Another Eddie Gordon initiative was to take the show on the road with live broadcasts from clubs or festivals, particularly during the summer months (Northern Hemisphere) and at New Year's Eve.
The broadcasts started from within the UK, and soon broadened out as live from Ibiza, North America, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Hawaii and other destinations in Europe including Rome.
One special broadcast was the BBC Radio 1 - One World millennium celebration starting with Carl Cox from Bondi Beach in Sydney, before heading to Cape Town, South Africa with Danny Rampling prior to broadcasting Dave Pearce from Glasgow, Pete Tong from Liverpool, then Junior Vasquez from New York before closing with Carl Cox, who had flown backwards across the dateline to complete a DJ World first with two millennium gigs by broadcasting from Honolulu.
The forerunner to this New Year's Eve Essential Mix was the transatlantic three-cities broadcast on the New Year's Eve of 1997 into 1998, with simultaneous broadcasts from three clubs directly to each dance floor with Pete Tong at the Ministry Of Sound, London, Todd Terry at the Nynex Arena in Manchester, and finishing with DJ Eddie Baez at the Tunnel venue in Manhattan.
31 December 2009 marked the special Essential Mix event that carried onto New Year's Day of 2010, at the O2 Arena in London, featuring artists like Deadmau5, Eric Prydz, Calvin Harris, Justice, Example, Dave Spoon and Plump DJs.
[5] On 16 November 2013, on the 20th anniversary of the show, The Warehouse Project in Manchester hosted the Radio 1's Essential Mix for a live event.
The talent included the show's host Pete Tong, amongst guests Eats Everything, Sasha, Booka Shade, Paul Woolford, Steve Lawler, Hot Since 82, James Zabiela, Skream b2b Jackmaster, Derrick Carter, amongst other residents of the club.
On 20 October 2018, the Essential Mix featured The Martinez Brothers, Pete Tong and Eats Everything from The Warehouse Project in Manchester.
On 30 March 2019, Essential Mix featured Chris Liebing, Charlotte de Witte, Themba and Mele from Miami Music Week.
[25] To mark the 500th DJ/artist to appear in the series, in April 2010, BBC Radio 1 selected ten classic Essential Mixes to reflect the show's history:[28]