Parklife, the biggest party in Manchester, has announced its 2025 festival line-up, with massive headline performances from Charli XCX, 50 Cent, Jorja Smith, Peggy Gou and Confidence Man.
Now celebrating its 15th year, Parklife will be back at Heaton Park between Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June.
They’re promising a weekend packed with jaw-dropping live shows and the best global talent across dance, electronic, house, hip-hop and more.
Since originating in Platt Fields in 2010, Parklife has grown to become one of the biggest events in Manchester’s cultural calendar every single year since.
And for 2025, Parklife is going bigger than ever, looking forward and bringing some of the globe’s hottest names to our city.
There’ll be some big changes on the actual festival site too – Parklife will have a brand-new stage, Matinee, featuring a 360° DJ booth, and both VIP and Backstage will move to a more central location.
The festival’s headliners this year are BIG – the iconic rapper 50 Cent will be back in Heaton Park with his hits like In Da Club, P.I.M.P and Candy Shop.
The woman who dominated dancefloors and charts (and our hearts) last summer, Charli XCX, is also turning Heaton Park back into a Brat summer, with her floor-filling hits like Apple, 360, and Guess.
The beautiful, incredible voice of Jorja Smith will be on the Parklife stage this year – expect to hear spell-binding tracks like Blue Lights, Be Honest, and Little Things.
Interplanetary Criminal will perform at Parklife 2025 as line-up revealed. Credit: Jody HartleyPosters teasing Charli XCX as a Parklife 2025 headliner. Credit: The Manc Group
Firm Parklife and Warehouse Project favourite Peggy Gou will be back behind the decks, and PAWSA will be continuing the massive scenes seen at Parklife 2024 with another appearance this summer.
BICEP will be soundtracking Heaton Park with their Chroma AV DJ show, and chart-topping artist of the moment Lola Young (she’s the one who did that Messy song you can’t get out of your head) will take to the stage for her biggest-ever festival slot.
The Parklife 2025 line-up also includes Confidence Man, Chris Stussy, Steve Angello, Hybrid Minds, Andy C, Hedex, Bou, RUDIM3NTAL, Girls Don’t Sync, Ewan McVicar, Skream & Benga, Flo, DJ Heartstring, salute (presenting their True Vision show), Marc Rebillet, Interplanetary Criminal, MOCHAKK, Rossi., Partiboi69, and Prospa, alongside many others.
There’ll be more than 100 names across multiple stages, some of which are hosted by the likes of WHP & Teletech’s XXL Techno, DnB heavyweights Worried About Henry, Manchester’s beloved venue YES and forward-thinking crew Ghosts Of Garage.
Now we just wait for Aitch to make his annual ‘surprise’ appearance…
Rockstar Energy presents Parklife 2025 tickets will go back on general sale at 10am on Friday 31 January, with a limited Parklife sign-up pre-sale at 10am on Thursday 30 January.
Weekend tickets start from just £135 plus booking fee, with day tickets from £85 plus booking fees.
Rockstar Energy presents Parklife Festival 2025 – Full Lineup
A huge record fair is coming to Manchester city centre this bank holiday
Thomas Melia
There’s a record fair making its way to Manchester next weekend, and it’s taking over one of Manchester’s iconic live music venues.
Record lovers and music fanatics this one’s for you.
Whether you’re after growing your own record collection back home, or showing off your DJ skills, this event has everything you could ever ask for.
The Very Good Plus record fair is arriving in Manchester city centre, and it’s coming to none other than independent live music venue, New Century.
You’ll be able to browse through some of the best vinyl in the region and hopefully spot some releases by some of your musical icons.
There’s even family-friendly stations which give little ones and grown-ups alike the chance to try their hand at making and designing their own record sleeve, as well as getting stuck in with a screen-printing workshop.
A record fair event is taking place at Manchester music venue New Century and NOMA this bank holiday / Credit: The Manc Group
If you cant find any LPs you’re after, you’ll definitely find a caffeinated drink or two at Sadler’s Yard and even have a go at creating your own track on the open decks.
There will be a variety of food and drink options, as well as some food for the soul too, thanks to an array of DJ sets running until the evening courtesy of Ded Luvly on a Pulp Coffee sound system.
Live music lovers can rejoice as just for this record fair event, they’ll be able to roam around this huge gig space and if you head downstairs there’ll be a DJ workshop and sound system experience taking place.
This music-oriented event is a collaboration between iconic music venue New Century, city centre neighbourhood NOMA, and DJ and music aficionado, Living Room Dance Club.
So get ready to dig through the crates, create a few demos of your own, design an album cover or two and enrich yourself in all things music because this event has it all.
The Very Good Plus record fair is coming to NOMA and New Century in Manchester on Saturday 23 August from 11am until 6pm, and it’s completely free – apart from all the money you spend on some good quality vinyl, of course.
Featured Images – Jamakassi via Unsplash/ Phillip Blocker via Unsplash
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My Chemical Romance fans are losing it as emo favourites appear to tease UK tour
Danny Jones
American alt-rock and emo favourites My Chemical Romance aren’t just back for one last Black Parade; it looks like they might be heading to the UK for more tour dates.
Not just a phase, never was.
My Chemical Romance (an entirely different kind of MCR) made yet another mighty return to the fore earlier this year, nearly two whole decades on from the release of the seminal album, which dropped in 2006 and has now been toured live again by the New Jersey band.
Playing the album IN FULL for the first time in years, they’ve been busy in North America delighting die-hard crowds, but now a recent teaser has got My Chem fans gearing up for UK and Ireland shows.
As you can see, MCR released the somewhat cryptic comedy sketch above, in which they seem to spoof a gameshow centred around a robot named ‘Quizzo’.
The host of this fictional programme goes on to explain that the result will determine “who will be the next lucky country to win the grand prize of one nuclear winter.”
It might only last for a few seconds, but the main takeaway is that the ‘who’ selected as the recipient of this upcoming prize is none other than the United Kingdom.
Combine that with a simple caption that reads, “Let’s show them what they’ve won”, it’d be hard not to jump to the conclusion that we Brits are about to pretend we’re ‘Teenagers’ again and chant ‘Na Na Na’ until our lungs give out.
In the time since the post went live, fans on this side of the pond have understandably started getting very excited…
My Chemical Romance are coming back to the UK… For the 1st time since 2022 when we all thought it would be the last hurrah…#MCRpic.twitter.com/vHWO5mK89j
At first, some were wondering whether this year’s revival might have also seen the resurrection of their much-mythologised but ultimately scrapped 2019 record, The Paper Kingdom, but it seems pretty much nailed on that their transatlantic followers are about to get some gigs.
It remains unclear whether these still TBC dates will be an extension of the current ‘Long Live The Black Parade‘ tour, which began on 11 July, or something new entirely.
Either way, with this current run of shows due to end in September and hints at a ‘nuclear winter’, it’s a fair assumption to guess that My Chemical Romance will be coming to the UK either later this year or early 2026 – and you bank on a big Manchester booking to be thrown in there too.
Daisy Jackson -
28th January 2025 
