Manchester’s only direct-from-garden-centre music event, Green Island Festival, is returning with free tickets, big charity projects and more.
Now in its fifth year, Green Island Festival is back for 2025 and its set to be bigger and better than ever before, spread across three dates throughout the summer.
The lineup is as diverse as ever bringing in a range of acts from all over the globe such as Australia to local grassroots talents that deserve a turn in the spotlight.
I sat down with the event organisers for this one-of-a-kind music festival George and Stephan to find out why you should go to this hidden music festival in a garden centre.
What makes your festival different from any other?
George: Definitely the garden centre aspect. There’s an escapism element to it and we’re also doing pretty well at championing the grassroots scene, giving people a platform to showcase their music. We’re trying to not be super focused on one specific type of music or genre this feeds through to our lineups.
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Stephan: We’ve been lucky being able to attract different age ranges from 18 and 19 all the way up to 50 and 60 year olds. The people are what make it what it is and they’ve stuck with us from day dot really, it’s one big community. Managing to get a very diverse lineup in place is important too.
Georgegetting the crowd hyped at Green Island Festival.Music festival in a Manchester garden centre? We’re in.
Who came up with the idea to host a festival in a garden centre?
Stephan: George. He walked past the garden centre and thought that’s the perfect place.
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We didn’t know we didn’t know each other at first then George found my page (Me Gusta Collective) and I was fully up for it straight away, and since then we’ve been best friends. And, like, I’ve called him like, my best friend.
Manchester is known for its love of music, how did you guys fall in love with music and then eventually fall in love with festival organising?
George: It’s always come pretty naturally to both of us. Stephan’s done lots of work with Band on the Wall and I did various bits at Freight Island and Canvas when it was still open. Our favourite part is when we’re planning and scheming the flow of the festival and lineup.
Stephan: I guess our love of different types of music comes from our upbringings really. I listened to a lot of salsa and my dad used to throw events when I was a kid with family members so creating events has always been around me. I started my first night when I was 19 in Germany after I fell in love with house music and electronic music in Manchester so I feel like the path to creating events has always been laid out but it took me a while to make a living out of it.
Good vibes only at Green Festival Island 2025.Stephanperforming under his DJ alias Atiké.
Stephan, you’ve been a long time supporter of indie artists and local venues, working at band on the wall yourself. So how important is it for you to see local artists reflected in Green Island’s lineup?
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Stephan: It’s so important to us. We’ve got the marquee stage which is all about local acts and our bandstand stage too. There’s High Hoops [A Manchester-based Queer club night], which has been going for years now, and same goes to Eves’Drop Collective [A group of female DJs from across the UK] that have been doing bits for such a long time, and Ruf Dug who is a no brainer for the lineup.
George: When it comes to headliners there’s only a handful per day and the rest of Green Island [Festival] is pretty much grassroots music. Paying a fortune for each act isn’t the only way to bring a lot of people together and sell a lot tickets, people are interested in grassroots more than ever.
Tickets are quite reasonably priced, too, with children and under 13’s getting free entry, what made you decide to offer this?
Stephan: We want to make this festival available for families so you would have to pay for every kid to get in, it ends up being so expensive.
George: We worked pretty hard on finding the perfect price point for the festival so it can operate but not break the bank because it’s pretty crazy how expensive tickets are getting now.
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Children and under 13’s can get into Green Island Festival for free.The wonderful Green Island Festival team.
What made you choose a lineup that spans lots of different sounds, rather than sticking to a few main genres?
Stephan: We come from a background of music purists who listened to lots of records to a lot of records. I was listening to African bands who are fully authentic much like grassroots music it’s raw. , raw, it’s fresh. We’ve been able to come up with a lineup that fuses African music, Latin music, sounds from the Middle East with ska, house, drum and bass, even jazz. We know exactly what we want to hear.
George: It’s the appreciation of music across the spectrum, there’s so many different facets to it, and we programme a solid lineup that incorporates all of them. We love a challenge and we love feeding the energy throughout the day, leading to the last little crescendo at the end.
You also give attendees the option to donate £1 to Eat Well MCR with every ticket bought, how important is this charity to the pair of you?
George: We know Kathleen [Co-founder of Eat Well MCR] quite well, she’s always been a huge supporter of us so we do what we can to support whatever she’s got going on. We managed to raise quite a bit of money for them last year. Also, when you’re buying food from our vendors you can add a donation for this initiative which last year 90% of everybody that ordered food added on £1 or more which was very nice to see.
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We also work with Play It Green where we have a levy on our ticket and 50% goes to them so they can plant trees around the world. We want to make our festival more sustainable in the long term and eventually be net zero.
Stephan I know you also have a DJ alias, Atiké, how excited are you to play the festival alongside all acts?
Stephan: I can’t wait, I’m doing a b2b set with Little O who is amazing. I met her on Bandcamp, now we’re playing together. I went all over Dublin to see her and because I grew up in Ireland it’s quite nice to kind of reconnect with that side of me. I asked her if she fancied doing a b2b set with me and she was all for it. We bounce off each other so well.
If you could describe green album festival in three words, what would you choose? George: Inclusive, friendly, vibrant. Stephan: Sunshine, diversity and friendship.
Tickets for ‘Green Island Festival 2025’ range from full price to low-income and neighbours tickets at just £12.50 and entry for children under 13 completely FREE – Get ready to grab your tickets for Green Island 2025 HERE.
Featured Images – Publicity Pictures (via Supplied)
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Audio North’s Artist of the Month – Aaron Dinning | June 2026
Thomas Melia
Aaron Dinning is an indie-pop act whose songs span the highs and lows of relationships, and now he’s Audio North’s latest Artist of the Month.
Born in County Durham, studied in Leeds, and now the curator of a live music events organisation based in Manchester, Dinning sure knows a thing about northern music.
With hits to his name already like ’24’, ‘Look Who’s Holding The Gun Now!’, this queer musician is gearing up to release a deluxe edition of his sophomore EP Boys Become Men.
If his name feels familiar to you, that’s because it probably is, as Aaron Dinning has performed at a multitude of venues across the north – including Feel Good Club, Popup Bikes, and The Proud Place.
Now, Dinning chats to Audio North about his upbringing and music journey, as he accepts the title of Artist of the Month for June.
An interview with Aaron Dinning – Audio North’s Artist of the Month | June 2026
Aaron Dinning is making his mark in the Manchester music scene with his indie-pop tracks / Credit: Press Shots (Supplied)
You were born in County Durham and now live in Manchester. How have those two places shaped you as an artist?
I think there’s such a contrast in the environment of those two places. Durham was so formative for me growing up, back then I didn’t have the autonomy to vocalise it but now I see Chester-Le-Street specifically as such a ‘small town mindset’ kind of place.
If I stayed at home, I would never be the artist I am today. That’s not to say that growing up somewhere like that isn’t just as important as the place which makes you feel accepted. You can’t have such a strong desire for one without a disdain for the other.
What does being a northern musician mean to you?
I think being northern, to me, just means breaking the mould and showing that if I can do it, anybody can. It means building my career on my own terms, it’s taught me to unapologetically be myself, on and off stage.
I always say that I want to write the songs I needed when I grew up because there was nobody like me from the North. Sometimes it still feels like I’m the only one too.
To me, if I can write a song, or put on a performance that resonates with a 15-year-old kid who’s still figuring out who they are or who they love, that’s the most fulfilling thing that can come from sharing my art.
This Northern talent is from Country Durham, studied in Leeds and is now based in Manchester / Credit: Press Shots (Supplied)
The music industry can feel very London-centric at times. Have you found being based in the North to be an advantage or a challenge?
It’s a bit of both really. Yes, London is where the majority of the big names in music are, but in my mind, I always compare it to that scene in Baby Reindeer when the guy says ‘You find yourself a background artist in a cast of millions’ (niche).
I like that the industry isn’t as saturated as London up here, but I can see that changing in years to come. The North has always been where it’s at and truly where all these major labels should be looking for who’s up next because you might just find a gem like me waiting to be found.
Is there a northern artist who made you think, “If they can do it, so can I”?
Definitely Sam Fender. I know it’s a bit of a cliche nowadays, but I absolutely love him and he’s what I think of when it comes to a classic northern success story.
I’ve seen him six times and the last time at St James’ Park was a completely different calibre of show to when I saw him at Boiler Room in 2019 and paid fifteen quid for the ticket.
Me and him are completely different, but I imagine we had a similar sort of upbringing in the terms of characters we knew growing up in rougher areas. I feel like he cracked the mainstream so well with his first album and he’s only gotten better since. I’d want my first album to have the same kind of critical acclaim as his.
Dinning fuses his sexuality throughout his music, being an openly queer pop musician / Credit: Press Shots (Supplied)
What made Manchester feel like the right place for the next chapter of your career?
I recorded my entire EP here whilst I was still living in Leeds with Toby Ollis Brownstone from the beginning of 2024. That year and a half which I spent travelling back and forth in Manchester made me love the city and loathe commuting.
I knew I wanted to move to Manchester when I got invited to play the Queer as F*ck open mic on Valentine’s Day in 2025. That was the first show I played accompanying myself on the guitar, I agreed to play three hours before doors and completely fumbled my way through the set.
The feeling of the room was like nothing I’d experienced before, to come to a show in another city I had never played in and feel so welcomed, at home and accepted by a room full of likeminded people, felt like a feeling I could only replicate in Manchester.
Has living in Manchester changed your songwriting at all?
Generally speaking, I’ve been playing guitar a lot more since moving here. I feel like there’s a naive fresh start that comes along with moving to new places and feeling like your life’s going to drastically change.
Becoming the Producer of SoFar Manchester helped me feel integrated and I’ve met so many cool people doing that job while spotlight my friends who are artists and bring them to the city that I fell in love with – It’s all very full circle.
I’ve brought Romy Taylor, Caitlin Doran, Sophie Green, and GRACEYY over to play SoFar events and they’re all equally amazing creatives who are based in Leeds, like I once was.
The ’24’ singer has played gigs in unusual Manchester city centre locations like Popup Bikes in Ancoats / Credit: Press Shots (Supplied)
What do you think Manchester does better than anywhere else when it comes to music?
I think Manchester is such a hot pot of different styles and genres. I think the thing it does best is spotlight LGBTQ+ artists. Not just in music, but drag is somewhere I look to when I think of performance, and the queens in the village are truly a sign of resilience and individuality.
I’ve had more shows just for being queer in Manchester than anywhere else I’ve lived, there’s so many freelance creatives, charities and gig promoters who are looking out for LGBTQ+ artists to celebrate, even making entire lineups out of us.
Featured Images – The Manc Group/Press Shots (supplied)
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Neighbourhood Festival’s return to the city centre is looking great with after revealing second wave
Danny Jones
Neighbourhood Festival’s city centre all-dayer is returning to Manchester for 2026 after a year off, and with the second wave of the lineup having just dropped, it’s looking very promising.
Following teasers over the past month or so, it didn’t take long for us to figure out that NBHD Festival was coming back, especially with the Weekender in Warrington having taken a similar hiatus in 2024.
However, when festivals like these take time out, it can be easy to worry whether or not they’ll lose momentum or come back stronger.
Judging by this follow-up batch of acts alone, there’s no doubt NBHD Fest ’26 will be another cracker.
As you can see, as well as the fast-rising grungey alternative and garage rock quartet, KEO, being announced as one of the first big hitters on the list, there are some other familiar names on the lineup.
Especially for us Mancs.
With both Bolton and Altrincham youngsters, Florentenes and The Guest List, both joining the roster, as well as the likes of Bury-born ‘rockabilly’ revivalist Elliot James Reay also featuring on there, there’s a good deal of local talent to be enjoyed as always.
That goes for the regional delegation in general, too, with the likes of Jos River heading back up this way from her base in London, and Leeds’ fittingly named indie four-piece, The North, also booking a slot.
We’ll admit there are plenty of bands and artists coming up from the capital for the all-day festival, but at least they know where the UK’s real home of music is.
For instance, we’re buzzing to see the Red Rum Club boys returning to the NBHD stage once again – they never disappoint, and there are so many other guaranteed top performers on the bill. And that was just this year’s Weekener…
It’s worth reminding, once again, that since its inception in 2016 (yes, it really has been a decade now), Neighbourhood Fest has continued to serve as a proper launchpad for the next wave of superstars, not just here in the North West but across the country.
We still remember seeing the likes of Sam Fender, Holly Humberstone, Declan McKenna, Mahalia, The Lathums and more – some for the very first time – on these city centre stages, and it’s crazy to see how big some of them have gone on to become.
Set to take over some of Manchester’s most iconic venues along the Oxford Road Corridor once again, this is, without a doubt, one of the best dates for independents on the annual live music calendar.
Hosting a total of 11 stages on Saturday, 17 October, for a full day of live music, tickets for this year’s Neighbourhood Festival are on sale now right HERE.
And if you’ve already sorted yours, why not read our review of NBHD Weekender ’26 down below to get you in the mood for the next two editions.
Thomas Melia -
22nd May 2025 
