Manchester grungers, hardcore heads, and fans of all things rock, pay attention because there is a brand new festival coming to the city centre – and it has possibly the best name for a live music event we’ve heard in some time.
Ahem… let us introduce you to Broken Knees Fest.
Yes, donning a name that feels increasingly more relatable the closer we get to the wrong side of 30, Broken Knees Festival 2025 marks the inaugural edition of Manchester’s newest series of rock and grunge gigs, helping spotlight rising artists across the genres from within two crucial grassroots venues.
Very loud music inside tightly-packed, small-capacity rooms? It’s a winning formula that never fails. It’s about time we broke a sweat – here’s hoping the knees just about hold out.
Hosted in the heart of the Northern Quarter, which continues to thrive as a creative hub for new music and art of all forms, the festival will be debuting at small-cap favourites Gullivers and Castle Hotel just across the road.
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As you can see, the lineup is full of up-and-coming talent within the guitar-driven space, but you can bank on more than a few bringing their die-hard fans to fill the place out to the rafters.
It doesn’t matter if you prefer punk, hardcore, grunge or another specific sub-genre found somewhere in between the ever-sprawling rock spectrum, there’s something to suit all alternative tastes at this one.
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With the likes of Bohmen, Mavis, One Dimensional Creatures and Smother headlining the first-ever iteration of the festival across four stages, you can expect plenty of energy and even more noise.
Set up by the events group of the same name, Broken Knees Promotions, who help platform rock and alt acts across Greater Manchester and beyond year-round, this is more than just a festival: it’s a grassroots celebration through and through.
Best of all, if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait long because it’s kicking off next month.
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Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)
Broken Knees Fest 2025 is happening on the weekend of 21-22 June, and you’ll be glad to hear that, as a brand new event, prices have been kept nice and low.
The early bird window had prices starting from just £12, and although this tier has now sold out, day tickets are still only £15 while a full weekend pass will set you back £25.
Until then, why not dive into another load of new Manchester music? We round up artists from all genres each month; we’ll also confess to leaning slightly more towards the heavier stuff from time to time.
Inspiring new 360° immersive David Bowie experience to open in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Music lovers will get a glimpse inside the mind of a creative genius when a new immersive experience opens later this year.
Factory International has this week announced its programme of events for the upcoming autumn-winter season, and by far one of the stand-outs on the list has to be the return of Lightroom for a new 360° experience called David Bowie: You’re Not Alone – which is set to immerse audiences in the iconic performances and creative mind of one of the world’s most visionary and influential artists.
Bringing together a wealth of visual material from a wide range of sources, the experience combines rare performance footage, photography, drawings, lyrics, personal notes, and audio recordings from the late Bowie himself.
You’re Not Alone will showcase some of Bowie’s landmark performances that redefined popular culture, using a mix of iconic, rarely seen, and even never-before-exhibited material.
Selected from thousands of hours of film in the vaults of the David Bowie Archive in New York, you can expect to see everything from Space Oddity and Diamond Dogs, through to Heroes, Black Star, and more.
Each track has been newly reconfigured by multiple Olivier and Tony award-winning sound designer, Gareth Fry, to utilise Lightroom’s specialised spatial audio system.
The 360° experience is set to be both a multimedia spectacle and an intimate self-portrait in one, giving audiences a unique insight into Bowie’s perspective on the subjects that were most important to him, like theatricality, spirituality, songwriting, and the transformative power of creativity.
David Bowie: You’re Not Alone is being made in close collaboration with, and has been authorised by, the David Bowie Estate.
It’ll run at Aviva Studios from 8 December 2026 through to 10 January 2027.
Featured Image – Supplied
Audio
Parklife has quietly added a major DJ set from Happy Mondays’ Bez
Daisy Jackson
Parklife has quietly added a DJ set from Bez this afternoon, joining an already stacked festival line-up.
Eagle-eyed users of the Parklife app (aka, us) have spotted that as the big weekend nears, a few new stages have popped up on the plans.
And that’s included a new Beatbox Stage, which on Saturday will host a mega set from the icon that is Bez, from Happy Mondays.
Bez isn’t the only nostalgic name who’s been added to the line-up for Saturday – the Beatbox Stage will also host a set from Artful Dodger.
The 2000s garage icons will be taking to the stage at 3pm for a set that will hopefully include their massive hits like Moving Too Fast, Re-Rewind (with Craig David), and Woman Trouble.
On Sunday, the newly-added Beatbox Stage will be hosting DJ Fat Tony, who you might know for getting stuck into the middle of the Beckham family feud – but he’s also one of the most in-demand A-list DJs, having spun for icons like Madonna, Prince, and Elton John.
Parklife has also quietly added a few secret sets to the bill, which we’ll be keeping a close eye on.
They join existing Parklife headliners including Calvin Harris, Zara Larsson, Chris Stussy, Sammy Virji, Skepta, and East End Dubs.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June, thousands of music-lovers will be flocking to the fields of Heaton Park ready for this year’s instalment of Parklife.
Danny Jones -
28th May 2025 
