One of our favourite music events in all of Greater Manchester is back after a lengthy hiatus and has found a new place to call home: You Are Not Alone returns for 2025 and is coming to the suburbs.
You Are Not Alone (more casually known as YANA) launched back in 2019 as one of the most affordable live music festivals in years, costing only £10 for a wristband that gave you access to multiple venues and dozens of up-and-coming acts.
Holding a super successful second year post-Covid a few years later, the Manc music festival grew to eight venues in the Northern Quarter and well over 70 artists – again, all for just a tenner and with proceeds going to mental health charity, Mind, whose work is at the core of what the event is all about.
Unfortunately, with founder Benji Taylor having been busy with popular Stockport bar Bask and various other projects, the festival had to take a back seat. But fear not, because after nearly three whole years away, YANA is set to return and now right in the heart of the increasingly buzzing town centre.
Announcing the lineup on Friday, 29 November, while the latest event might by scaled back a bit, now spread across four venues whilst still boasting over 30 different artists, You Are Not Alone Festival will make its comeback next March.
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Names already confirmed to be taking part include headliners Denver County Council, who recently featured on our regular Manc bands of the month round-up, as well independent post-punk favourites outfit Dirty Laces, who have grown a passionate cult following since they formed back in 2017.
Other notable names include fellow Manchester natives, Dr Dr – who we’ve also spotlighted plenty in the past – as well as indie rockers, Uno Mas, rising Stopfordians, The Wears and many more.
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With AMP bar and Syndikat two of the biggest and most beloved venues set to host the live performances and more acts still yet to come, SK locals are already buzzing to welcome the music festival as early bird tickets have already sold out.
Having been there for the last event, we can only hope for the same energy this time around.
Leaving the familiar surroundings of the city behind for the first time, You Are Not Alone Festival is moving as close to home as it could possibly be for Taylor, who recently stepped away from his role at Bask to look after himself following a difficult period.
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Born in Heaton Moor, Benji first set up the event to help raise money for mental health awareness after multiple friends sadly took their own lives. His background in the industry through roles in promotion at the likes of Night and Day, Sound Control and Jimmy’s made starting a festival seem like the perfect fit.
Teaming up with Mind from day one, who have bases not only in Manchester but Stockport too, not only does YANA celebrate music’s ability to bring people together but it also helps raise money for crucial services and awareness campaigns, raising over £4,000 thanks to the sophomore event in 2022.
In an effort to contribute right from the off and get people booking their spot for the comeback, the organisers even offered discount prices for World Mental Health Day on 10 October. Just lovely stuff.
The only thing we love more than a live music festival is one that helps do their bit in the process and we can’t think of a better cause that mental health – it remains a crisis here in the UK and across the globe, but events like this can go along way to making a real change.
Taking place on Sunday, 2 March from 1pm onwards, the multi-venue all-dayer will still only set you back £13.75 for full access to see all the talent on show.
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Should you end up securing a ticket, you’ll find the wrnristband exchange at Blackbird Brewhouse and Kitchen (8 Vernon Street, SK1 1TY), which is another one of provided gig space for You Are Not Alone Festival 2025.
Akon speaks on his connection to Manchester after run of Co-op Live gigs
Danny Jones
Music veteran Akon has recently discussed his connection to our city following his run of live shows here in Manchester.
In fact, he went so far as to say he feels much more affinity here than he does with ‘The Big Smoke’.
The seasoned Senegalese-American rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and humanitarian, teamed up with fellow chart-topper Ne-Yo for not just one, not even two, but three whole nights at Co-op Live this May as part of their co-headline tour across the UK and Ireland.
Chatting with Simone Riley on BBC Radio Manchester before the third and final gig of the trio, Akon admitted that there’s “something about Manchester” that he loves way more than London.
As you can see, while he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly is about it in the North compared to the capital, he said simply that “it’s crazy here”, and he loves it.
Same, mate. Same.
Admitting that he feels “more attached to Manchester than London” and labelling the energy from the crowds as “stupid” up here (he meant it in a good way, we promise), Simone couldn’t help but confess her joy over his comments.
He’s not the only global superstar to have recently shouted out their affection for 0161, either, as Billie Eilish also said something similar.
Speaking to the mainline BBC at the premiere of her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), she said that while the dates lining up were certainly a key factor, there were other reasons why she chose Manchester to film her new movie.
Our Audio North team were also lucky enough to chat with Akon’s touring partner Ne-Yo recently, too, who also had nothing but good things to say about us as a place to play.
As for Akon, the 53-year-old has obviously played here plenty of times over the decades, with last year’s tour being his first return in a decade.
That being said, given how glowingly he’s spoken about us and how popular these joint performances were, we reckon it won’t be that long before he comes back.
Last but not least, we obviously couldn’t resist going along to at least one of the nights for ourselves; listen to what we had to say about the tour in our full review down below.
Antony Szmeirek announces second album along with biggest UK tour dates yet
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester spoken word artist Antony Szmeirek has finally revealed the name, cover art and release date for his second album, along with his biggest run of UK tour dates yet.
The Tameside teacher turned full-time artist dropped his maiden record, Service Station at the End of the Universe, back in February 2025, and now, just over a year on from its launch, he’s getting ready to deliver his highly anticipated follow-up.
Entitled Decoding Birdsong, the sophomore studio project is scheduled for this summer, with a series of live shows booked for the following autumn.
Having already dropped lead single ‘The Heron’ earlier this year, Szmeirek has just released the opener from his upcoming LP, which is simply called ‘Chalk’; he’s also unveiled the rest of the tracklist and a rather striking bit of album artwork.
The Hyde-born artist is making big moves not only within the spoken word space but across multiple genres, with his music blending everything from indie, hip-hop, electronica and more.
His latest song, for instance, is more of an acid-house-esque meets contemporary EDM outing, and has quickly gone down as a popular addition among fans.
On the album name itself, he’s never one to shy away from a weird title or two – case in point, ‘The Great Pyramid of Stockport’ from his debut and ‘Dave’s Angling Superstore’ on this new record.
The 34-year-old carries that same idiosyncrasy throughout his lyricism and creative concepts, as well.
‘Chalk’ is a perfect example of this, as the song is inspired by The Edge of Everything documentary: a film about the career of legendary British snooker player, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Here’s the music video…
As for his latest raft of live shows, these will be some of the biggest domestic gigs that the local lad has played in his career so far.
In addition to a pair of hometown shows here in Manchester, he is set to play a dozen different cities across Great Britain and Ireland.
Antony Szmierek UK/IE tour dates – October 2026
We’ve highlighted the Northern stops for you, too:
Danny Jones -
30th November 2024 
