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AJ Handley-Rowe - 10th November 2021

Country 2 Country music festival is coming to Manchester next year

Danny Jones

Country 2 Country music festival Manchester dates tickets 2027

Hold on to your cowboy hats, country fans: the smash-hit Country 2 Country music festival is coming to Manchester.

The massive live music festival specialising in all things country, folk, bluegrass, Americana and more has slowly been expanding its presence across the UK and Ireland over the last decade or so.

Starting in London at the O2 Arena, before hitting the Emerald Isle in 2015 and debuting in Scotland just three years later, it has seen some of the biggest acts from the world of country music cross the Atlantic to show off the Stateside genre, plus plenty from around the globe already immersed in the culture.

We’ll confess, even prior to the official announcement, we had a feeling this was coming when we spotted these posters dotted about in town:

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Like so many of those buzzing in the comments, we cannot wait for this to come around.

With this year’s respective events taking place simultaenously place over the coming weekend, Friday, 13 to Sunday, 15 March, it’s fair to say they’ve timed the news perfectly.

Everyone from established names such as Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, to up-and-coming bands as well as fast-rising artists working in and around the genre, like Nate Smith, Lainey Wilson and, of course, the now well and truly massive Luke Combs.

For instance, the likes of Keith Urban, Noah Rinker, Alana Springsteen – no relation – Zach Top and many, MANY more, are playing across London, the OVO Hydro in Glasgow and Belfast’s SSE Arena for the 12th edition of the now annual celebration.

Set to arrive in our city centre for the very first time, Country 2 Country (C2C) will be making its Manc debut at none other than the legendary AO Arena, where so many of the biggest names and current generation of stars alike have played.

You only have to look at recent examples like Darius Rucker last year and the ever-growing Tyler Childers, helping kick off this season of country gigs here in Manchester.

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Meanwhile, as you can see for Country 2 Country music fest’s Manchester debut, it’s coming in March 2027, and they’ll be teaming up with other local gig venues and bars to turn 0161 into a little slice of Broadway – we just hope we get a bit of Austin weather to boot.

It’s fair to say that this particular part of the music industry is definitely enjoying a big boom right now, with lots of different acts dipping their toes into the bayou, if you will.

However, C2C have been flying the flag for country music over here for ages now, and with it being hailed as remaining “one of the UK’s most spectacular annual festivals” by the likes of The Express and countless, among countless other reviews, we think it’s time you give it a go.

Better still, let’s show everyone that we can do it even better up North, and here in what everyone knows is Britain’s real musical home: Greater Manchester.

Tickets will be available from 10am next Friday, 20 March, and you can sign up to get early bird pre-sale
access right HERE.

Credit: Niko Moon/Luke Dyson Photography (supplied)

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Featured Images — Niko Moon/Luke Dyson/Anthony Mooney (supplied via SJM Concerts)

Bolton woman who falsely accused 10 men of raping her has been jailed

Emily Sergeant

A woman from Bolton who falsely accused 10 different men of raping her over a six-year period has now been jailed.

Stacey Sharples, 31 from Farnworth in Bolton, pleaded guilty of 10 counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to reports against 10 separate men at Bolton Crown Court earlier last month (2 February 2026), before appearing in court again this week to be sentenced.

The investigation into Sharples was launched after the arrests and questioning of almost all these men, and following the pursuing of all relevant lines of enquiry, which consistently revealed evidence contrary to what had been disclosed by Sharples.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says investigations of this nature are ‘extremely rare’ and the decision to pursue Sharples as a suspect was ‘not one taken lightly’.

“However, it is our duty to act in the public interest and on the evidence and information we uncover and receive, which in this case demonstrated a continuous, wilful making of false allegations, knowing full well the consequences for each of the men involved,” GMP said in a statement following Sharples’ sentencing.

Of the allegations Sharples pleaded guilty to – of which were made over a six-year period between 2013 and 2019 – most of the men were arrested and spent time in custody, with some also undertaking intimate examinations, and almost all spending periods of time on police bail or released under investigation.

Statements from the men accused by Stacey Sharples / Credit: GMP

GMP says there’s ‘no doubt’ the reports and arrests have had an impact on these men, their sense of self and relationships, their wider networks, and how they move forward with their lives.

False accounts also undermine those who have genuinely experienced sexual violence.

Police say it also affects the confidence in the criminal justice system, and that the time spent investigating Sharples’ reports could have been put towards investigating ‘genuine reports of sexual offences’ instead.

Sharples has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison this week after pleading guilty to making false rape allegations.

Speaking following Sharples’ sentencing this week, Detective Sergeant Steven Gilliland, who investigated this case, said: “We took the allegations made by Stacey Sharples seriously, explored all lines of enquiry and swiftly made arrests or interviewed of all the men she accused.

“We gave her multiple opportunities to provide further explanation or information to us, after interviews with the men and subsequent evidence uncovered didn’t align with her first recollection, as we understand that trauma can impact how victims and survivors recount their experiences.

“Ultimately, as the evidence continued to demonstrate that the reports were untrue, coupled with the desire for justice from some of the men who had been falsely accused, it was right that we followed the evidence and pursued the individual who had actually committed a criminal offence.”

Featured Image – GMP