Highest Point festival has just added a raft of new artists to its line-up for its 2023 festival in the grounds of Williamson Park.
Joining already-announced headliners Bastille, Anne-Marie and Hacieenda Classical will be the likes of Sub Focus, Sigma, Friendly Fires and Freya Ridings.
Half of the Highest Point tickets have already sold even before the Lancashire music event dropped the full line-up for its weekend of music, food and activities.
Set to take place between 11 and 13 May, the festival will bring together more than 100 artists and some of the biggest names from pop, indie, funk and soul.
Joining the line-up this week was Lost Without You singer Freya Ridings, just in time to debut her new album Blood Orange.
Dance floor icon and Coronation Street legend Craig Charles is also joining the Highest Point bill with his Funk and Soul night, headlining The Woods stage.
Also added to the festival’s list of artists are indie band Friendly Fires, British drum and bass DJ duo Sigma, drum and bass legend Sub Focus, DJ Mag Breakthrough winners Girls Don’t Sync alongside the legend that is Skream, plus Manchester-based indie band, The Lottery Winners, known for their top 40 hits Young Love and Hawaii.
Hacienda Classical will open the festival on the Thursday night, with their first live performance since their sold out performance in 2018.
Bastille will also be taking to the main stage performing their hit singles like Pompeii and Happier on the Friday night.
Saturday night will be headlined by ten-time BRIT-Award nominee Anne-Marie, known for her chart-topping singles CiaoAdios and 2002.
Highest Point Festival. Credit: Robin Zahler
Other acts joining the festival line-up include Radio 1’s Danny Howard & Charlie Tee, DJ Paulette, Gok Wan, House Gospel Choir, Elvis Fronted Nirvana, Toploader, General Levy and The Cuban Brothers with Guilty Pleasures taking over The Woods on the Saturday. Chris Hawkins (6 Music) will be hosting The Dell Inn, a pub in the woods, in collaboration with Manchester Union Brewery.
The Dell Inn, soon to be everyone’s favourite festival pub, will be the home of comedy, poetry slams and acoustic sets across the weekend, as well as opening its door, or branches, to some well-known stars. This is one of the many changes the festival has made this year as part of its ambitions to become bigger and better, as well as Bushrocker Hi-fi roots reggae takeover at the Waterfall and a new look to the much-loved Sundial stage.
Highest Point spans across six stages in the beautiful 54-acre grounds of Williamson Park, with music running alongside a premier regional street food and craft beer offering.
Festival Director, Jamie Scahill, said: “We are always looking for new ways to make Highest Point bigger and better every year so there will definitely be a few changes this year. The team behind the festival are working really hard to make this year the best one yet with new and exciting experiences added to the festival, as well as a much more diverse lineup of acts.”
Tickets for Highest Point festival are available via Skiddle’s website, costing £145 per adult. Day tickets are also available from £39.50 per adult for Thursday, and Friday and Saturday tickets each costing £69.50 per adult.
HIGHEST POINT 2023 LINEUP
Hacienda Classical / Bastille / Anne-Marie Arielle Free / A Little Sound / Charlie Tee / Chris Hawkins / Craig Charles / Cuban Brothers / Danny Howard / DJ Paulette / Elvana / Freya Ridings / Friendly Fires / General Levy / Girls Don’t Sync / Goddard / Gok Wan / Guilty Pleasures / House Gospel Choir / K-Klass / Lottery Winners / Skream / Sigma (DJ set) / Sub Focus (DJ set) / Toploader / Turno / AMA / Beth / Bklava / Buckrocker Hi-Fi / Eldon / Emily Makis / Funkademia / Ki Creighton / Matt Thiss / Matrefakt / Mike Garry / Murphys Law / Nathan X / Nico Balducci / Phoebe Hall / Pirate Copy / Sam Redmore with many more…
The K’s book Castlefield Bowl for their biggest ever headline show
Danny Jones
High-flying indie rock outfit, The K’s, are set to play a landmark headline show right here in Manchester, as the local lads have been confirmed as the first act for Sounds of the City 2026.
The cult favourite working class heroes from down the road in Newton-le-Willows have had an incredible couple of years, climbing their way up the ranks around the North, playing bigger venues and festivals up and down the country, and now they’re on a fully-fledged European tour.
It’s been brilliant to watch their rise thus far, and we couldn’t be more buzzing to hear that they’ve booked none other than Castlefield Bowl for the single largest standalone gig of their careers to date, and you can bet The K‘s army will be out in full force.
Announced alongside another massive outdoor venue this week, the toast of Earlestown will be one of several artists set to play the Sounds of City (SOTC) concert series next year.
We are absolutely BUZZING to announce our biggest ever headline show to date at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester on 03.07.26 as well as a huge headline show @ThePieceHall , Halifax on 08.08.26!Tickets for both shows will be on general sale this Friday 19th September 2025 at 9.30am 🩷 pic.twitter.com/lft55eeEbG
Confirming Castlefield Bowl alongside the magnificent Piece Hall in Halifax for summer 2026, the four-piece will make their way from Merseyside, not only down the M62 to Manchester but over to Yorkshire for what is one of the most stunning outdoor venues in the country.
These two incredible atmospheric amphitheatres are not only incredible spaces for live music, but in the case of our very own city centre stunner, Castlefield Bowl boasts a capacity of approximately 8,450 – making it comfortably The K’s biggest show yet.
Speaking of Kendal, we were in the field ourselves when the group got to revel in the moment of announcing their second album, Pretty On The Internet, had reached number one just in time for their main stage set.
Official artist presale access will be available this Wednesday, 17 September from 9:30am by signing up to their mailing list, but general admission tickets for both dates will go live at 9am the following Friday (19 Sep).
Once again, we can only say well done on the number one; having been there to discuss their debut record’s release while they threw plastic balls around a room, we couldn’t be more gassed to see how far they’ve come.
Featured Images — Press shot (supplied)/Audio North
Audio
Lewis Capaldi announces huge outdoor Manchester gig at Wythenshawe Park next summer
Emily Sergeant
Lewis Capaldi has announced a run of huge outdoor shows next summer, and he’ll be stopping off here in Manchester.
After unprecedented demand saw one of the biggest-ever rushes for tickets across both pre-sale and general sale earlier this year, Lewis Capaldi is currently blazing through a triumphant 200,000-ticket sold out 17-date UK arena tour as we speak – and is set to take to the Co-op Live stage for two huge Manc gigs this weekend.
But he shows no signs of slowing down soon, as he has today announced his biggest ever UK and Ireland headline gigs for next summer.
Wythenshawe Park is fast becoming one of Manchester‘s go-to outdoor gig venues, and Lewis’s visit next summer is only helping the reputation, as the Scottish 28-year-old will be headlining the park for one night only next August.
The announcement of the run of summer outdoor shows comes amid Lewis’s first return to touring in two years following his triumphant Glastonbury 2025 return after an extended break to take care of his mental health break, and following the release of his comeback track ‘Survive’, which shot to the top of the UK charts and became the fastest-selling single of 2025.
The response to Lewis’s current tour has been ‘electric’, according to critics, who have been unanimous in their praise for him.
Prior to his comeback, Lewis played a run of Scottish warm up shows in May that saw him return to the stage as a guest of mental health charity CALM, in celebration of Mental Health Awareness Week.
Lewis Capaldi – Summer Outdoor Gigs 2026
Wednesday 24 June – Marlay Park, Dublin
Friday 26 June – Thomond Park, Limerick
Sunday 28 June – TX Maxx presents Live at Powderham, Exeter
Tuesday 30 June – Blackweir Fields, Cardiff
Saturday 4 July – American Express presents Roundhay Festival, Leeds
Saturday 11 July – American Express presents BST Hyde Park, London
Thursday 20 August – Vital, Belfast
Saturday 22 August – Wythenshawe Park, Manchester
With no pressure and no level of expectation, the shows allowed Lewis the space to gauge his comfort and emotional response before returning to the spotlight – a move which ended up proving nothing short of a triumph.
Lewis Capaldi will be coming to Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on Saturday 22 August 2026, and tickets go on pre-sale this Thursday 18 September at 9am, before general sale commences the following day (Friday 19 September), again at 9am.
Daisy Jackson -
9th February 2023 
