Manchester’s biggest free music festival is back this Easter bank holiday weekend

It's that time again and we're already buzzing.

Danny Jones - 28th March 2024

Sunnier days are well and truly on their way and better still, that means Manchester’s biggest free music festival and one of the best event series on the annual calendar is returning: that’s right, it’s time for Manifest 2024.

Back and bigger than ever, Manifest over at The Oast House in Spinningfelds returns this Easter Sunday and we cannot wait to get soaking in the sun, tunes and good vibes.

The biggest and most popular free music festival you’ll find anywhere in Greater Manchester, Manifest has been going for a few years now and it’s become such a staple of the warmer months here in the city centre that we don’t consider spring/summertime as having even started until it rolls around again.

Set to deliver an all-day line-up of live music with various acts playing from Sunday, 31 March at 1pm onwards and well into the early hours of Monday, 1 April, we can’t think of many better ways to spend the bank holiday.

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Taking place on The Oast House’s large outdoor terrace complete with its dedicated stage and the big beer garden providing both coverage and plenty of room for Mancs to turn it into one giant dancefloor, thousands turn up to this series of events every year now.

Kicking off this season’s festivities on Sunday, 31 March, the first Manifest event of 2024 has a packed roster of musicians lined up including bands, solo artists and duos, as well as interludes from their resident and ever-reliable DJs.

Guests can expect not only a vibrant party atmosphere all day and night but tastes of pretty much every genre, from rock, pop and soul to R&B, funk, disco and blues.

Again, part of the reason this music festival series has become so popular is that it’s completely free, with space inside the venue dished out on a first-come, first-served basis. There were plenty of queues at every single date last year, so we recommend getting there early. Seriously, it packs out quickly.

You’ll have everything you need to keep you sorted throughout the day when it comes to food and drink too, by the way.

The Oast House’s street food-style menu will also be on offer for those looking to line their stomachs during the festivities.

We’re talking katsu chicken fries, Northern poutine with bone marrow gravy and Shorrock’s Lancashire cheese, chicken or plant-based gyros, stacked burgers, hot wings and hanging kebabs. We’ve tried it all and trust us, some seriously good scran this.

Here’s how it went last time around:

Festivalgoers can also keep cool with plenty of cold pints and house-made cocktails, including twists on the classics such as Watermelon Margaritas, Passionfruit Coladas and Pink Gin Punch. Phwoar.

The best part is, even if you’re already busy this weekend (obviously, scrap your plans and come here), you’ll have plenty more opportunity to enjoy Manifest this year with the free music festival returning every bank holiday weekend throughout the spring and summer.

There’s also set to be an extra few Saturday Manifest dates this year which are still yet to be confirmed but we’ll keep you posted as and when we know more – see you there, Manchester!

And to keep track of the other latest music news going on here in Manchester, keep your eyes peeled over on The Manc Audio.