There are some massive festivals on the way to the north west region, as the nation gears up for its first restriction-free summer in two years.
From the family-friendly to the world-famous raves, from festivals that base themselves in ground-breaking science to ones who take over a barn, there really is something for everyone this year.
We’ve rounded up here some of the best and biggest events to look forward to now.
Keep reading to find out what you need to know, from locations to line-ups to how to get tickets.
Highest Point
What is it? Lancashire’s biggest open-air festival, Highest Point was set up in 2018 and attracts around 35,000 music fans every year. Expect a range of music across multiple stages, as well as new additions this year – including the Not-tober beer hall, which will feature an immersive bingo experience with rave intervals, dance-offs and audience participation, karaoke, drag acts and more.
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Who are the headliners? Richard Ashcroft, Clean Bandit, Kaiser Chiefs, Basement Jaxx, Example, The Lottery Winners, Reverend and the Makers, Sigala, and more.
What is it? Manchester’s biggest party every year, attracting global talent and UK festival exclusives from across the worlds of dance, hip hop, grime, pop, rock, club and house music. The urban festival comes from the same team behind the Warehouse Project and pulls around 80,000 people to Heaton Park every summer.
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Who are the headliners? Tyler, the Creator, 50 Cent, Megan Thee Stallion, Lewis Capaldi, Arlo Parks, Chase & Status, Jamie xx, Four Tet, Jessie Ware and more.
What is it? Billed as a weekend of ‘quirky, hedonistic madness’, Moovin has stages including The Barn, a converted cow shed with a massive bar and hay bales to sit on. Once ‘Manchester’s best kept secret’, the independent event has become a well-established staple on the region’s events calendar.
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Who are the headliners? Orbital, Shy FX, Roy Ayers, Jazzy Jeff, Louie Vega, Moodymann, Sugarhill Gang, Sister Nancy, and more.
What is it? Taking over a corner of the beautiful Lake District, Kendal Calling is celebrating its 15th birthday this summer after a three-year hiatus. It’s one of the biggest festivals in the north west and draws in some of the biggest names in rock, indie, folk, and comedy.
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Who are the headliners? Supergrass, Stereophonics, Bastille, Craig David, The Wombats, The Kooks, Tom Grennan, The Vaccines, The Cribs, Declan McKenna, Sea Girls, Sophie Ellis Bextor, and more.
What is it? Marrying incredible countryside views with a massive indie-rock line up, plus comedy, paint fights, carnivals, an in-house cinema, great food, and a lot of fancy dress, Y Not is the Peak District’s biggest party.
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Who are the headliners? Stereophonics, Courteeners, Blossoms, The Kooks, Manic Street Preachers, Nothing But Thieves, The Vaccines, Levellers, Jake Bugg, Sea Girls, Kelis, Pale Waves, and more.
What is it? What started as a one-night-only, Proms-style concert has now swelled to a two week live music series on the banks of the Ribble Estuary. With space for up to 20,000 people a night, it’s previously been headlined by the likes of Stereophonics, Rod Stewart, and even Kylie Minogue.
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Who are the headliners? Diana Ross, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Duran Duran, Lewis Capaldi, Snow Patrol, Simply Red, The Strokes, Elbow, Tears For Fears, Paul Weller, The Charlatans, Goldfrapp, Jack Savoretti, Kodaline, and more.
Where is it? Lytham Green, Lytham St. Anne’s, Lancashire, FY8 5LB
What is it? Bluedot blends the worlds of music, science and culture in a family-friendly four-day extravaganza, with the incredible 76-metre-wide Lovell Telescope as its backdrop.
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Who are the headliners? Bjork with the Halle Orchestra, Groove Armada, Mogwai, Metronomy, Tim Peake, Spiritualized, Working Mens Club, Kelly Lee Owens, and more.
Flashback Festival is the newest to join the north west
What is it? A haven for 90s kids, 00s lovers, dance floor heroes, and underground clubbers, brand new Flashback Festival will be bringing ‘timeless tunes and fresh vibes’ to Platt Fields Park this May. There’ll be more than 60 artists across multiple stages.
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Who are the headliners? Example, Tinchy Stryder, 2 Unlimited, Tulisa, Judge Jules, Ultrabeat, Artful Dodger, Lisa Mafia and Romeo, all hosted by Kevin and Perry.
Where is it? Platt Fields Park, Fallowfield, M14 6LA
What is it? A four-day knees up over the June bank holiday weekend, bringing indie rock, a craft beer festival, big top bingo, a street food village, artisan markets, and family entertainment involving a giant bubble display and circus acts.
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Who are the headliners? The Zutons, Angie Brown, Rozalla, K-Klass, Peter Hook, Clint Boon, and more.
Where is it? The Lambing Shed, Moseley Hall Farm, Knutsford, WA16 8RB
What is it? Taking over a host of small Salford venues, this underground music festival has built a reputation for bringing huge artists to the city whilst they are still at early points in their careers. A firm favourite with local music lovers since it launched in 2005, this year’s line-up will continue to champion local promoters and small independent venues.
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Who are the headliners? LayFullstop, LYR, Lovescene, GNOD, Hamish Hawk, Queer Latifah, Pip Blom, TYSON, Chande and Gracie T, Holy Other, and more.
Where is it? Various venues around Chapel Street, Salford
Kings of Leon at Co-op Live, Manchester – blinding in every way
Daisy Jackson
Will Kings of Leon ever lose their ability to sell out enormous arenas in the UK? Based on the cup-slinging, sat-on-shoulders, full-pelt-singing crowd that rushed the Co-op Live on Saturday night – nope.
The American rockers are back out on a short tour, but rather than plugging a new album, this feels like a greatest hits, remember-how-good-we-are-live tour.
It’s a setlist that will please those of us who loved their twangier, garage-rock earlier albums, Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak, with live highlights including The Bucket, Molly’s Chambers, Four Kicks, and King of The Rodeo (my personal favourite).
But there’s plenty of their more recent, stadium-worthy rock anthems thrown in too, like the inescapable Sex On Fire. Love it loathe it, you can’t deny its impact when played in a venue of adoring fans.
Kings of Leon arrived in Manchester on 4 July, and dress for the occasion. Jared Followill strolls on stage in a faded, cropped Stars and Stripes tee. Caleb Followill opts for double denim. Nathan Followill is behind the kit in a ‘wife-beater’ vest.
They look every bit the all-American rock band. They must stick out like sore thumbs wandering around the UK between tour dates.
Less impressive is the slightly maddening stage design. The band spend much of the night silhouetted against enormous banks of blinding lights. If you’re looking straight at the stage, it’s like staring directly into the sun for two hours, or accidentally walking into a scrum of paparazzi just as Taylor Swift arrives. Once you accept that you’ll spend the evening partially blinded, though, there’s very little to fault.
Musically, they’re immaculate. Every song sounds as polished as the record, but never sterile. They make it all look absurdly easy, which is hardly surprising given they’ve been playing together for more than 25 years.
Nathan’s especially nonchalant – in the middle of intricate drum fills, he’s chewing bubble gum as if he’s waiting for a bus rather than holding together one of rock’s biggest bands.
There’s an instinctive chemistry between the Followill family members that’s impossible to manufacture. Unlike the Gallagher brothers, who always seem on the verge of putting each other in a headlock, Kings of Leon perform with complete harmony. Every glance and transition feels effortless, the product of decades spent sharing stages together.
The band have been changing their setlist throughout the tour, but nobody expected a heartfelt rendition of America The Beautiful. Unsurprisingly, it’s the only song of the night the British crowd doesn’t sing along to, and it even draws a few boos before the band move swiftly on.
There are reminders throughout of where they came from. Caleb’s unmistakable Tennessee drawl still gives the songs that loose, bluesy Southern character that first set them apart, even as arenas sing every word back to them. During ‘Use Somebody’, he happily hands the chorus over to the crowd with a simple, “Alright, you sing it then,” barely needing to touch the microphone.
When the set finally ends, the band don’t rush off. They linger on stage, tossing guitar picks and sweat-soaked handkerchiefs into the crowd, waving from every corner of the stage and soaking it all in with broad smiles.
After all these years, they still look genuinely grateful to be there. For a band who’ve been doing this for more than two decades, it’s reassuring to see the novelty hasn’t worn off.
Kings of Leon at Co-op Live Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for UK tour
Thomas Melia
American rock band Kings of Leon are making their way to Manchester for a second visit to Co-op Live as part of their current EU/UK arena tour.
Formed in 1999 by brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared, plus their cousin Matthew Followill, the rock band has gone on to achieve nine top 40 singles and six UK number one albums.
The rockers have two singles in Spotify’s Billions Club, including their standout hit ‘Sex on Fire’, which has amassed over 2 billion streams and ‘Use Somebody’ with 1.2 billion – two tracks that helped skyrocket them from cult favourites here in Britain to global superstars.
This four-piece’s latest LP, Can We Please Have Fun, dropped mid-2024 and knowing how energetic crowds were at the previous Manc gig, it’s safe to say we’ve got this covered.
They even let us know the England score last time out (read our full review), too.
Gig guide – Kings of Leon at Co-op Live, Manchester
Kings of Leon UK tour dates
Fri 3 July – Glasgow, UK – Bellahouston Park
Sat 4 July – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
Mon 6 July – Leeds, UK – First Direct Bank Arena
Are there any tickets left for Kings of Leon at Co-op Live?
If you’re wondering where you’ll ‘Find Me’ on Saturday 4 July, it is probably watching these four relatives play their two decades’ worth of hits at Co-op Live.
Don’t ‘Waste a Moment’ as there’s only a limited number of tickets left if you’re after catching a glimpse of Kings of Leon live – get yours HERE.
Kings of Leon are gearing up for their Manchester gig at Co-op Live this July (Credit: Press shot)
Kings of Leon setlist for 2026 UK tour
These American rockers have been performing all across Europe, switching up a couple of songs at each show; however, the hits below have featured at most of their appearances.
Slow Night, So Long
Waste a Moment
Find Me
On Call
Radioactive
The Bucket
Revelry
Manhattan
Use Somebody
Wait For M
Split Screen
Closer
Molly’s Chambers
Razz
MyParty
Supersoaker
Fans
Back Down South
Seen
Pyro
Black Thumbnail
To Space
Knocked Up
Sex on Fire
What are the stage times for Kings of Leon in Manchester?
Doors for Kings of Leon at Co-op Live in Manchester are set to open at 6pm with a kick-off time of 7pm from a huge indie rock band.
Supporting the US rockers is a band who have received comparisons to Kings of Leon, the loud-and-proud Scottish stars The Snuts, known for their tracks like ‘Glasgow’, ‘Elephants’ and ‘Maybe California’.
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live.
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue, but this must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU, and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide on event day, though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes on the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Tickets for Kings of Leon’s UK tour dates are selling out fast. (Credit: Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons)
Daisy Jackson -
16th April 2022 
