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There are free live music sets taking place all over Manchester city centre this week — here’s where to find them

They're part of a new music festival and conference that hits Manchester this Wednesday.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 10th October 2023

As part of the brand-new global music conference and festival called Beyond The Music, which finally lands this Wednesday, a whole host of live music sets will be taking place in the city this week and, the best part is: they’re all free.

Looking to strike a chord with shoppers, tourists and mere passers-by with a number of pop-ups, including a live music stage in Exchange Square, the main hub at Manchester Central and several local hotels, the city-wide event is completely free to attend and is happening this Thursday and Friday.

The series of special one-off Beyond The Music performances are being brought to the general public with the help of Manchester’s Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID), and the likes of local music collective, The Untold Orchestra, who’ll be headlining the main live stage.

The line-up will celebrate Manchester as the iconic music city that it is, home not only to the likes of Oasis, The Smiths, Blossoms and Aitch, but also world-renowned professional orchestras such as The Halle and BBC Philharmonic.

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Big Society
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The Untold Orchestra
Credit: Supplied

The classical music programme will sit alongside the traditional rock and electronic music acts at the festival as the event seeks to promote Manchester’s hugely diverse music culture and heritage.

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The live music stage is being programmed by Manc orchestra, The Untold Orchestra, a full seven-piece band who are focused on changing the reputation surrounding orchestras and who they are for.

Putting on shows celebrating everyone from Nina Simone, David Bowie and to Drake and local hip-hop acts, as well as hosting creative projects with different artists and communities across Manchester, collaboration is at the centre of what they do. 

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Ahead of their busy season of winter shows, workshops and highly anticipated charity launch, The Untold Orchestra x Beyond The Music takeover highlights the original music and poetry of some of the orchestra’s members and collaborators in an afternoon demonstrating again, how much great music there is in Manchester. 

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Mali Hayes

A total of seven performances will take place on the live music stage in Exchange Square from 12 noon until 7pm on Friday, 13 October, kicking off with smaller ensembles before closing with a full band. The line-up is as follows:

  • 12pm — Indie pop trio, Big Society
  • 1pm — Solo loop cello, Polly Virr
  • 2pm — R&B duo, Mali Hayes
  • 3pm — Five spoken word poets: Esther Koch, Funmi Adeyo, Jack Coverdale & Reneé Stormz
  • 4pm — Electronic pop and soul vocalist, Ellen Beth Abdi
  • 5pm — Electronic pop and soul artist, Yemi Bolatiwa
  • 6.15pm — The Untold Orchestra playing well-known hits, featuring Jenna G and Will Jacquet

Each performance will be around 40 minutes long and, as mentioned, the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District has also commissioned a ‘Dawn Chorus’, where a series of intimate classical performances will be carried out in the foyers of six Manchester hotels on Thursday.

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Hotel visitors staying at the Hyatt Regency, The Midland, Moxy, Yotel, Leonardo Hotel Manchester
Central and the Kimpton Clocktower will be treated to a series of very special shows performed by students from our proud music studies institution, the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM).

Whether they know it or not, guests will be woken up by beautiful performances that will take place between 8-10am at the Hyatt Regency and Midland, and from 9-11am at all other venues. Not a bad way to start the morning.

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As for anyone who’s interested in Beyond The Music Festival proper, the brand-new music series kicks off this Wednesday (11 October) and is set to be quite the collection of shows.

Boasting over 150 different up-and-coming artists from the Greater Manchester area and beyond, playing at 11 different independent venues around the city until Saturday, 14 October — we’re talking Castle Hotel, Band on the Wall, The Peer Hat and more — this new festival is going to make a splash.

You can still grab your tickets to enjoy the latest Manchester festival on top of the free live music sets down below:

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

Featured Image — Supplied

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Free Glastonbury-themed festivals with pizza, tequila, and big screens to take place in Greater Manchester

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Glastonbury weekend is upon us, and to celebrate the UK’s biggest music festival in all its glory, Nell’s is hosting its own festivals instead.

Hundreds of thousands of people will be making the trek to the fields of Worthy Farm next weekend, as Glastonbury 2025 headliners Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young, and The 1975 bring the tunes, alongside a list of other talented names too big to even begin starting to reel off – as is always the case with Glastonbury, there’s something for everyone.

But for those of us not lucky enough to have bagged tickets to what is undeniably the biggest event in the British music calendar, not to worry, as Nell’s is where it’s at here in Greater Manchester.

The beloved New York-style pizza specialists – which now has four sites across the region – is turning two of its most popular restaurants into festival hubs next weekend, bringing all the spirit of Glastonbury to Kampus and Altrincham.

Manchester‘s thriving canalside neighbourhood Kampus will become home to the aptly-named Kampus Fest, while over in the Trafford town of Altrincham, Alty Fest will be in full force.

Nell’s is hosting its own FREE Glastonbury-themed festivals at Kampus and in Altrincham / Credit: Supplied

At Kampus, the gardens will be transformed into a city centre festival site for a free three-day party featuring big screens live streaming the full Glastonbury festival throughout, plus a pop-up market, face painting and hair tinsel stations, an outdoor tequila and margarita bar, happy hours, and of course, lots and lots of Nell’s pizza.

Altrincham is bringing you much of the same – the same big screens, the same tasty pizza slices, and the same happy hours, only over two days instead of three.

Family fun is also at the heart of both Kampus Fest and Alty Fest, so you can expect lots of crafting workshops and bunting making, accessory customisation stations, as well as all-day colouring sessions by Born to be Wild Child and Søstrene Grene.

Kampus Fest will take over the gardens at Kampus from Friday 27 – Sunday 29 June, while Alty Fest will take place at Nell’s Altrincham on both Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June.

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Both are FREE to attend, so get yourselves down there quick.

Featured Image – Supplied

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Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics is returning to Manchester later this year

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

DJ and radio presenter Pete Tong MBE is making his way back to Manchester with a whole host of guests ready to help you dance the night away.

Known for his live radio shows such as the ‘Essential Mix’ on BBC Radio 1, Tong is bringing back his widely successful Ibiza Classics club night to Manchester with an equally impressive roster of guests.

The ‘Ibiza Classics’ concept originated and debuted back in 2015 with Tong and co. taking on Royal Albert Hall as part of BBC Radio 1’s Proms schedule, paying homage to the island’s infectious anthems.

Since then, the English DJ has built a music event bigger than he could have ever imagined, and this year it’s celebrating a milestone 10-year anniversary tour heading out across the country.

Pete Tong, Jules Buckley and The Essential Orchestra are bringing Ibiza Classics to AO Arena in Manchester.
Pete Tong, Jules Buckley and The Essential Orchestra are bringing Ibiza Classics to AO Arena in Manchester.

Some of Tong’s notable releases include ‘Where’s The Music Gone’ and ‘Apocolypse’, alongside some very respectable dance music artists. He delighted the crowd with this event back in 2023 when he brought Ibiza to Aintree Racecourse.

Other tracks to his name include ‘You Got The Love’ and ‘Time’, both collaborations with Jules Buckley, one of the famous faces you’ll get to see on this special Ibiza Classics tour.

Alongside being a frequent feature on Tong’s hits, Buckley is a well-renowned composer who has worked with the likes of Florence and The Machine, Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys and more.

Pete Tong and Jules Buckley won’t be fronting AO Arena alone either, as they’re also bringing along another familiar group who are often credited alongside the duo, The Essential Orchestra.

This night is expected to be filled with pure dance hits, and based on recent shows, there might even be appearances from even more musical talents and special guests.

Recently, Tong took over the legendary London concert venue Royal Albert Hall, where he brought out Becky Hill, who paid a visit to AO Arena not too long ago herself.

He even invited American-English vocalist Vula, known for hits like ‘Turn Me On (Dr. Love)’, onto the stage, who performed a rendition of Tong’s classic track ‘Good Life’.

Pete Tong, Jules Buckley and The Essential Orchestra are bringing Ibiza Classics to AO Arena on Saturday 6 December with tickets already on sale HERE.

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

Featured Images – Ash Youd/Publicity Pictures (via Supplied)/BBC/radio1interactive (via Flickr)

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