Missed out on Glastonbury tickets this year? Don’t worry – one of Manchester’s best-loved venues is showing the festival live on big screens all weekend instead.
As the UK’s biggest festival, and one of the longest-running in the world, there’s absolutely no denying that Glastonbury is an icon of music and contemporary arts culture – but there’s also no denying that tickets to the festival are some of the hardest there is to secure.
Every summer, around 200,000 lucky people make their way to the Somerset countryside for the biggest music event of the year – which takes place over five days at Worthy Farm in June – but every summer, there are hundreds of thousands more who are desperate to attend, but weren’t able to get hold of tickets.
And this is why one popular Manchester city centre venue is offering up “the next best thing” for people still keen to “bask in the festival atmosphere” around dozens of others.
Manchester’s largest street food fair and social events hub, GRUB, is gearing up to host the aptly-named ‘GRUBstonbury’ in just a few weeks time.
Of course running over Glastonbury weekend, not only will there be several big screens set up throughout the hugely-popular venue – which is currently based down at the Red Bank Project in Cheetham Hill – but ‘festivalgoers’ can also expect a whole weekend of street food, live DJ sets, a glitter bar, tap takeovers, and so much more.
There’ll even be a family-friendly party courtesy of ‘Born To Be Wild Child’, a dedicated garden rum bar, a series of different activity workshops, and film screenings inside the venue’s cinema Cultplex.
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The weekend “packed full of festival fun” kicks off on Friday 23 June with a ‘Glastonbury Bangers’ special edition of GRUB’s ever-popular Disco Bingo event, and continues right through until the festival’s closing day on Sunday.
GRUB promises “fun and games” scattered all throughout the weekend.
Manchester venue to show Glastonbury live on big screens across full festival weekend / Credit: GRUB
And of course, it wouldn’t be a GRUB party without some of the best independent street food traders thd city has to offer serving up a feast fit for any festival – with food coming from the likes of Gatto Pizza, Desert Island Dumplings, Korean Grub Club, Spicy Baby, Tiny Beast, Bakes, and Mary’s Cakery Makery.
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North Brewing Co are on the lined-up for a tap takeover, while Sparkle Creations will be offering up a festival ‘Glitter Bar’, and Witch Kings are hosting their very-own Rum Garden Bar takeover.
There’ll also be flower crown and macrame workshops to get involved in.
You can watch Twilight with a live orchestra surrounded by candlelight in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
One of the most iconic literary and film sagas of the 21st century is celebrating 20 years since the first book was published next year.
And to celebrate this milestone moment, you’ll be able to watch the first film live in dozens of cities across the UK surrounded by the beauty of more than a thousand candles while a live orchestra plays the soundtrack to accompany.
That’s right, Twilight in Concert is coming to Manchester.
Undeniably one of the most successful young adult film franchises of all time, with five films (Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Parts 1 & 2) to its name, The Twilight Saga has impressively grossed more than $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office.
You can watch Twilight with a live orchestra surrounded by candlelight in Manchester / Credit: Supplied
The films were adapted from author Stephenie Meyer’s acclaimed literary series that won multiple awards over its time, sold more than 160 million copies worldwide, and was translated into 49 different languages.
But no matter whether you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob, Twilight In Concert promises to be an unforgettable event for fans of the belovedfranchise, two decades on.
Set in an enchanting candlelit setting, TwilightIn Concert offers fans a unique opportunity to re-live the film that started it all, while musicians take the stage to perform the beloved score in perfect synchronisation with the original movie presented in its entirety on a cinema-size screen.
You can expect a 12-piece ensemble of rock and orchestral musicians / Credit: Supplied
You can expect a 12-piece ensemble of rock and orchestral musicians to transport you on a journey deep into the heart of Forks.
Twilight in Concert will be stopping off at 12 other major UK cities on its tour, including other northern hubs such as Sheffield, York, and Liverpool, as well as arriving at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall on Friday 6 February 2026.
Tickets are now on sale, and you can find out more and get your hands on them here.
Featured Image – Supplied
What's On
A brand new grunge and hard rock festival is kicking off in Manchester
Danny Jones
Manchester grungers, hardcore heads, and fans of all things rock, pay attention because there is a brand new festival coming to the city centre – and it has possibly the best name for a live music event we’ve heard in some time.
Ahem… let us introduce you to Broken Knees Fest.
Yes, donning a name that feels increasingly more relatable the closer we get to the wrong side of 30, Broken Knees Festival 2025 marks the inaugural edition of Manchester’s newest series of rock and grunge gigs, helping spotlight rising artists across the genres from within two crucial grassroots venues.
Very loud music inside tightly-packed, small-capacity rooms? It’s a winning formula that never fails. It’s about time we broke a sweat – here’s hoping the knees just about hold out.
Hosted in the heart of the Northern Quarter, which continues to thrive as a creative hub for new music and art of all forms, the festival will be debuting at small-cap favourites Gullivers and Castle Hotel just across the road.
As you can see, the lineup is full of up-and-coming talent within the guitar-driven space, but you can bank on more than a few bringing their die-hard fans to fill the place out to the rafters.
It doesn’t matter if you prefer punk, hardcore, grunge or another specific sub-genre found somewhere in between the ever-sprawling rock spectrum, there’s something to suit all alternative tastes at this one.
With the likes of Bohmen, Mavis, One Dimensional Creatures and Smother headlining the first-ever iteration of the festival across four stages, you can expect plenty of energy and even more noise.
Set up by the events group of the same name, Broken Knees Promotions, who help platform rock and alt acts across Greater Manchester and beyond year-round, this is more than just a festival: it’s a grassroots celebration through and through.
Best of all, if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait long because it’s kicking off next month.
Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)
Broken Knees Fest 2025 is happening on the weekend of 21-22 June, and you’ll be glad to hear that, as a brand new event, prices have been kept nice and low.
The early bird window had prices starting from just £12, and although this tier has now sold out, day tickets are still only £15 while a full weekend pass will set you back £25.
Until then, why not dive into another load of new Manchester music? We round up artists from all genres each month; we’ll also confess to leaning slightly more towards the heavier stuff from time to time.
Emily Sergeant -
24th May 2023 
