Parklife is, hands down, the biggest party of the year in Manchester, luring tens of thousands of music-lovers to Heaton Park for two days of live music.
This year’s is shaping up to be the biggest in years, with huge headline slots from Charli XCX and 50 Cent, plus festival favourites like Bicep, Pawsa and Confidence Man.
With just a few weeks to go, festival-goers will be deep in their Parklife prep, whether it’s planning how to get there or what to wear all weekend.
Parklife is now releasing plenty of information about this year’s festival, including VIP upgrades, travel passes, and a few changes to the festival site, including new stages.
So we’ve rounded up a load of essential information you’ll need if you’re heading to the fields of Heaton Park.
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When is Parklife 2025 and what times?
Parklife 2025 will be taking place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June, at Heaton Park.
Parklife gates open from midday on Saturday 14 and 1pm on Sunday 15 June. On both days the event finishes at 11pm.
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Last entry to Parklife is strictly 5pm.
Who’s on the line-up for Parklife 2025?
It’s a whopping year for the Parklife line-up, pulling in two huge headliners – artist of the moment Charli XCX, and hip-hop heavyweight 50 Cent.
Next up will be performances from incredible talent like soul singer Jorja Smith, Parklife favourite Peggy Gou, Pawsa, Bicep, Overmono, Confidence Man, Hybrid Minds, Rudimental, and Chris Stussy.
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There’ll also be slots for Mancs like Interplanetary Criminal, Antony Szmierek, and Morgan Seatree.
Sadly, one of the hottest names on the bill, Lola Young, has pulled out of the festival this year, but it’s still shaping up to be a massive weekend.
You can see the full Parklife line-up below.
How to get tickets, and ticket prices
Tickets for Parklife are still on sale, with decent availability for most ticket types – but they’re selling fast as the festival gets nearer and nearer.
Below are the prices for the main ticket options.
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Weekend tickets – £164.45 each
VIP weekend tickets – £218.90 each
Saturday day tickets – £95.20 each
VIP Saturday day tickets – £137.50 each
Sunday day tickets – £95.20 each
VIP Sunday day tickets – £137.50 each
How much is a VIP or Backstage upgrade, and what does it get you?
If you’ve already bought a ticket but want to upgrade yourself to VIP, it’s not too late (and speaking from experience, WORTH IT).
You can upgrade your whole weekend to VIP for £72.80 each, or £44.80 each for day tickets.
The Parklife VIP area has jumped across to the other side of the festival site this year and is now right in the heart of the action near the Valley Stage.
From here, you have an exclusive viewing area of the stage, plus exclusive food and drink, priority entry, VIP toilets, a hair and makeup pamper station, and plenty more.
Then there’s a new Backstage ticket type this year, which gets you on-stage access to the Hangar stage, an exclusive viewing area of the Valley Stage, a backstage bar and a chill out area – it’s £165.00 each to upgrade for the weekend.
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How to get to and from Parklife festival 2025, plus travel pass
Parklife takes place up at Heaton Park, so it’s a little way out of the city centre – but it’s a doddle to make your way up to the fields.
The festival still advises using the dedicated shuttle bus to get there and back, which is the quickest and easiest route.
The shuttle bus leaves from Lever Street in the Northern Quarter and will drop you right outside the festival site within about 30 minutes.
Alternatively, you can get a Bee Network tram to Bowker Vale or Heaton Park tram stops, and walk up to the gates.
As for getting home, buses will operate from early evening until everyone has safely left the festival site.
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Trams will operate on their normal schedule but note that Heaton Park station closes at 9pm on both evenings, so that crowds can be safely managed at Bowker Vale instead.
There’s a special Parklife Travel Pass that allows you to travel on any bus or tram service including the shuttle bus – it’s £8 per day, or £14 for the weekend, and is available on the Bee Network app.
Parklife 2025 festival map and stages
There are some big changes on site at Parklife this year – including The Parklife Stage disappearing altogether.
Now, The Valley will act as the main stage, and there are two brand new stages to check out too.
Both Matinee and Big Top will be new this year.
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Magic Sky will move a bit more centrally into the festival site, while the truly impressive Hangar stage dominates the western side of the event.
And at the top of the hill will be the small but mighty G Stage.
What you can and can’t bring to Parklife 2025
There’s strict security in place getting in and out of Heaton Park for Parklife festival, for everyone’s safety, and a long list of what you can and can’t bring with you.
You can bring your own water bottle on site with refill stations all over Parklife, but it mustn’t be larger than 500ml and can’t be metal.
You can also take sun cream as long as it’s 200ml or less and in original containers, and if the weather goes the other way, compact umbrellas are okay.
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As for the banned list, it includes obvious stuff like alcohol, drugs, knives, aerosols and flares/fireworks, as well as less obvious things like hoverboards and skateboards, hi vis jackets and selfie sticks.
Self Esteem at Manchester Academy – a night of pure energy and immaculate music
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston
A Complicated Woman – the name of Self Esteem’s album she is currently touring around the UK and Europe. While she may be complicated, there is nothing complicated about how absolutely sensational her performance is.
I only “got into” Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) this year. I kept hearing others talk about her and her music but I’d never really given her a listen until we saw the line-up for Glastonbury and saw that she was playing. Her album A Complicated Woman had just come out that April and so that was my introduction, and I immediately became a massive fan.
I was lucky enough to watch her performance at Glastonbury, which brought tears to my eyes for being both an incredible performance and from the themes of each of the songs. When the opportunity then came to see her again but at home in Manchester, I practically bit the promoters hand off.
The energy is palpable at Manchester Academy, everyone is just buzzing with a joyful energy that’s incredibly infectious.
Unfortunately Moonchild Sanelly, the collaborator on ‘In Plain Sight’ and Self Esteem’s support act on this tour, was unwell, so the delightful Tom Rasmussen stepped in at the last minute. Fresh from a family christening and pulling in some last minute pals, he delivers a delightfully camp and moving performance, getting everyone pumped up.
The lights go down at 9pm and the audience are met with a wall of Handmaids, and then Rebecca walks out on stage to a huge eruption from the crowd. Her fans (myself included) clearly love her. She opens with ‘I Do And I Don’t Care’ which brings a tear to my eye once again.
This is more than just a ‘gig’. It is a full, theatrical performance with dancing and storytelling the whole way through. Whilst Taylor is very clearly the focus, her team of performers are an essential element of the whole show and are so much more than just simple backing singers and dancers. They’re so in sync with each other and there is so much joy on stage as they perform together – a very clear bond ripples through with such love.
The show flows almost as different ‘Acts’, with the running order not following the album order itself, with a mix of songs from her current album and the 2021 album ‘Prioritise Pleasure’. ‘Mother’ gets the crowd grinding away as she moves onto ‘Lies’ and ‘69’ – which always gets a chuckle from the crowd.
We are fixated on her, she just draws you in and holds you there throughout the whole performance. Nobody is shifting around to go to the loo or get a beer, everyone is just glued to their spot and basking in her sensational energy. Despite some of the themes of the songs throughout the gig, everyone is just abuzz with energy.
When ‘Fucking Wizadry’ comes on, every single person sings (or screams) along, and Taylor and her onstage posse absolutely lap it up.
With Moonchild Sanelly being unwell during our performance, when ‘In Plain Sight’ is performed, Self Esteem still moves to the side of the stage when the recording of Moonchild is played, giving space to where she would have been. Hopefully she is feeling better for her further performances because her presence would have been a powerful addition to the song and I’m gutted to have not experienced it.
When ‘Cheers To Me’ comes on, the party has really begun and the audience go absolutely mad for it when the inflatable men (like the ones you see at car garages wobbling around and waving you in) appear. It is honestly so hard to describe the feeling of euphoric joy that is just blasting through the crowd – it is a sight and sensation to behold.
Now you may or may not know, but Self Esteem is personal friends with Julie Hesmondhalgh, who appeared on stage on night two of her three-night gig in Manchester. She admits to us that on night one, she forgot that Julie was only doing night two and had shouted to introduce her during ‘If Not Now, It’s Soon’, which had apparently caused a bit of a stir with some of the night one’s audience. Making light of it, she asked if the crowd wanted her to shout Julie Hesmondhalgh again so we all felt equal, which of course, we did.
The show goes from strength to strength, “finishing” with ‘The Deep Blue Okay’ which perfectly encapsulates the raw emotion and talent of Self Esteem. The crowd are beside themselves with cheer as they erupt in applause, deafening just about everyone around them as the stage empties and the lights dim.
Self Esteem returns to stage alone initially, and chats to us about two important charities she is raising money for, the Schools Consent Project which goes into schools and teaches kids about consent; and the other is X, helping to help displaced people through war. She then moves into ‘I Do This All The Time’, joined by her troupe again on stage, and finally finishing on Focus Is Power.
Emotions are incredibly high. There isn’t a single person who hasn’t been moved and hyped by the whole show. Self Esteem is truly a force to be reckoned with, an absolute star and show woman, yet I feel like not enough people know who she is. A hidden gem on display in front of everyone waiting to be noticed, and she should be, because she is absolutely, boneshakingly sensational.
Tickets are still on sale for her show in Sheffield, and you would be absolutely mad to miss her. I will be there, I better see you there too.
Irish singer CMAT postpones sold-out Manchester gig and rest of UK tour ahead of emergency surgery
Emily Sergeant
Acclaimed Irish singer CMAT has been forced to postpone the rest of her current UK tour due to an upcoming emergency surgery.
CMAT – full name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – was due to play a number of sold-out shows at renowned UK venues throughout this month, including one at Manchester Academy this Saturday (4 October).
But sadly, due to unforeseen health-related circumstances, the 29-year-old has had to make the decision to call off the rest of the tour.
Other major UK cities the genre-bending artist was due to play in this month include Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham, and Bristol, as well as the capitals of London and Cardiff.
CMAT has postponed the rest of her sold-outUK tour ahead of emergency surgery / Credit: CMAT (Instagram) | Raph_PH (via Flickr)
Explaining her decision to call off the rest of her UK shows this October, CMAT wrote in an emotional statement on Instagram yesterday: “I am devastated to say that due to an infected wisdom tooth, I need to reschedule all of my upcoming dates of the October UK tour.
“I woke up today with a throbbing pain in my jaw and booked an emergency visit with my dentist. He has booked me in for surgery to remove both lower wisdom teeth next week and given me antibiotics to help with the infection.
“I am told the recovery period for my surgery is two weeks to allow me to heal, with a following short period to allow me get back to full health.
“We are working to reschedule dates and will provide information on this as soon as possible.”
CMAT, who recently just released her third studio album, EURO-COUNTRY, last month to widespread critical acclaim – including being nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize 2025 – assured fans that her team is ‘working hard’ to reschedule the postponed dates and will provide information on this as soon as possible.
“Your ticket will be valid for the rescheduled dates, and if you’re not able to make the new date, please contact your point of purchase for a refund,” she added.
Trying to remain positive and make light of the situation, the singer – who is known for her humour and comedic lyrics – asked fans for ice cream and soup recommendations, as she currently ‘can’t even chew any food for the foreseeable’, let alone talk or sing.
“I realise that this will cause difficulties for so many of you who may have made plans to travel to these dates, and for this I can only say I am so so sorry,” she concluded in her statement.
Featured Image – Raph_PH (via Flickr) / Press shots (Supplied)
Daisy Jackson -
30th May 2025 
