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Parklife 2023 – line-up, tickets, times, travel and everything you need to know

Manchester's biggest music festival is back and we can taste the tunes already.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 28th May 2023

Parklife 2023 is nearly here and if there’s one thing we know about this staple of the British summer and festival season it’s that it never disappoints.

There’s once again an absolutely massive line-up heading to the fields of Heaton Park, including headline slots from Fred Again, Aitch and The 1975.

The sun and warm weather seems to have arrived in the nick of time too, with what looks like a sunny, mud-free Parklife on the way.

If you can believe it, it’s been 13 years since the first-ever Parklife was held and since then it’s gone on to be not only a Manc music institution and rite of passage, but one of the most famous festivals around the world – we’re just lucky it happens to be right on our doorstep.

With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about Parklife 2023, from who’s playing and where to how you’ll be getting there and back.

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Parklife 2023 line-up

In case you haven’t looked at it properly yet, the Parklife line-up for 2023 in full is below.

As you can see, Parklife punters are in for an absolute stormer this year, with the organisers bringing along some of the biggest names across various different genres.

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With headliners and local lads Aitch and The 1975 topping the bill, the bar is already pretty high, but with the likes of Fred again…, Little Simz, The Prodigy; Anderson .Paak, Nas, Self-Esteem; Skrillex, Annie Mac and even the Wu-Tang Clan all rocking up over the weekend, it really is going to be unforgettable.

We could literally go on forever when it comes to who we’re excited to see at Heaton Park this year – Peggy Gou, Charlotte De Witte, DJ Seinfeld, Patrick Topping and so on – but part of the challenge is always going to be sorting out your clashes.

If any of you ever figure out the magical power of being able to be in two places at once let us know but until then, here’s which Parklife artists will be appearing on which stages for 2023.

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Parklife 2023 festival site map

Parklife takes over a corner of Heaton Park, just to the north of Manchester itself.

With so many stages and street food and parties scattered around the festival site, it’s good to get your bearings beforehand.

And Parklife has just dropped its festival site map for 2023, which you can see below.

Who’s playing when and where?

Since moving from its original home at Platt Fields (2010-2013), Parklife Festival now stretches across several stages, many of which are exclusive only to Saturday/Sunday.

There is, of course, the self-titled main stage, as well as The Valley, The Hangar and The Temple – all of which span across both days.

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If you’re heading to Heaton Park on Saturday, here’s who’s playing which stage, with those all-important stage times.

And if you’re doing Sunday and looking to avoid any clashes, here’s all the line-up and stage times for day two of Parklife.

Tickets – are there any left?

It won’t surprise you to learn that there aren’t a lot of Parklife tickets left for 2023, with all Saturday and full weekend passes now sold out and only travel packages really available.

However, that isn’t to say there aren’t any: there a still a handful of tickets left for the Sunday, with general admission costing you £92.95 including the booking fee.

There are also VIP passes still going for £123.65 with upgrades also available for Saturday too if you’re feeling fancy. After all, summer is getting into full swing and it’ll have just been payday (hopefully), treat yourself – or don’t know, we’re not the boss of you.

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Travelling to and from Parklife

Speaking of travel, knowing how you’re going to get to and from Heaton Park is also something you should plan ahead for rather than just wing it on the day.

Luckily, Parklife’s famous Big Green Coaches will be running as per usual, all of which will be carbon neutral, will only set you back a £10 deposit and are running from all over the country.

As for public transport, the Parklife shuttle buses and regular TfGM bus services will all running across the weekend and into the early hours of each night to make sure everyone gets home safely.

The dreaded Metrolink strike has now been called off, so you can also use the tram to get up to Heaton Park – just hop off the Bury-bound tram at either Heaton Park or Bowker Vale.

For the shuttle bus, you can board it from the corner of Aytoun Street and Minshull Street (M1 2DD) near Piccadilly train station, with the drop-off site right inside the festival. For any further information, check out the travel portal on the Parklife website.

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The Parklife travel pass is £10 for the whole weekend and can be used on trams or the shuttle buses.

Here’s everything you need to know about travelling to and from Parklife.

Wristband Exchange

Last but not least, there’s not much point in turning up to the festival without your wristband. Here are the three official locations to have your Parklife 2023 tickets verified and receive your wristband.

Open on Saturday 11 June and Sunday 12 June.

  • Minshull Street (next to the shuttle bus departure point) from 9.30am-4.00pm.
  • Cathedral Gardens (in front of the National Football Museum) from 10am-4.00pm.
  • St Peter’s Square (outside of Manchester Central Library) from 10am-4.00pm.

As always, we’d also remind you to steer clear of ticket touts – not worth spoiling your weekend by being stung.

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Parklife 2023 is set to be an absolute stormer and with the weather looking to be holding up too, all the stars are aligning as punters prepare to descend on Manchester.

It’s a great weekend for the region and for the UK music scene, let alone Greater Manchester, and we can’t wait. You’ll see a few faces from The Manc going along too, so feel free to come up to us and say hello – we don’t bite.

Last but not least, look after each other out there and, above all else, enjoy yourselves. Roll on June 10!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image – Parklife

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Bez and Shaun Ryder are starring in a new gangster movie – nope, not kidding

Danny Jones Danny Jones Bez and Shaun Ryder acting in new gangster film

No, you didn’t misread the headline and you’re not on acid: Manchester music legends Bez and Shaun Ryder are set to feature in a brand-new gangster film.

Yes, the ones from the Happy Mondays – why are you having such trouble processing this?

Seriously though, we did a little double-take ourselves when we came across this news, but the familiar Manc faces look to be among the ensemble of a brand-new gangster movie by Irish writer, actor, producer and filmmaker, Ciaron Davies.

And this is just a little leak or rumour that may have been blown out of proportion: you can take it from the horse’s mouth as Happy Mondays frontman, Ryder, recently shared the news on social media.

As you can see, the new film is called Geezers and is billed as a “British crime caper” written and directed by Davies, featuring Shaun as hard-man Robbie and Bez as ‘Monk’. If you saw Ryder shaking off that snake biting his hand like it was nothing then you already know he’s hard as nails.

Although it’s not strictly listed as a comedy per se, ‘caper’ would suggest plenty of humour and light-heartedness, so we’re thinking more like The Gentleman, Italian Job, or maybe even Four Lions, rather than a serious crime thriller.

Now, while we’ve seen both of the Salfordians on screen before not only in the likes of music videos, interviews, panel shows and even as two of the funniest guests to ever go on Celebrity Gogglebox, this latest venture will serve as their respective acting debuts.

According to the IMDb page, the synopsis of the film is as follows: “Crime caper about a stolen bag of money. Caught in the crossfire are ‘The Geezers’ a bunch of wannabe criminals who have bitten off more than they can chew. With 24 hours to grab the cash, London may just go up in smoke tonight.”

Shame it’s not set on the mean streets of Manchester, or better yet Salford, but you’ve still very much caught our interest.

You can see the first promotional poster for the film down below.

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As for Davies, he has been involved with a number of small-budget TV film projects, as well as appearing in shorts and even video games, so it’s fair to say that getting 62-year-old Ryder and his ever-energetic hype man, 60, involved is quite the coup for his movie-making career.

We’re still not over Bez rather randomly delivering a curry to our offices, to be honest, so seeing him act is going to feel like one long fever dream.

Although the film has no release date just yet, we know that filming locations having included parts of Warrington and Pinewood Studios, will be produced by Loose Gripp Films and distributed by publishers High Fliers.

Given the high-octane nature of Geezers and its genre, the feature will involve lots of action, stunts, violence and even martial arts – though how much kung-fu these two will have learned for the project remains to be seen…

All we know is that the film is supposedly “coming soon” and if you don’t want to see Bez and Shaun Ryder doing their best impression of a Guy Ritchie gangster movie then you’re lying to yourself. Praying for a Rowetta cameo to put the cherry on top.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Shaun Ryder (via X)/Loose Gripp Films/IMDb

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Blossoms at O2 Ritz Manchester – five-night hometown residency is already a triumph

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Blossoms at O2 Ritz Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group

Blossoms are a band who were born and forged here in Greater Manchester, and now they’re back retracing their steps with a five-night residency across the venues that launched them into the big leagues.

Their star has risen all the way to arena level and headline shows at Wythenshawe Park at this point, especially here in their hometown, so the chance to see them back in these cosy-ish little venues is special, and a little bizarre.

For night two of their landmark sold-out gig series, it was the turn of the O2 Ritz, that sweaty spot off Oxford Road where the floor bounces downstairs and you stick to the carpets upstairs.

Poetically, the first time I ever saw Blossoms was in this very room in 2016, when they had the mid-afternoon slot at Neighbourhood festival and the queue to get in went all the way back to St Peter’s Square.

Since those days, Blossoms have come a long, long way, and their live show has evolved and matured from five lads thrashing on their instruments to this well-oiled, hip-swaying, flares-wearing, chart-topping machine.

There’s even choreography now – how fancy!

A stand-out moment from the show is actually a song from their new, fifth studio album Gary, which is still barely eight weeks old.

A spoof recording of legendary Manchester indie club 42s rings out, then all five band members abandon their stations, slinging keytars and marching drums around their necks so that they can dance together in front of neon signs.

Blossoms have just done their second of five shows in Manchester, this time at the O2 Ritz. Credit: The Manc Group
Blossoms have just done their second of five shows in Manchester, this time at the O2 Ritz. Credit: The Manc Group
Blossoms on stage at the O2 Ritz in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Blossoms on stage at the O2 Ritz in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group

Blossoms promised more disco with this album and they bloody meant it. It’s not just the flares and the blow-dries and the moustaches (though those do help) – it’s in the funk and groove that’s gradually crept into their music exponentially with each album release.

This is still indie rock but it’s the most danceable of its genre. Good luck keeping your shoulders from wiggling and jiggling in here. Good luck keeping that grin off your face.

And Gary is one of the most unexpectedly fun albums to be released in the last year – the fact they called it Gary, named after a giant fibreglass garden centre Gorilla, should’ve been our clue. It could border on silly were it not such a masterpiece.

It seems like the only thing Blossoms are trying to prove is that you can be wildly successful without taking yourself too seriously. They just seem like a group who want to have a good time and it’s totally infectious.

Case in point – when each band member is introduced, keyboardist Myles Kellock plays the riff of Satisfaction by Benny Benassi and The Biz. Unexpected.

Blossoms also clearly give a sh*t about their live shows and graft at it – I’ve seen these guys an awful lot and it’s because their tour dates are plentiful and consistently worth the ticket price.

This is definitely the biggest era of their career so far, but have they peaked? Not even close.

There are still three nights left of the Blossoms residency. You can read all about it HERE.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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