Salford has just got its first-ever interactive trail that celebrates the incredible legacy of the city’s music and cultural footprint.
Made possible through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, Echo Salford is is a brand-new and immersive augmented reality (AR) experience that takes users all across Salford to the places and spaces that best showcases the city and borough’s iconic musical and cultural history.
Starting at MediaCity, and taking in the sights of Salford Lads Club, Islington Mill, and Maxwell Hall along the way, before ending at the infamous Kings Arms, the trail promises to take people on a “mind-opening visual and audio journey”.
The ultimate aim of the trail is to “inspire and educate” people, all while showing just how important Salford is to the culture of Greater Manchester.
Accessed via the Echo Salford app, the trail will enable users to launch an AR experience at each location, view never-before-seen images, create musical content and other digital takeaways, and downloadable memorabilia too.
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From exploring the Edwardian elegance and Smith’s room at the Salford Lads Club, with history spanning over 100 years, to immersing yourself in the artistic epicentre of Islington Mill – which is creating a new wave of artists and creators to this day – Echo Salford is also said to be a “celebration” of the “diversity and inclusion that runs through the city”.
You’ll event get to submit a poem in the style of the wondrous John Cooper Clarke at The Lowry, which he’ll also personally review and award prizes to the best of.
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A new interactive AR trail celebrating Salford’s music and culture has just launched / Credit: The Lowry | Wikimedia Commons
Not enough to get you hooked?
How about the fact that you’ll even be able to enjoy the dulcet tones and supporting commentary of some local and national treasures around the trail too? Think guidance from the likes of Peter Hook, Maxine Peake, and John Cooper Clarke, as well as the next generation of incredible talent from the city such as Priya Matharu, and Cheddar Gorgeous.
Ultimately, the creators of Echo Salford say the app is about “sharing, uncovering, and restoring” heritage content.
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It will so this all while supporting new and future music in Salford, as well as providing career opportunities for both students and early-stage professionals as they start their media production careers too.
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett says the Echo Salford app is “a perfect example of the world-class innovation produced here in Salford”.
Launch day is finally here for @EchoSalford – the first ever Salford immersive culture and music trail app! 📱
He continued: “This wonderful immersive trail shows off Salford’s vibrant cultural and musical past, present and future.
“Bringing buildings and people to life in front of our eyes, there are many Salford greats to spot along the route [and] I would encourage residents and visitors interested in music, culture, or local history to download the app.
“It really is a fun way to explore Salford at your own pace.”
New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Emily Sergeant -
9th September 2023 
