A new public art trail from the team behind the hugely popular Bee in the City is coming to Manchester this month.
Soon enough, Mancs will start spotting gigantic heads across the region, in a new project created to promote mental health awareness and wellbeing.
Wild in Art are behind the latest art trail – they were also the creator of the huge colourful bees that took over the city back in 2018 – working alongside creative studio and multidisciplinary arts collective We are Willow.
Six Places In A Different Light will see six huge head sculptures installed at local landmarks, including Mayfield Park, Greengate Square, the University of Salford’s Peel Park Campus, outside the Imperial War Museum North, and MediaCityUK.
Each head will be uniquely decorated by illustrator and community artist Kelly Ma, illustrator Tom J Newell and painter Ekun Richard, who will work with mental health participants to generate inspiration.
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Each sculpture will respond to We Are Willow’s specially written 12 track album of music and spoken word.
Taking place between 30 October and 11 December, the aim of Six Places In A Different Light is to encourage conversation around mental health.
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The giant head sculptures are at Mayfield Park in Manchester ready for artists to turn them into a public art trail. Credit: Simon Pantling | We Are Willow
The new public art trail is being funded by the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, Salford City Council, The University of Salford, LandsecU+I and Arts Council England.
‘A Different Light’ is a project that has been creatively evolving since its inception in 2016. The work originally featured four films, an album of music and spoken word and an edition of 300 bespoke mini head sculptures.
The project also works with three different charities:
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Manchester Mind, is an independent charity, affiliated to national Mind, who have been delivering local mental health services for over 30 years. Last year over 7500 adults and young people received support, information and/or training from Manchester Mind. Their aim is to make it easier for people to ask for help.
START, a charity that has been delivering mental health and wellbeing services in Salford for over 30 years; the organisation uses creativity, connection and recovery interventions to help improve people’s lives.
The Jamie Horrocks Trust, which was established to help prevent suicide through early community engagement whilst working with and supporting those who have lived experience of losing someone to suicide.
The giant head sculpture trail comes from the team behind Bee in the City. Credit: Simon Pantling | We Are Willow
Chris Butler, co-founder and creative lead for WE ARE WILLOW, said: “The opportunity to collaborate with Wild in Art and three inspirational charities, to promote the crucial work they deliver across Greater Manchester through creativity is extremely exciting.
“The previous projects we have produced have raised awareness, but we can always do more. We can make it count for more, bring more people with us and, with collaboration as our guiding light, make a bigger difference.”
The giant head sculptures arrived at Mayfield Park this week where they will remain in a dedicated painting space until they are installed in their locations across Greater Manchester.
Laura Percy, development director for Mayfield, LandsecU+I, comments: “Mayfield is delighted to support ‘Six Places In A Different Light’. This sculpture trail encouraging people to talk about their mental health is a wonderful idea, and where better for this to happen than the city’s newest park, a place for peaceful reflection.
“The blend of culture and nature is integral to Mayfield, and we look forward to welcoming many more visitors to the park over the next few months.
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“This initiative, together with the recreation of the iconic Ian Curtis mural at the Star & Garter to support World Suicide Prevention Day in September, underlines our deep and lasting commitment to using our spaces to inspire, educate and support our city.”
Bloc Party and Interpol announce exclusive co-headline tour and a pair of Manchester gigs
Danny Jones
In an increasingly rare kind of announcement, Bloc Party and Interpol have announced a co-headline tour across the UK and Europe, and Manchester is lucky enough to be getting two dates.
How the pair of shows may differ from night to night remains to be seen, but it feels like it’s been a good long while since we last heard about two acts doubling on gigs in this kind of way.
Officially confirmed on Halloween, both Bloc Party and Interpol revealed the plans for the collaborative shows on each of their social media channels, leaving most fans delighted and plenty crying out for dates in their own cities.
It might be only a small thing, but we really enjoyed how they announced the joint performances with two different twists on the same tour poster.
It might be more of just a colour variation than two different bits of artwork, but little stuff like this is always cool. (Credit: Supplied)
As two groups that soundtracked a very distinct period and era for alternative and indie rock, some would argue that you couldn’t find a more suitable fit of contemporaries.
Having both carved out their own corner of the music industry 2000s, Bloc Party‘s breakout debut, Silent Alarm, and Interpol’s seminal sophomore album, Antics, were two of the most seminal and definitive records in the scene at the time.
With that in mind, getting the pair not only back on the road to play the hits and more but doing it together at some of the most exciting venues in the country and on the continent is quite the coup.
Props to whoever came up with the idea, seriously.
Speaking of that landmark second LP from Interpol, the New York-formed indie and post-punk revivalists last played Manchester back in November as part of the release’s 20th anniversary at the O2 Apollo.
Featured Images — Ildiii/Mr. Rossi (via Wikimedia Commons)/Publicity picture (supplied)
Art & Culture
Richard Ashcroft and Blossoms to headline Neighbourhood Weekender 2026 lineup
Danny Jones
The first wave of the NBHD Weekender lineup for 2026 is officially out, and Greater Manchester leads the way in terms of headliners, with local music legend Richard Ashcroft and Stockport’s finest, Blossoms, both confirmed for the big slot on the main stage.
Now THAT is how you kick off an announcement.
Yes, Neighbourhood Weekender always promises a healthy dose of Northern acts on the lineup, including plenty of Mancs, scousers and others from Cheshire and the region at large, but to get two much-loved music artists from our boroughs topping the 2026 bill is an absolute treat.
With other noteworthy appearances in the Kaiser Chiefs, DMA’s, Jamie Webster, Example and many more on there already, it feels like next year’s festival is shaping up to be a potential all-timer.
As you can see, the first wave of the NBHD 2026 lineup also includes returning crowd-pleasers like Shed Seven, Razorlight and The K’s.
Other acts that also caught our eye include our own natives like Arkayla, The Guest List, Luvcat and The Covasettes, just to name a few, as well as rising ‘Britainicana outfit’, Westside Cowboy, who just so happen to star on our most recent round-up of what we’ve been listening to.
In fact, there are a few past Manc bands of the month features on this lineup, not to mention more nearby names in Lucvat, The Royston Club, Keyside, Nxdia and so on, who are all well worth earmarking ahead of the stage splits being announced.
As for the headliners, indie heroes Blossoms need no introduction; nor does Wigan’s most famous musical son, with Ashcroft riding a real resurgence at the moment – he’s also one of our artists of the month, naturally.
In fact, confirmation of both Ashcroft and his Oasis Live ’25 support act partners, Cast, being booked for Warrington’s Victoria Park and the next NBHD Fest comes after the 54-year-old confirmed a fellow hometown band for some very big shows of his own.
The organisers have already promised that a lot more musicians are set to join the lineup for next May Bank Holiday Weekend (Saturday 23- Sun 24 May 2025), and we can’t wait to see who else they rope in for the festival.
Sign-up for pre-sale is set to go live next Thursday, 6 November at 9:30am and, as always, those living in WA1-WA5 postcode get exclusive early access ahead of that from the same time on Wednesday.
As for general admission tickets, they’ll be available from the following Friday (7 Nov) – once again, from 9:30 onwards – and new for this year, there will also be different payment plans via their website.
You can get ready to grab your tickets HERE. See you in the fields!
Daisy Jackson -
10th October 2023 
