Lockdown restrictions are lifting and the sunshine is out. Summer is definitely getting closer now – and that inimitable festival feelingis finally within reach.
For most of us, raving in a big field with a thumping soundtracks alongside thousands of others is a distant memory – with the vast majority of large-scale events cancelled for well over a year.
But there’s hope for the future – and loads of mint day festivals have been pencilled in to take place in summer 2021 and beyond.
We’ve put together a list of the biggest events up to an hour’s(ish) drive from Greater Manchester. Here are some of our top picks that still have tickets remaining.*
Newsam Park, Temple Newsam, Leeds – Saturday 10 July
The brand-new open-air festival Newsam Park festival was due to take place in July last year – but was cancelled for obvious reasons. They’re having another go on Saturday 10 July with a scaled down version but packed with all the same big-name house and techno DJs.
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On the former site of the Cocoon in the Park festival at Temple Newsham in Leeds, there’ll be two stages featuring the likes of Jamie Jones, Denis Sulta, Sven Vath, Mella Dee and Nightmares on Wax throughout the day.
Acropolis, Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire – Saturday 31 July
Aerial view of the grounds and ruins of Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire / Image: Acropolis
Another new one for 2021 is Acropolis which will make its debut at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire on Saturday 31 July.
The ruins of the castle will provide a moody and atmospheric setting for this techno-fuelled day. Alan Fitzpatrick, Eats Everything, Enzo Siragusa, Pawsa and Manchester’s own Mason Collective are confirmed to play, with support yet to be announced.
Mardi Gras, Roundhay Park, Leeds – Saturday 14 August
Mardi Gras at Leeds’ Roundhay Park is yet another exciting new addition to the 2021 festival calendar on Saturday 14 August.
There’ll be two full-size festival production stages hosting everything from local acts to global names.
The lineup is yet to be announced so keep an eye out for that. Tickets are already running low, get yours on Skiddle here.
Retro In The Park, Burnley – Saturday 28 August
After a bit of nostalgic house music? Burnley’s Retro In The Park festival should do the trick.
On Saturday 28 August, there’ll be three arenas of music at Towneley Park, each with a different vibe.
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The UK’s largest house classics event, Retro, will take over Arena 1, with Roger Sanchez and Graeme Park taking the headline spots.
Some of best 90s artists will be taking the stage over in Arena 2. Think: N-Trance, Nightcrawlers and K-Klass.
Arena 3 will also see the Angels Reunion with Stu Allan, Rob Tissera and Matt Bell.
General admission and VIP are still available on Skiddle here.
Wile Out Festival, Burnley – Sunday 29 August
Again at Burnley’s Towneley Park, Wile Out Festival on bank holiday Sunday is boasting a massive bass and house lineup featuring some huge artists like DJ EZ, Mistajam and James Hype on the main stage, alongside Sigma, Tom Zanetti, Flava D and Bad Boy Chiller Crew at the bass stage.
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Sam Divine, Low Steppa and Huxley will also take on the Cuckoo Land stage to provide the house energy.
People sat around the Highest Point festival sign /Image: Highest Point
Up in Lancaster, across two days on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 September, will be Highest Point.
Following the success of the 2019 weekender, the festival will return for another instalment at Williamson Park later this year.
Friday will see DJ sets from Rudimental and Wilkinson, alongside performances from Becky Hill and Ella Eyre. Then, there’ll be tons more house and tech from the likes of Richy Ahmed, Josh Butler, Seb Zito, Monki and East End Dubs.
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On the Saturday, Rag’N’Bone Man takes the headline slot and there’ll be music from Clean Bandit, plus cracking sets from Hybrid Minds, Friction and Dimension to make up the drum and bass offerings.
Another one just down the M62 in Leeds is Mint festivalon Saturday 25 September.
Now in its tenth year, the festival promises to be the biggest and best edition yet, at its new home of Newsam Green Farm, located just 10 minutes outside the city centre.
There’ll be four arenas of techno, house and tech house which will see Leeds’ faves Patrick Topping, Eats Everything and Darius Syrossian on the decks, alongside Amelie Lens, East End Dubs, Elliot Adamson and Enzo Siragusa.
Sandwell Valley Country Park in the Midlands will play host to the famous elrow on 25 and 26 September.
There’ll be the usual confetti, inflatables and carnival madness and whilst the lineup is yet to be announced, they always curate the biggest and best parties so it’s well worth grabbing a ticket here.
Cream Classical on the Waterfront, Liverpool – Saturday 18 September
Liverpool’s iconic Pier Head will be home to “Cream Classical on the Waterfront” for an open-air event on Saturday 18 September. The show will bring together a 50-piece orchestra who will perform an extra special live set curated by K-Klass.
Between 12pm and 11pm, there’ll be sets from legends Basement Jaxx, Faithless, Seb Fontaine and Tall Paul.
Stay up to date with Manchester music and events with The Manc Audio.
*Tickets available at time of publishing.
Featured image: Elrow
Gigs & Nightlife
Influential indie veterans The Wedding Present to embark on 40th anniversary tour
Danny Jones
Influential indie band The Wedding Present are about to begin a big live tour across the UK for their 40th anniversary, and one stop is right here in Manchester.
As boundary-pushing veterans of the genre for the best part of four decades, The Wedding Present have always been one of the most pioneering auteurs of the Northern music scene, and nothing has changed even after all this time.
The Leeds-formed icons are a favourite not only of ours but even more so among our friends over at The Hoot, and with an artistic legacy as strong as Yorkshire’s, that’s saying something.
David Lewis Gedge’s long-standing project rather quietly announced its major retrospective series of live shows back in June – so quiet, in fact, that we missed it until now – but as they gear up for a handful of very special dates, we’d urge Manc gig-goers to give themselves a Wedding Present.
Gedge and co. will be coming to the O2 Ritz in Manchester for just the second show of merely half a dozen confirmed for The Wedding Present 40th Anniversary Tour, having played the venue many times.
In fact, even after visits featuring live configurations over the years, the current lineup played the Ritz as recently as May 2023; the show was met with strong reviews pretty much across the board, and it seemed to signal somewhat of a falling back in love with the crowds of the North.
For anyone unaware of the self-styled ‘semi-legendary band’ (their PR’s words, not ours), The Wedding Present are probably in similar territory to fellow underdogs and Manc natives, James, when it comes to the amount of music they’ve put out over the years, inspiring generations of those who came after.
You might assume we’d name one of their most famous tracks, ‘George Best’, as our favourite, for rather obvious reasons – but you’d be wrong: it doesn’t get much better than ‘Dreamworld’, if you ask us.
Their rich back catalogue encompasses not only so many different eras but also sounds, styles and various other eccentricities; so much so that their multi-genre-spanning music has even produced its own musical.
But before we dive any deeper down into the rabbit hole, let’s get back on track.
Set to play Manchester on Friday, 10 October, The Wedding Present will be kicking off the tour in Bristol at the start of next month.
There are other dates in the likes of Sheffield, Liverpool, Chester, Holmfirth, Buxton, Newcastle and more, but only a few are officially part of the anniversary tour.
Tickets are live as we speak, so if you fancy going along to see them, you can grab yours HERE.
Lewis Capaldi at Co-op Live Manchester – tickets, setlist, support and more
Daisy Jackson
Lewis Capaldi will be hitting the stage in Manchester this week for two huge sold-out gigs at the Co-op Live arena.
The Scottish singer-songwriter is currently on a sold-out 17-date UK arena tour after a two-year hiatus for his physical and mental health.
The much-loved performer took the decision to step out the limelight after his Glastonbury 2023 performance, where he struggled with his vocals, anxiety, and Tourette’s syndrome as the set went on – with the huge crowd stepping in to sing for him.
Lewis then made a triumphant return earlier this year with a surprise set at Glastonbury, proving he is once again back on top form.
He then released a new single, Survive, which stormed to the top of the UK singles chart, and an arena tour to go with it, adding a second Manchester date due to phenomenal demand.
His single Someone You Loved remains the most-streamed song in the UK, even seven years after its release. Us Brits love him.
Lewis Capaldi will be performing at Co-op Live on both Saturday and Sunday night this week, and we’ve rounded up all your essential info below.
And if you miss him this time, he’s just announced an outdoor summer show at Wythenshawe Park next year, tickets for which go on sale HERE on Friday 19 September.
Tickets for Lewis Capaldi at Co-op Live
Lewis Capaldi. Credit: Alexandra Gavillet
Did we mention that people really love Lewis Capaldi? So yeah, the show is fully sold out on both Ticketmaster and See Tickets.
However, you can still get through the doors by booking a VIP or hospitality package with Seat Unique, which are on sale HERE.
Your best bet at getting your hands on a pair of general admission tickets now will be to keep an eye out for resale tickets, but make sure you’re using a reputable resale site.
Face value ticket prices ranged from £32.10 up to £113.25 for seats, with standing tickets also coming in at £113.25 with fees.
Support acts
Lewis Capaldi has lined up a pair of excellent supports for his tour, including his Co-op Live shows in Manchester.
His main support act will be Skye Newman, a rising star singer-songwriter from South East London, who you probably know from her hit debut single Hairdresser and its top-five follow-up single, Family Matters.
Also warming up the crowds will be Aaron Rowe, an Irish musician with a hell of a voice who’s inspired by American soul legends as well as British bands like The Stone Roses and Oasis.
What are the stage times for Lewis Capaldi at Co-op Live?
Exact stage times haven’t been announced yet but we do know that general admission doors open at 6.30pm, and the show is set to start at 7.30pm.
That should mean Aaron Rowe will be on first, followed by Skye Newman around 8.15pm, and Lewis likely to start his show around 9pm.
If any official stage times get announced, we’ll update this article.
Lewis Capaldi setlist
The below is the setlist Lewis has been using for most of his shows so far.
Survive
Grace
Heavenly Kind of State of Mind
Forever
Wish You the Best
Love the Hell Out of You
Almost
Bruises
Pointless
Something in the Heavens
Leave Me Slowly
Forget Me
The Pretender
The Day That I Die
Before You Go
Encore
How I’m Feeling Now
Hold Me While You Wait
Someone You Loved
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue,e but this must be pre-booked ahead of time and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU, and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will vary, obviously:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes via the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Hannah Starkie -
4th June 2021 
