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Ed Sheeran Builds Huge Stage In Hometown For 160,000 Sell Out Gig

Ed Sheeran Builds Huge Stage In Hometown For 160,000 Sell Out Gig

Ed Sheeran ends his world tour at home in Ipswich - and he's set up a huge stage right in the middle of the town's Chantry Park

Simon Catling

Simon Catling

After passing through 43 countries, Ed Sheeran's record-setting Divide tour finishes in the 28 year-old singer's hometown of Ipswich - and the pop star isn't holding anything back as he returns to the Suffolk town.

Homecoming king Sheeran ends his 255-date Divide tour with four nights in Ipswich's Chantry Park, just to the west of the town centre, playing to a whopping 160,000 people in total. To accommodate this a gigantic stage has been set up, as have two large banks of seating either side of the planned standing area.

Pictures show the stage overshadowing much of the local neighbourhood, with only a narrow line of trees separating it from the nearby residential area.

PA
PA

That's bad news for any locals not a fan of Ed's music, and they can look forward to their Friday night dinner being soundtracked by The Shape of You, Galway Girl and other hits from the pop star's multi-million selling back catalogue.

It's hard to imagine there'll be too much ill will towards Sheeran as he returns home, however, with the four nights set to provide a huge boost to the local economy. Ipswich has already capitalised on the shows, with the Ed Sheeran: Made In Suffolk exhibition already running at nearby Wolsey Theatre.

The brainchild of Ed's dad John, the exhibition contains portraits and photography of the star, as well as a collection of personal items from his life, from his time at school right through his rise to international stardom.

Items include a copy of the first lyrics he ever wrote, as well as a school certificate dubbing him 'most likely to be famous'.

PA
PA

In addition to this, an Ed Sheeran pop-up store opened yesterday, with fans queuing up to get their hands on exclusive merchandise.

Ed Sheeran's Divide tour kicked off in Turin, Italy way back on 16th March 2017 and over the subsequent two years has smashed attendance and revenue records.

At the beginning of August, with 12 dates still to go Divide had already beaten U2's 110-date 360° tour, grossing a mighty £607 million. When it finishes, more than 8.5 million fans will have seen Ed play, smashing the Irish rock veterans' figures of 7.3 million.

The tour hasn't all been plain sailing though. In October 2017, Sheeran was forced to re-schedule four and cancel another five Asian dates after suffering arm bone fractures in a bike accident.

Aside from that, however, it's has been a juggernaut of a journey, including a headline slot at Glastonbury Festival in 2017, as well as playing to 300,000 people over four nights at Wembley Stadium the following summer.

Featured Image Credit: Geoff Robinson

Topics: Music, UK Entertainment, Ed Sheeran