The team behind one of Manchester‘s best-loved festivals has launched a new clubbing series in the city centre.
The organisers of Moovin’ Festival – which is known for taking over the fields of Stockport every summer – are bringing the festival’s eclectic vibes to dance floors across the region with a new series of unique club shows, which is aptly named ‘Moovin-In’.
Popular Manchester city centre venue O2 Victoria Warehouse is set to become the host of one of the year’s biggest parties.
The third edition of the Moovin-In clubbing series at O2 Victoria Warehouse on Friday 5 May sees previous Moovin residents and pioneers bring a mix of Drum and Bass, Jungle, Reggae, and Dub to headline what sounds set to be an unbeatable night.
The legendary David Rodigan, who is known as the original Reggae selector and soundclash champion, and is famous for his electric on-stage energy, is set to make his Moovin-In debut, and joining him in a rare Manchester appearance is Congo Natty, aka Rebel MC, who is widely-respected as one of the trailblazers in Jungle music.
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The team behind one of Manchester’s best-loved festivals has launched a new clubbing series / Credit: Supplied
Also on the lineup for the night is Mad Professor – a Guyanese-born British dub music producer known for leading the second generation of dub reggae through his ‘Dub Me Crazy’ album series, which helped take Dub to a mainstream audience.
Alongside him is another true veteran of the urban music scene, General Levy – who is still one of the most in demand MCs in the country, and is famous for his exhilarating sets.
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British Jungle and D’n’B duo, Micky Finn & Aphrodite, who are known for their long-standing anthems and have been a mainstay on the worldwide rave scene after living and breathing underground music for over 30 years, will also be making an appearance.
Dillinja, who is one of the more prolific producers in Jungle music with records on over 10 different labels – including his own – will also bring his innovative and ever-evolving style to Moovin-In.
O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester will host of one of the year’s biggest parties / Credit: Supplied
As mentioned, some of the residents, locals, and upcoming acts who always play their part in Moovin Festival will remain to do so at the new club shows – with some of the names on the lineup set to bring a taste of their Mancunian D’n’B flavours to the stage including Mikey D.O.N, Mark XTC, Dawn Raid, Helen K, Jazzy Lioness, Indika, Woodstar, and Cameron Saccani.
Featured Image – O2 Victoria Warehouse (Academy Music Group)
Gigs & Nightlife
Parklife 2026 – stage times, line-up, tickets, travel, and everything else you need to know
Daisy Jackson
Parklife 2026 is heading back to the fields of Heaton Park in Manchester this month, for another huge instalment of the legendary local festival.
Tens of thousands of fans will be making their way to the park ready for the party of the year, which attracts the biggest names in dance, electronic, pop and house music.
With headline sets this year from Zara Larsson, Calvin Harris, Skepta and Sammy Virji, it’s shaping up to be another epic year.
Parklife is consistently one of the biggest events in the Manchester cultural calendar and has lined up plenty of new developments this year.
From brand-new stages to that fancy VIP area unveiled last year, plus all the travel, tickets, and other info you need to know is below.
When is Parklife 2026?
This year’s Parklife is taking place on Saturday 20 June and Sunday 21 June.
As a reminder, this is a non-camping festival, so you’ll need to navigate your way there and home again each day.
Gates will be open between 12pm and 11pm on Saturday, and 1pm and 11pm on Sunday.
Last entry will be strictly 5pm on both days.
Stage times
Parklife 2026 will bring huge names back to Heaton Park. Credit: Sam Neill
Parklife has shared its full list of stage times and splits ahead of the big weekend, with live updates dropping on the app over the weekend.
You can see the full list of stage times HERE, but I’ll round up the major headliners below too.
On Saturday, East End Dubs will headline the new Panorama Stage from 9.30pm, with Rossi. on stage beforehand from 8pm.
Sammy Virji will headline the main Valley Stage from 9.30pm, with Skepta performing between 8pm and 9pm.
As for Sunday, the Valley Stage will be headlined by Calvin Harris from 9.25pm, Zara Larsson from 7.40pm, and Rudim3ntal from 6pm.
The Panorma Stage will have KETTAMA on from 8pm and Chris Stussy from 9.30pm.
Tickets for Parklife 2026
Parklife tickets are £100.75 each for Saturday, and £105.85 each for Sunday, with tickets still on sale.
You can see the latest availability and grab your tickets for Saturday HERE or Sunday HERE.
Weekend tickets for both days are also still available at £161.75 – see those HERE.
VIP and Backstage tickets and upgrades
The new ‘Backstage’ VIP viewing area at Parklife 2025The new ‘Backstage’ VIP bar area at Parklife 2025
Last year, Parklife unveiled its new-look VIP and Backstage areas right in the heart of the festival site, with dedicated viewing areas overlooking The Valley stage.
A VIP ticket also gets you fast-track entry to the festival, posher loos, a VIP cocktail bar, a separate street food market, and even access to a hair and makeup salon.
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If you really go all out on the Backstage ticket, that gets you an even posher VIP zone to hang out in, backstage toilets, covered seating areas, a pamper station, and a premium backstage bar.
You can upgrade to VIP for £46.05 on Saturday HERE, or Sunday HERE, or make your whole weekend VIP for £62.85 HERE.
Travel pass and how to get to Parklife
Parklife takes place up at Heaton Park, and while a lot of festival-goers do choose to walk home after the music stops, there are a lot of public transport and dedicated services to help you get home safe too.
The Parklife Travel Pass offers the best flexibility and the quickest ways to get to the festival as it covers any bus or tram service, including the direct Parklife Shuttle Bus.
The Travel Pass costs £8 for one day, or £14.95 for the weekend, and you can purchase it on the Bee Network app.
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Trams will operate every seven minutes between Victoria and Heaton Park – use the Heaton Park stop for entry to the festival, but bear in mind this stop will close from 9pm so you’ll need to use Bowker Vale to get home after this time.
The Parklife Shuttle Bus runs throughout the day, departing from Minshull Street to right outside the festival site. The first bus will leave at 10.30am on Saturday and 11.30am on Sunday, while the last buses will go at 4.30pm on both days. For return, departures are from outside the Woodthorpe pub by the West Gate to Shudehill, starting from 6.30pm and continuing until everyone is off the festival site.
Official car parking is available through the Parklife app, for spaces in the Sheepfoot Lane car park. Bear in mind there’ll be a number of road closures which may cause delays leaving the car park.
There is no longer an official pick-up point, with Sainbury’s no longer in use for pick-up and drop-off. Instead, those being collected from the festival should organise an area at least 1km away from the park.
Weather forecast
It’s looking like pretty great weather for Parklife 2026 so far (which is a relief because the last few years have been wet).
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According to the Met Office, Manchester will remain rain-free throughout both days of Parklife.
On Saturday, you can expect some cloud and lots of sunshine, with highs of 22º and lows of 14º.
Sunday will be much warmer, reaching 26º and getting as low as 17º.
The Hangar stage is so 2025 – this year, Parklife will be debuting a brand-new Panorama Stage, with a whopping curved 100m LED screen.
The festival’s new arrival will also have on-stage and behind-booth access, plus multi-tiered dance platforms right across the surrounding festival site.
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Parklife has shared new CGIs and a video of how the stage will look and this looks like it’s about to push the festival to a new level.
Banned items, lockers, and more
The list of banned items for Parklife 2026 is long, and includes the obvious (no drugs, no weapons, no glass) and the less obvious (no bikes, dogs, or hover-boards).
You are allowed to take an umbrella but it must be a compact one, can take sun cream but it needs to be in a 200ml or less original container, and you can take in an empty plastic bottle up to 500ml which you can refill at water points around the festival site.
Make sure you check the full list of banned items HERE so you don’t get caught out.
There are also lockers on site this year that you can pre-book, which you can access throughout the day for peace of mind while you party.
Parklife has quietly added a major DJ set from Happy Mondays’ Bez
Daisy Jackson
Parklife has quietly added a DJ set from Bez this afternoon, joining an already stacked festival line-up.
Eagle-eyed users of the Parklife app (aka, us) have spotted that as the big weekend nears, a few new stages have popped up on the plans.
And that’s included a new Beatbox Stage, which on Saturday will host a mega set from the icon that is Bez, from Happy Mondays.
Bez isn’t the only nostalgic name who’s been added to the line-up for Saturday – the Beatbox Stage will also host a set from Artful Dodger.
The 2000s garage icons will be taking to the stage at 3pm for a set that will hopefully include their massive hits like Moving Too Fast, Re-Rewind (with Craig David), and Woman Trouble.
On Sunday, the newly-added Beatbox Stage will be hosting DJ Fat Tony, who you might know for getting stuck into the middle of the Beckham family feud – but he’s also one of the most in-demand A-list DJs, having spun for icons like Madonna, Prince, and Elton John.
Parklife has also quietly added a few secret sets to the bill, which we’ll be keeping a close eye on.
They join existing Parklife headliners including Calvin Harris, Zara Larsson, Chris Stussy, Sammy Virji, Skepta, and East End Dubs.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June, thousands of music-lovers will be flocking to the fields of Heaton Park ready for this year’s instalment of Parklife.
Emily Sergeant -
18th January 2023 
