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90s Baby to throw summer festival at Manchester City Airport, featuring Five, 911, and Gareth Gates

The throwbacks keep coming.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 21st February 2023

90s Baby will be taking us back to the golden age of pop music once again this summer, with a one-day festival at Manchester City Airport.

Headliners will include Five, 911, Liberty X, Phats & Small and Gareth Gates, plus loads more artists who dominated the charts in the 1990s.

The 90s Baby Festival will take over the fields at the local airport, turning them in to a ’90s paradise’ with ‘next level light and sound’.

The open-air festival will have live music and DJ sets spread across three arenas, plus a fairground, a food village, glitter stalls, gin bars, rum bars and merch stands.

The line-up is packed with boyband stars, chart-topping dance acts, and much-loved pop favourites from yesteryear.

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Manchester City Airport. Credit: Supplied

It will have capacity for around 5000 music-lovers, ready to see a line-up that also includes B*Witched, Sonqiue, Ultra Nate, N-Trance, Baby D, Rozalla, Livin’ Joy, Ultrabeat, Julie McKnight and more.

90s Baby is also set to take over the AO Arena this October, with another nostalgic line-up of Blue, Peter Andre and Five.

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90s Baby is promising a day of ‘beaming smiles as you forget your woes and head back to the worry free days of your youth’.

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They say there’ll be ‘sing-a-longs, catchy choruses and earworm melodies’ all day.

The 90s Baby Festival will take place at Manchester City Airport on 16 July 2023.

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Find out more and look out for tickets at jbmmusic.com.

Featured image: Publicity picture

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Manchester rapper Aitch is doing a charity skydive for Down Syndrome awareness

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Aitch is to brave a whopping 15,000ft free fall as he takes on a charity skydive in the name of Down Syndrome awareness.

You may remember that the chart-topping rapper – real name Harrison Armstrong, who proudly hails from Moston in North Manchester – became an ambassador of the Down’s Syndrome Association (DSA) back in October last year in honour of his sister Gracie, who has Down Syndrome.

The 23-year-old’s role as an ambassador came after he made a generous donation from the budget of his music video for his track ‘My G’ – which is dedicated to his little sister, affectionately known as ‘G’ – to the charity, with the rapper describing the song as the most important track on his debut album, Close to Home.

Aitch said at the time of becoming an ambassador that there was “nothing more important in the world” to him than Gracie, and that’s why the role meant so much to him.

And now, he’s taking his support one step further – and a big step at that.

As this week is Down Syndrome Awareness Week here in the UK, the BRIT Award-winner has decided to take the leap and will be bravely free falling in tandem with an instructor from a plane that’s 15,000ft above the ground this month, all to show just how important Gracie is to him and his family.

Down Syndrome Awareness Week aims to raise awareness about what Down Syndrome is, what it means to have Down Syndrome, and how people who have Down Syndrome play a vital role in our lives and communities.

Aitch will be skydiving alongside his Dad, and successful influencer and former Love Island contestant, Joanna Chimondes – who is also an ambassador for the charity.

“I’m buzzing to jump out of a plane for World Down Syndrome Day,” Aitch said.

“My Dad will be doing it with me, and we’ll be raising awareness for a cause that’s close to me and my family”.

Carol Boys – Chief Executive of the DSA – says that she’s “extremely grateful” to Aitch for agreeing to take on such a big challenge, adding: “Aitch has already done a fantastic job of raising awareness and understanding of Down Syndrome among his fans and followers.

“But to actually jump out of a plane to raise money to help us continue our vital work, is just amazing.”

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Aitch has set up a dedicated JustGiving fundraising page for his skydive, and you can find out more and make a donation here.

Featured Image – DSA

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Up-and-coming musicians in Manchester to take over Band on the Wall for FREE shows this month

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

There’ll be three nights of gorgeous new music taking place across Manchester this month, as the students of Spirit Studios have their degree show. 

Up-and-coming talent from the renowned music education provider will take to the stage at the much-loved Band on the Wall and at Spirit Studios itself – and the gigs are totally free. 

Spread over three evenings, the degree show will include DJ sets, performances, and immersive audio-visual experiences and soundscapes. 

Those showing off their skills have come from the studio’s Electronic Music Production and Performance and Music Production degree courses.

The final year students have been tasked with creating and producing music to show to a public audience as part of their major project. 

Spirit Studios
Spirit Studios. Credit: Supplied

The gigs at both Band on the Wall and Spirit Studios are free to attend, and will take place on 22, 24 and 29 March. 

The first event at Band on the Wall will be an evening of live music and DJ sets, spanning indie, hip-hop, EDM and drum and bass. 

Then on Friday 24 March, the degree show will head over to Spirit Studios, just past Piccadilly, where guests can explore a range of sound installation, soundscapes, and multi-genre live performances in their very own studios and live venue.

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The final installment of the Spirit Studios degree show will be back at Band on the Wall, where students will showcase a journey of everything they’ve learnt throughout their degrees. 

Spirit Studios was established in 1980 as a small creative community of experienced tutors in the heart of Manchester, teaching talented students sound engineering and music production. 

As well as degrees, there are other industry and short courses, and the studios and facilities on site can be hired for commercial purposes.

You can find out more here. 

Featured image: Supplied

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