Plans for a massive music-filled takeover of Manchester have been announced ahead of 1.3 million tourists descending on the city centre this summer.
It comes as no surprise that this summer is set to be a big one for music in Manchester.
Parklife weekend has just been and gone, but in 2025, the fun is far from over, as there will be countless global megastars taking to the stage at some of our city’s biggest music venues, such as Co-op Live and the AO Arena, over the next couple of months, and there’s also the Sounds of the City concert series to look forward to at Castlefield Bowl, as well as a handful of Wythenshawe Park gigs.
Oh, and in case you’ve been living under a rock, there’s also the small matter of Manchester’s most legendary band, Oasis, reforming for a run of gigs at Heaton Park next month too.
Sure, Manchester is big for music all year round, but as you can imagine, 2025 is set to be bigger than ever, which is why Manchester City Council has now announced its very-own musical takeover called MCR Live ’25 to help celebrate what promises to be a sensational summer of sound.
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On the setlist: 🎸 A star-studded guitar trail, courtesy of Wild In Art 🛍️ Pop-up markets to explore 🎡 A festival bar to soak up the summer vibes 🥳 And much, much more!
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) June 12, 2025
There’ll be everything from a pop-up bar in Piccadilly Gardens with surprise live acts doing sets, and markets in St Peter’s Square selling vinyl and vintage goods, to block parties in the Northern Quarter, and the already-announced Music for the Senses art trail dotted around all the well-known city centre sights.
The Piccadilly Gardens space, known as The Hub, is designed to be the ‘basecamp’ for Manchester’s music tourists, and will be an easy place to drink at the bar, sample some of the best street food in the North West, catch surprise acts and DJ takeovers on the outdoor stage, or bring the family along during the day for some music-inspired fun.
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If you head to St Peter’s Square, this is where you’ll find the pop-up markets running alongside Oasis’ legendary homecoming gigs, which will bring together local makers, artists, and indie traders for a celebration of sound, style, and city pride.
A massive music-filled takeover is planned as 1.3m tourists descend on Manchester this summer / Credit: David Oates Photography
Several ‘block parties’ will be taking over the Northern Quarter on selected Fridays and Saturdays in both June and July, so it’s your chance to head on down to Edge Street and Thomas Street and take in all the action happening over two stages – with DJs and live acts playing throughout the day.
There’ll also even be an ‘Oasis Week’ at Manchester Central Library, with legendary Supernova live sets, Gallagher look-alike competitions, a Big Oasis Quiz, Supersonic film screenings, and so much more.
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But the stand-out event has to be the art trail, which is titled Music for the Senses: an art arrangement for a musical city, running across the city centre from early July until the end of August, and is a collaboration between global art producer Wild in Art – the creators of the famous Bee in the City project – and the Council.
There’ll be pop-up bars, music markets, block parties, and loads more dotted around the city / Credit: MCC
At the heart of the exhibition will be an interactive installation called ‘Guitar Street’ created by Manchester artist Liam Hopkins, known as Lazerian, which will lovingly repurpose 100+ broken guitars, all donated by members of the public.
“We’re already known the world over for the music we make and for our unrivalled music scene, and this summer we’re going all out with MCR Live ’25 to harness the moment and celebrate the massive contribution that music makes to the city,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the leader of Manchester City Council.
You can find out everything happening for MCR Live ’25 on the VisitManchester website here.
Of course, the annual Manchester Day celebrations will also be back and taking over the city centre’s main streets on Saturday 26 July too, and this year, that’s also music-themed… because why wouldn’t it be? It makes sense.
A beloved Manc gig venue is hosting a special afterparty following Manichester tribute festival
Danny Jones
A much-loved live music institution in Manchester is set to host a dedicated afterparty for the inaugural ‘Manichester’: the live tribute festival in memory of Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield.
Seeing the grassroots music scene gathering together in moments like this is the kind of stuff that would make the man himself SO proud.
With Manichester 2026 announced this past March and set to take place later this month in honour of the legendary Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist, tickets for the main event sold out very quickly.
This came as no surprise, of course, but now other Manc venues are joining in toasting the life and career of Mani for one very special evening.
Shared by Madchester.com, who are helping organise the Manichester ’26 along with surviving members of the Mounfield family, as well as Mani’s friends and peers such as his brother Greg and Damon Minchella of Ocean Colour Scene, gig space Gorilla are hosting it.
The small-cap live music room, bar and restaurant has hosted many a special night over the past decade or so – hosting multiple War Child charity shows in the past few years, for instance – and even when they’re not hosting a set themselves, they’re always more than happy to join in the celebrations.
With that in mind, there always likely to pay their respects to the late, great and iconic local musician in some way, but now they’re teaming up with Madchester directly.
Positioned as the official ‘aftershow’ following the mini tribute festival, as you can see, there will be just 600 tickets available, with general admission for the main event already gone as mentioned.
At one point, it looked like the kind-spirited and well-meaning idea might be scrapped altogether after some confusion between the organising partners.
Thankfully, that all looks to have been put to bed, and all those involved can focus on what’s important: honouring Mani in the best way possible – with a load of live tunes and a good time.
In terms of those who will be playing on the night ahead of the aftershow, the likes of the equally legendary Peter Hook, Rowetta, The Kowloons, Jon McClure from Reverend and the Makers, plus many more, have been announced as part of the lineup.
There is also still a ‘AAA’ headliner still yet to be confirmed, so watch this space.
As for the Manichester afterparty at Gorilla, keep an eye out on socials for the ticket link to drop and, hopefully, we’ll see you there for a night to remember.
Rochdale AFC go viral with song choice during promotion party celebrations
Danny Jones
Rochdale AFC are going viral on their return to the Football League, not just because of the remarkable end to their already spectacular season, but over their song choice during the promotion party in the dressing room.
We promise you: even if you haven’t seen it already, you will absolutely love this clip.
For those who haven’t been following their journey over the 25/26 campaign, Rochdale AFC were promoted back to League Two and the EFL proper, after more than a century in the top four divisions came to an end back in 2023.
Thankfully for the Greater Manchester side, who have always served as an important grassroots side throughout the decades, their hiatus wasn’t too long, and scenes inside the Wembley dressing room have been circulating all over social media – especially thanks to the track selection.
— National League on DAZN (@DAZN_NationalLg) May 10, 2026
If Olivia Dean is the artist of the moment, then Rochdale simply have to be one of the teams of the year.
Lifting the National League playoff trophy in the aftermath of a tense 2-2 draw, where the Vallians came back from a two-goal deficit to bring the tie level – thanks to goals from substitute Tyler Smith and Emmanuel Dieseruvwe in the 78th and 96th minute, respectively – you could say they were men in need.
Managing to then survive extra time and make it to penalties, another pair of crucial saves in the shoot-out from starring keeper Oliver Whatmuff, and a decisive miss from Boreham Wood’s Cameron Cox sealed the dramatic win for The Dale.
Breathless stuff.
All that being said, you’d expect some of the usual football-adjacent big win bangers to be heard in the aftermath of a playoff win: ‘Freed From Desire’, chants of ‘We are going up’, ‘Sweet Caroline’ these days, and so on.
But not these lot: they decided to stick on ‘Man I Need’, singing their hearts out and jumping up and down in unison like they were in one of her two recent Manc crowds themselves.
In case you missed it, her Co-op live shows were unsurprisingly incredible, but we’ll admit that seeing a bunch of blokes scream and cheer as they throw drinks in the air and sip suds straight from the shiny cup has definitely added another dimension to our love for this song and the Olivia ‘Deannaissance’.
Not only has the soulful singer-songwriter written one of the best radio hits in recent memory, for our money, but she’s even getting now former non-league footballers choosing her as the soundtrack to their main character moments.
You just love to see it (watch the full highlights HERE).
With Jimmy McNulty’s side having only just narrowly missed out on automatic promotion and the National League crown in that crazy title-decider against fellow entertainers York City, it can’t be denied that they’ve been the other truly box office outfit this term; another late comeback proved it once again.
No side with over 100 points and 90 goals scored should be denied going up and a piece of silverware, which is why, although they’ve been a great advert from the fifth tier, so many are still calling for ‘3UP’. We want more moments like this, please…
Emily Sergeant -
16th June 2025 
