Green Island is the Manc music festival you’re all missing out on — and it’s in a garden centre
They don't need any promotion, it sells every time without fail — but we're still going to shout about it anyway because you NEED to get a ticket to this thing.
We’ll be completely honest, we didn’t quite know what to expect when we first stepped foot into Green Island Festival back in June of this year; a festival in the middle of a community garden centre, who the hell put those two things together?
Believe us when we tell you we were by no means prepared for how much of a good time we ended up having after going along for our first visit and we can now confidently say we’ll be going along again.
For those of you who have never heard anything about Green Island Fest, that’s about as close to ‘does what it says on the tin’ as you can get with these kinds of things: every year, Hulme Community Garden Centre turns into this almost tropical island of music, dancing, food, drink, plants and so much more.
Now held over a trio of dates every summer since 2021, the annual festival takes over what is a beloved community and cultural institution down the road in Hulme and turns into almost a small-scale Glasto set amongst a green space just outside the city. It’s simply unlike anything we’ve ever been to before.
One of the first things that struck us about this festival as we walked into the venue, besides the abundance of colour and greenery — something that gave us an instance dose of happiness to start off the day — was, with the best will in the world, how almost casually thrown together a lot of it felt.
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There were no big queues, barriers or large signs segmenting each section or stage, you just kind of strolled into this sun-soaked and extremely wholesome-looking party already in full swing and, fittingly, felt like you were being led down the garden path into a different world.
A table here and a tent there, people just sitting on a log, a patch of grass or even a bed of chamomile where you could rest your head and relax as you gazed up at the blue sky, everything felt a little bit slapdash in the best kind of way, somehow putting us at ease and exciting us at the same time.
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One of the parts we often dread about festivals is the organisation: getting there and navigating the event once you’re inside. While we know a lot of planning goes into making Green Island as wonderful as it is, it feels very free-form and spontaneous — always the recipe for the very best nights, in our opinion.
Fun for all the family (no, really)
And then there was the crowd, which was a wonderful mix of all different ages, cultures and backgrounds. We were told that this was a family-friendly event, but we really didn’t expect to see a dad with a child wearing ear defenders strapped to his chest as they laughed and danced along to baby’s first rave.
Turn one corner and you’d find people dancing to the wide variety of live music, but turn the next and you’d see kids playing, potting plants with their parents and dancing along with all the grown-ups. We weren’t joking about the wholesomeness, it was genuinely one of the cutest things we’ve ever seen.
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It was also completely accessible, meaning people with wheelchairs and mums pushing prams had no problem coming along to enjoy themselves. In fact, we had two new parents with and we’re pretty sure they had an even better time than we did — those customisable cocktails and Midori dumplings was all they needed (get the paloma, trust us).
Even more charming was the fact that you’d occasionally see someone pushing a wheelbarrow past or doing some pruning in a greenhouse and it was at that point that we realised that the garden centre itself was running as usual and hadn’t shut down to make room for the festival. They’re one and the same.
A stage for all seasons and the nightime transformation
Now, you can’t talk about Green Island Festival without talking about the music itself and let me tell you, we had the BEST time singing and dancing along to pretty much every genre of music you could hope for across it’s three areas: the main stage, the forest stage and the third which hosts a rotation of takeovers.
Teaming up with BBC Introducing and various up-and-coming artists both local and from all across the UK, we got to listen to everything from rap, grime and R&B to indie, ska, funk, soul, techno, house and plenty more. We know it sounds unlikely but we didn’t hear a bad act all day long either, seriously.
If we had to pick a favourite, it would have to be the forest stage which made us feel like we’d been transported to some random disco jungle on the other side of the world and once the sun went down, we might as well have been at The Warehouse Project. It was an absolutely unmatchable vibe.
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And then there was the afterparty over at Canvas which ran until late and we’re not going to spoil for you, but all you need to know is that we had an amazing time and never wanted it to end. To be honest, that would be our main takeaway from the festival as a whole, we’ve genuinely become its biggest fans.
From the folks at Seven Brothers slinging drinks across the multiple bars, the independent food traders serving burritos, butties and plenty of other top scran, to the staff at Hulme Garden centre’s in-house Cafe Sorrel, everyone working at this thing helped make it a truly special event
And the best part is, this year’s event isn’t even over yet…
There might not be many tickets left for Volume II on Saturday, 29 July, but you can always try and grab one for the third and final day of Green Island Festival 2023 HERE.
We’ll see you there for nothing but good times and greenery!
Sterephonics frontman Kelly Jones reveals that Noel Gallagher is back in the studio
Danny Jones
Stereophonics lead singer Kelly Jones has graciously revealed to music fans that new Gallagher tunes could be on the way, as he confirmed that Noel has been back in the studio and working on new material.
The big question is, has Liam been in there with him?…
Broken rather nonchalantly in an interview with NME, Jones didn’t so much let the news slip as much as he seemingly just casually dropped it into conversation, mentioning that he bumped into the older Gallagher brother recently.
As he puts it – frustratingly briefly, might we add (sorry, fanaticism will do that to you) – the Oasis icon and High Flying Birds frontman has been doing some songwriting, but the details were scarce.
The 50-year-old ‘Phonics frontman, who was discussing the release of their 13th studio album as well as his own solo project last year, was asked his thoughts on the legendary Britpop band’s upcoming reunion shows and the impact they had on his own career.
“Funnily enough, I found some old pictures of me and Noel rehearsing when he used to have a studio down in Windsor recently, just before we toured America”, said Jones. “We were having a laugh about them and I asked him what he’d been up to and he said he’d been doing some writing in the studio.
The unmistakable Welsh vocalist went on to add: “I’m assuming he’s doing some writing for either his stuff or if they’re [Oasis] gonna bring out a couple songs, I don’t know.”
It seems the pair are still more than friendly, though he gave little away about his relationship with Liam Gallagher; the two British rock groups did share somewhat of a rivalry in the 90s and 2000s, with Stereophonics making no secret of Oasis inspiring their own music.
Describing the band in their heyday, Jones described the period “kind of chaotic and mayhem but it was all very joyous”, insisting that things are very different nowadays but that he is not the less excited than a whole new generations of fans are going to be able to see them live for the first time
As for whether he and his bandmates will be able to find the time, he revealed in a subsequent chat live on Radio X that their own tour clashes may mean they’ll miss out on the Live ’25 tour experience.
Further reflecting on the age of streaming, content overload and what some would argue is an overabundance of media, Kelly said of art and music in particular that “people need it now more than they’ve needed it in a long time.”
We don’t know whether or not Noel’s return to songwriting is for the next High Flying Birds record or whether the rumours are true and new Oasis music really is on the way.
As much as we love his solo stuff, PLEASE let it be the latter.
We do know that the siblings are said to be getting on swimmingly so far and even spent some of the Easter break together, according to LG himself. Here’s hoping they were throwing around ideas for another instant hit.
An old indie favourite is heading back to Manchester for a ‘Best Of Tour’ at a brilliant venue
Danny Jones
Time to roll back the years as old-school indie favourite The Pigeon Detectives are coming back to Manchester for a special show at one of the most stunning venues in the city.
We swear, if we could find our old iPod, their tracks would still be all over it.
Coming back to another part of the North that always showed them plenty of love, The Pigeon Detectives will be playing a special ‘The Best of Tour’ in line with their latest record, Still Not Sorry.
The Manc gig comes as the Yorkshire lads announced just six UK headline sets to support the album release, but let’s be honest, they were never going to skip 0161, were they?
UK TOUR! NEW RECORD! On Sale Friday 2nd May, but get pre-sale NOW when you buy a best of record (with 3 new tracks) or t-shirt from here: https://t.co/a1q44LYbD6 see you in Autumn! pic.twitter.com/HWA9ITS9Ii
— The Pigeon Detectives (@pigeonsofficial) April 25, 2025
With only half a dozen domestic dates confirmed so far, including the likes of Manchester, a homecoming night in Leeds and up in Glasgow, this really does feel like a return that long-standing fans won’t want to miss.
The new LP, which is a greatest hits compilation featuring the very best tracks from their discography that stretches over two decades, drops next month and we’re very ready to pump some adolescent nostalgia into our ears.
And best of all, they’ll be playing all the cult favourite Pigeon Detectives tracks at the simply stunning New Century Hall, marking just their second visit to the venue.
Boasting the food and beer hall downstairs as the ideal pre-gig location, not to mention a sprung dancefloor and those iconic, mesmerising lights, it’s a nigh on perfect space for live music.
We’re not exaggerating when we say we’ve had some of our best gigs in recent memory here.
Speaking in a lengthier statement on social media, the boys from Rothwell wrote: “If a band is lucky (and hardworking, and fairly decent at what they do!) there comes a time in their career when they realise that the journey they started as mates messing about on guitars has culminated in a hefty bunch of songs that people actually care about and connect with!
“At this point, the only logical next step is to take a breath, reflect back through the archives and assemble a ‘Best Of’ album. We’ve reached that point, Pigeon Heads!”
They describe the project as a collection of songs and memories that chart their career from their humble beginnings in Leeds to their “adventures around the globe”, where they have been fortunate enough to “some of the biggest stages on the planet.”
“As a band it’s always felt like we had to do things the hard way, even with an amazing set of supportive fans”, they go on to add, “but we just kept on writing songs, kept on playing gigs and kept on being The Pigeon Detectives. Us against the world. We weren’t sorry then, and we’re Still Not Sorry now!”
Maybe it’s our age showing but those last few lines alone have got us feeling all teary-eyed.
Danny Jones -
22nd July 2023 
