The longlisted nominations for the Nordoff and Robbins Northern Music Awards’ Festival of the Year have been announced – and it’s up to The Manc’s audience to complete the list.
A panel of esteemed judges have picked out 19 festivals that stood out from the crowd, whether it’s for their line-ups, their charitable missions, their commitment to the environment or their value for money.
But the 20th slot remains open, and the Northern Music Awards is asking The Manc audience to nominate their favourite festival ahead of the awards themselves in November.
The form to submit your favourite festival for consideration is at the bottom of this article.
The Manc has been announced as the sponsor for the Festival of the Year category, and we’re delighted to help champion this brilliant format of live music.
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There’s nothing like the joy of a festival, whether it’s a small family-friendly affair or a star-studded line-up with parties running into the early hours.
Festivals already selected – and the 20th nominee still to be chosen – all demonstrate incredible creative direction, atmosphere, reputation and brand.
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Those already on the list include festivals around Greater Manchester like Highest Point, Bluedot, and Parklife, huge events near Leeds including Leeds Festival and Long Division Wakefield, and Sheffield favourites like Tramlines and Get Together.
Parklife festival. Credit: The Manc Group
The Northern Music Awards themselves will be the first of its kind to celebrate the northern music scene, and will take place at Aviva Studios (formerly known as Factory International) on Thursday 30 November.
After the inaugural event, the awards will be hosted in a different northern city every year and will continue to recognise the breadth of musical talent across the north of England.
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The Northern Music Awards have been created by music charity Nordoff and Robbins, with money raised from tickets going back to help fund the opening of a new dedicated music therapy centre, based in Salford.
Awards categories range from Newcomer of the Year to Artist of the Year, Band of the Year, DJ of the Year, Maverick in Music, and the Northern Music Award.
A special Music and Culture for Wellbeing award will showcase outstanding and innovative creative arts provision in the North, that uses music and culture to support and connect with people that face health, wellbeing and socio-economic challenges.
We here at The Manc will be proud sponsors of the Festival of the Year category.
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston, head of brand partnerships at The Manc, said: “We at The Manc are incredibly excited and proud to be sponsoring the favourite festival award at the Northern Music Awards.
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“It is a fantastic opportunity to really champion the awesome festivals we have across the North of England. We have always been proud supporters of Northern music talent and events and we are thrilled that Nordoff and Robbins are bringing these awards to Manchester in November.”
The festivals already nominated for Festival of the Year at the Northern Music Awards
Beatherder Lancashire
Bluedot Cheshire
Confessional Blackburn
Creamfields North
Deer Shed Yorkshire
Get Together Sheffield
Highest Point Lancaster
Kendal Calling Cumbria
Leeds Festival
Lindisfarne Festival Northumberland
Long Division Wakefield
Lytham Festival
Manchester Pride
Moovin Stockport
Neighborhood Warrington
Parklife Manchester
Sounds from the Other City Salford
Sound City Liverpool
TramLines Sheffield
Cast your vote here:
Featured image: Lucas Sinclair
Audio
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
Daisy Jackson
Niall Horan will be back in Manchester this year on a huge newly-announced European arena tour.
The former One Direction star (and chart-topper in his own right) has just announced his Dinner Party Live On Tour tour.
The tour comes in support of his upcoming fourth solo studio album, Dinner Party, which promises to be ‘cinematic and organic’.
Niall Horan will be performing at the Co-op Live in Manchester this September, along with gigs in other UK cities including Sheffield, Glasgow, and Newcastle.
He’ll then head right across Europe, playing music from his multi-Platinum-selling songbook.
Niall first shot to fame as one-fifth of One Direction, but has one of the group’s strongest solo careers, with three chart-topping albums and massive hits like Slow Hands, Heaven, and Our Song.
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
He’s also worked on some exciting collaborations with the likes of Anne-Marie, and most recently Myles Smith.
£1 from every ticket sold for Niall Horan’s Dinner Party tour will be donated to the LIVE Trust, which is dedicated to protecting, expanding, and supporting grassroots music across the UK.
Niall Horan will be at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Friday 25 September.
Tickets will go on sale from 10am on Thursday 2 April HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
25th July 2023 
