivals division; a LinkedIn profile matching his public role places his CEO appointment in July 2025.
In 2026 he led the launch of Roundhay Festival, AEG's first festival in the north of England, which drew roughly 100,000 attendees across its debut three-day run in Leeds, according to his own account in IQ Magazine, alongside running that year's BST Hyde Park programme headlined by Garth Brooks, Pitbull and Lewis Capaldi.
Why Jim King matters in live music
AEG's UK and European festival slate under King's direction reaches well over a million attendees annually across multiple countries, giving him a central role in how AEG competes with Live Nation-owned festival brands in the UK and continental European markets.
The 2026 launch of Roundhay Festival represents a deliberate geographic expansion strategy, extending AEG's UK festival footprint beyond London for the first time and testing whether the BST Hyde Park format can be replicated in a new market.
Career record
- 2008Joined AEG Presents.
- 2013Originated and launched BST Hyde Park, according to his International Festival Forum biography.
- 2018Launched All Points East in London.
- July 2025Became CEO of AEG Presents UK and European Festivals.
- 2026Launched Roundhay Festival in Leeds and led BST Hyde Park's 2026 run.
Sphere of influence
Levels are categorical — Core, Major, Significant, Limited — and each is stated with the evidence it rests on. No numeric score is published, because none would be defensible.
- UK and European festival promotion Core
- He runs AEG's UK and European festivals division, spanning multiple countries and events.
- Festival portfolio expansion Major
- He led the 2026 launch of Roundhay Festival, extending AEG's UK footprint beyond London.
- Corporate festival strategy Significant
- His division competes directly with Live Nation-owned festival brands across the UK and Europe.
Entity relationships
Current
Jim King is CEO of UK and European festivals at AEG Presents.
Timeline
- 2013Launched BST Hyde Park.
- 2018Launched All Points East.
- 2025Named CEO of AEG Presents UK and European Festivals.
- 2026Launched Roundhay Festival and ran BST Hyde Park's tenth-plus edition.
Related Live Index research and records
References and sources
- BST Hyde Park's Jim King talks 2026 line-up, ticket prices and the World Cup summer — Music Week. Trade press. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: Confirms his current CEO title and 2026 BST Hyde Park programme.
- Jim King on building Roundhay into AEG's next flagship festival — IQ Magazine. Trade press. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: Details the 2026 Roundhay Festival launch and its approximate 100,000 attendance.
- Jim King, AEG Europe — International Festival Forum. Verified profile. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: Career history: joining AEG in 2008 and originating BST Hyde Park and All Points East.