The AO Arena welcomed Andy Burnham and Blossoms today to celebrate the completion of its £50m redevelopment.
As the biggest indoor venue in the UK and one of the busiest in the world, the AO Arena is now working to even further elevate the guest experience, from start to finish.
Its huge investment has seen new features added like an increased standing floor capacity in the arena bowl itself, a brand new lower concourse bar area with capacity for 6,000 (plus new bars in the main concourse), and new entrances to make getting in and out of the arena the quickest in Europe.
Then there is the crowning jewel at the AO Arena, its new bar and restaurant The Mezz, set to open in March, which will welcome a new partnership with chefs Simon Rogan MBE and Tom Barnes of soon-to-open Skof.
To mark its monumental redevelopment, the AO Arena invited Stockport legends Blossoms to place their hands in cement on the concourse, leaving their mark permanently on the city’s most iconic venue.
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Blossoms said: “When the AO Arena opened again after Covid, we were the first band to play a gig here. We’re excited to celebrate the official topping out of the redevelopments and look forward to seeing what the future AO Arena has to offer.”
The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was also in attendance to celebrate the landmark moment, speaking of all the shows he’s seen over the years (Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Elbow all highlights, apparently).
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The improvements to the venue aren’t just on a fan level either – work has also included a complete back of house overhaul including an artist green room, dressing rooms and crew facilities.
Andy Burnham and Blossoms attended the AO Arena today to celebrate the completion of its £50m transformation. Credit: SuppliedBlossoms placed their handprints in cement and spoke at the AO Arena today to celebrate the completion of its £50m transformation. Credit: Supplied
AO has also announced it is extending its naming rights partnership of the 21,000 capacity, 30-year-old venue all the way into 2030.
The AO Arena’s £50m transformation includes a new VIP entrance, a members only bar and restaurant, a brand new lower concourse, an improved focus on customer safety measures, and full wall wraps highlighting the venue’s iconic milestones.
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On the concourse, there’ll be a brand new food and drink offering, including handcrafted burgers, salt and pepper chicken and accompanying vegan options including smash meat-free burgers with vegan smoked applewood and vegan loaded fries, as well as vegan bratwurst with sauerkraut in a vegan brioche bun topped with crispy onions and served with vegan chilli cheese sauce.
Over the years, the AO Arena has welcomed the biggest names in music and sport, such as Prince, Elton John, New Order, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Billie Eilish, Oasis, Dua Lipa and The Courteeners, plus of course Peter Kay’s record-breaking 50+ date residency (which is still ongoing, by the way…), and has also played host to The Commonwealth Games, The Davis Cup, boxing bouts with Mike Tyson, Anthony Joshua, Ricky Hatton and much more.
Visited by more than one million people each year, the AO Arena is promising this will be its best year yet, raising tens of thousands of pounds and giving hundreds of hours to local community projects.
And coming up this year alone there’ll be more Peter Kay Live, The 1975, Bill Bailey, Niall Horan, Ne-Yo, and plenty more to be announced.
More artists added and stage splits confirmed for Neighbourhood Weekender 2026 lineup
Danny Jones
Two waves for NBHD Weekender’s 2026 lineup have now been officially confirmed, and Greater Manchester leads the way in terms of headliners, with local music legend Richard Ashcroft and Stockport’s finest, Blossoms, both already confirmed for the big slot on the main stage.
Now THAT is how you follow up a comeback.
Yes, Neighbourhood Weekender always promises a healthy dose of Northern acts on the lineup, including plenty of Mancs, scousers and others from Cheshire and the region at large, but to get two much-loved music artists from our boroughs topping the 2026 bill is an absolute treat.
With other noteworthy appearances in the Kaiser Chiefs, DMA’s, Jamie Webster, Example and many more on there already, it feels like next year’s festival is shaping up to be a potential all-timer, with a second wave of acts being added and the stage splits now set.
As you can see, the first pair of waves of the NBHD 2026 lineup includes returning crowd-pleasers like Shed Seven, Razorlight and The K’s, as well as other additions like rising stars Basht., Better Joy and North West favourites, The Kairos, as well as fellow Manc lads, M60.
Other acts that also caught our eye include our own natives like Arkayla, The Guest List, Luvcat and The Covasettes, just to name a few, as well as rising ‘Britainicana outfit’, Westside Cowboy, who just so happen to star on our most recent round-up of what we’ve been listening to.
In fact, there are a few past Manc bands of the month features on this lineup, not to mention more nearby names in Lucvat, The Royston Club, Keyside, Nxdia and so on, who are all well worth earmarking ahead of the stage splits being announced.
As for the headliners, indie heroes Blossoms need no introduction; nor does Wigan’s most famous musical son, with Ashcroft riding a real resurgence at the moment – he’s also one of our artists of the month, naturally.
In fact, confirmation of both Ashcroft and his Oasis Live ’25 support act partners, Cast, being booked for Warrington’s Victoria Park and the next NBHD Fest comes after the 54-year-old confirmed a fellow hometown band for some very big shows of his own.
This coming May Bank Holiday Weekend (Saturday 23-Sun 24 May 2026) is shaping up nicely, and we can’t wait to see what else is new to the festival site this year.
General admission tickets are already available, and new for this year, there will also be different payment plans via their website.
You can grab your tickets HERE. See you in the fields!
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Audio North
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Dispute over Manichester now ‘resolved’, say Mounfield family
Danny Jones
The family of the late, great Manchester musician, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, have said that the drama surrounding the highly-anticipated tribute festival in his name, Manichester, has now thankfully been settled.
Now the focus can once again return to remembering him as best as possible.
Following plenty of talk about the project following his passing late last year, a live music festival honouring Mani was finally confirmed in March, and the reaction following the event’s announcement has been unsurprisingly phenomenal.
Well, at least for the most part, as there was also some confusion over whether or not Manichester was still a charitable effort as advertised, with son Gene Mounfield disputing claims online. Fortunately, it all seems to have been put to bed now.
On behalf of the boys, and as their legal guardian, I want to thank everyone for the kind messages and concern for their wellbeing. There was a misunderstanding regarding the upcoming Manichester tribute concert, but we’re pleased to share that everything has now been resolved. pic.twitter.com/j8jEMrFzsD
Being organised by Madchester.com and locally-founded fashion label, GIOGOI, the debut edition was said to have the total blessing of Mani’s family, including his brother, Greg Mounfield.
It was also said that the funds raised by the show would be going to the legendary Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassists’ twins, George and Gene, but the latter recently argued that “nothing” was going to either him or his brother and that the news was “dropped” the plans just a fortnight prior.
Gene also said that “if it was a charity gig it would be at Co-op [Live] or Heaton Park, and it would be done by SJM [Concerts]”: a Manchester-based promoters and events company.
All of this was also wrapped up in ever more paper talk and sensationalism, as some were reporting that Noel and Liam Gallagher, as well as other members of Oasis, would be surprising fans as the still yet to be revealed ‘major headliner’.
These rumours have since been quashed, as has whatever miscommunication caused the misunderstanding between the parties concerned, and we are now back to simply looking forward to seeing an already stacked lineup here in the city centre this May.
Damon Minchella of Ocean Colour Scene (a fellow bassist who also tours with Richard Ashcroft) is helping organise and will also be performing on the night itself. As for the surviving Mounfields, they went on to add in an accompanying Instagram post: “We would also like to express our gratitude to PH.
“It means a great deal to all of us that so many people loved Mani enough to give their time and energy to honour his memory in this way. We are genuinely touched by the support.
“It has been an incredibly difficult few years for the boys and for our whole family. We hope this event will bring some much‑needed joy and create new, positive memories for everyone who cared about him.
“With love and thanks – The Family”
It goes without saying that we can’t wait for this city and Greater Manchester as a whole to honour a Manc icon and are looking forward to another year celebrating the thing that never fails to bring us all together: music.
Daisy Jackson -
24th January 2024 
