The search for the Favourite Festival of the Year in the north of England is nearly over, with five incredible events shortlisted in the inaugural Nordoff and Robbins Northern Music Awards (NMAs).
After a panel of music industry professionals selected a longlist – including one of The Manc audience’s choosing – it was then over to the public to narrow down the selection to five northern festivals.
And you lot have picked some cracking events that could end up being crowned the Favourite Festival of the Year at the NMAs.
Voting is now open for you to cast your vote, with the public whittling down an impressive list of northern music festivals to five of the very best.
Those shortlisted include Stockport’s Moovin Festival, Kendal Calling in the Lake District, Salford’s Sounds From The Other City, Sheffield’s Tramlines, and Beatherder.
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The overall winner will be revealed at the performance-packed awards ceremony on 23 April at Manchester’s iconic Albert Hall.
The awards themselves will be hosted in a different northern city each year and will continue to recognise the breadth of musical talent across the north of England, year after year.
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This year’s inaugural celebration will be headlined by Courteeners’ Liam Fray with a short and special live acoustic set, plus the legendary Lisa Stansfield, Warrington’s rising stars The K’s, up-and-coming Leeds quartet English Teacher, and spoken word, indie hip hop artist Antony Szmierek, who is to open the awards with a specially commissioned piece about the power of music therapy.
Tramlines and Kendal Calling are among the events shortlisted for Favourite Festival of the Year in the Nordoff and Robbins Northern Music Awards (NMAs)
The Northern Music Awards have been created by the UK’s largest music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins, to raise awareness of their transformative work and fundraise for more music therapy provision throughout the region, including the opening of a new dedicated music therapy centre which will open next year, in Salford.
Awards categories range from Newcomer of the Year to Artist of the Year, Band of the Year, DJ of the Year, Disruptor and the Northern Music Award.
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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 are the proud sponsors of the Favourite Festival of the Year category.
You can cast your vote and choose the winner of Favourite Festival of the Year for the NMAs below.
Voting closes at 23.59pm on Wednesday 27 March, 2024.
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 -
18th March 2024 
