It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year since we last gave you a list of New Year’s Eve parties, but time marches on and it’s already time to ring in another new year.
As is usual with Manchester, there’ll be lively celebrations going on in all corners of the city, from the tiny club nights that go til dawn to the world-famous series drawing tens of thousands into one room.
Some of the city’s biggest parties – like The Warehouse Project’s New Year’s Eve club night at Depot Mayfield – have already sold out, but there are plenty more events to sink your teeth in to.
There’s loads going on in Manchester on 31 December, with tickets still available for a lot of the city’s biggest parties.
One of Manchester’s best-loved club nights will be taking over the newly-reborn New Century for an almighty New Year’s Eve party.
Homoelectric’s NYE party promises ‘an evening of cosmic grooves, street soul, slo mo dance, boogie, black heart disco, us garage, house, technoid outerspace sonic science and bass buggin’ rawness’.
They say: “It seemed perfect timing to host a very special Homoelectric at this venue on New Years Eve and do something completely different from our normal dark basement back street affair.
“This our last Homoelectric party of the year. To say we are excited is an understatement.”
Famed for its all-in lavish parties, The Refuge won’t be holding back as it rings in 2023, promising to ‘turn up the heat a little’.
They’re promising to add a dash of tropical energy to Manchester, with afro-latin music, deep house and disco, explosions of colour and immersive performances.
Artists will include Hannah O’Gorman and Isaac Williams a.k.a. DJ collective, Nossa, and Levi Love.
Dine and Dance tickets are sold out but you can still get Let’s Dance tickets £30 here – including a glass of prosecco if you rock up before 9pm.
Dance into the Future at Ramona
Credit: Ramona
Fast becoming a fan favourite for a night out is Ramona and the Firehouse, located in an old MOT garage just of Swan Street.
By day it’s pizza and margaritas, but by night, it’s glitterballs and catwalks.
31 December will be their ‘biggest party yet’ in the Ramona festival tipi, featuring live performances including Age of Glass, guest DJs and dance tents.
Tickets cost £27.50 and are available through See Tickets.
One of the city’s longest-running club nights is getting stuck in to all the New Year’s Eve action, right through to 4am on 1 January.
Funkademia has been running since 1995 and is heading back to its spiritual home Mint Lounge with disco and funk bangers all night long.
From Michael Jackson to Aretha Franklin to James Brown to Chaka Khan to Stevie Wonder to Snoop Dogg to Prince to Diana Ross to Chic and Sister Sledge and everything in between, you’ll absolutely not want to leave that dance floor.
Tickets start at £6.60 if you’re quick – visit Skiddle for yours.
Disco Dancer at Bundobust Brewery
Bundobust Brewery. Credit: Supplied
Bundobust Brewery, easily one of Manchester’s coolest restaurants and bars, is keeping the doors open and the vibes going until 1am on New Year’s Eve.
Their Disco Dancer event – theme is Bundobust Brewery goes to Bollywood – will have entertainment, projections, and a party soundtrack from Andy Votel.
Starting the party will be Niamh McGuinness from Angel Meadows Soul Club, one of Manchester’s rising clubnight heroes. Expect rousing Northern Soul, Motown, and R&B selections 6-9pm before Andy takes over the decks.
Tickets are just a tenner, which includes two drinks. Would be rude not to. Get yours here.
Keep It Unreal Nye: Mr. Scruff + Mc Kwasi at Band on the Wall
You know it’s going to be a good Manc knees-up when Mr Scruff is on the bill, and especially when that bill is taking place at the legendary Band on the Wall.
Alongside MC Kwasi, they’ll bring in the new year with a six-hour DJ session of jazz, soul, hip hop, funk, disco, deep house, reggae, afrobeat, latin, electro, techno, new wave and ‘plenty of goodies that don’t fit into any category’.
Band on the Wall stresses that all are welcome to party, ‘regardless of age, nationality, mobility, gender or sexuality’ – which is what we like to hear.
More 90s vibes now – because why not – as the beautiful Albert Hall is turned into a nostalgic dance party.
90s Baby will feature a wide range of the decade’s biggest live acts and DJs, from Alex Party (best known for her massive hit Don’t Give Me Your Life to Baby D (Let Me Be Your Fantasy).
Rounding off the star-studded line-up is N-Trance, Phats & Small and K-Klass with some throwback DJ sets.
Final tickets, priced £28.00, are on sale now through Skiddle – and there’s a group discount of four tickets for the price of three if you round up some mates.
Hidden NYE at Hidden
UK Garage will be the order of the night at Hidden, one of Manchester’s most-loved clubbing venues.
Explore the four rooms, from the courtyard through to the graffiti-covered walkways that lead to the basement den, a Blue Room and Hangar Space, while you count down to midnight (and beyond).
Legendary DJ John Digweed will be rocking up at Joshua Brooks with his even more legendary club night Bedrock.
John has been a pioneer of electronic music for more than three decades thanks to his technical mixing style, while Joshua Brooks has cemented itself as one of Manchester’s post popular nighttime venues.
Some festivals give you good music. Some give you great crowds. And a very rare few create a world so immersive, you forget you’re even at a festival; the cult favourite Beat-Herder Festival does it all – and then some.
Tucked into the Ribble Valley countryside in the Lancashire town of Clitheroe, The Beat-Herder Festival isn’t your average weekend of tents and tunes.
It’s a handcrafted, mind-bending wonderland built by a small crew of dreamers who clearly love what they do and want you to feel the same.
Whether it’s your first time or your fifteenth, the moment you step through the gates, you know you’re in for something special
Then there’s Hotel California, not just an Eagles reference but a site where you could catch a full-on rave in a wild west saloon, as well as The Parish Church: a gothic fairytale where choirs turn into choons and the altar doubles as a DJ booth.
One of the weekend’s highlights came tucked inside The Beat-Herder Working Men’s Club, where The Clone Roses had the entire crowd bouncing with their uncanny tribute to The Stones.
When ‘I Am the Resurrection’ dropped, it was hands-in-the-air euphoria; a true pinch-me moment. Ian Brown might as we have been on the stage, the way the crowd were going wild.
And it wasn’t just music. The Working Men’s also hosted ‘Beat-Herder’s Got Talent’, which is a chaotic and charming mix of poetry, dragon dancing, comedy sketches and more. Heartfelt, hilarious and very Beat-Herder.
Truly immersive worlds
Venture deeper into the wonderful world of Beat-Herder and you’ll find entire miniature towns within the festival. There’s a literal high street, complete with its own tattoo parlour, barbers, a swap shop and even a secret swimming pool.
We’re not going to disclose its location, but let’s just say if you find a dodgy-looking wooden gate and hear splashing on the other side – knock twice and bring a towel…
Late-night mayhem
As the sun went down, the party really came to life. The Beyond Tunnel was your portal to new dimensions, opening out into a maze of secret stages and psychedelic visuals.
From psytrance at The Sunrise Stage, to bassline chaos at The Laundrette and candy-coloured chaos at Bubba Gumma, it was a rabbit hole of sound you never wanted to leave.
Then there was The Temple – a fire-breathing stage that became a haven for breakbeats, jungle, techno and house. Tim Reaper’s set here was a standout for us – fast, furious, and euphoric.
And just when we thought the night was over, we found ourselves at a secret 3am b2b set with Tim Reaper and Samurai Breaks that blew us away – two talented DJs that had the crowd wanting even more despite the sun quite literally rising on the next day.
Another hidden gem was The Ring, an intimate open-air arena where we caught Jungle pioneer Goldie, alongside Sheffield’s own Silva Bumpa and Soul Mass Transit System for a bass-heavy b2b set that rattled your bones and lit up the crowd.
Then there’s The Factory – a steel-clad rave bunker pumping out electro, acid and heavy techno deep into the night. Dancing inside while the rain pelted the tin roof added a layer of gritty industrial magic – proper spine-tingling stuff if you’re into that sweaty, underground energy.
And just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes Fowler’s Garage: a chaotic, petrolhead fever dream of a stage where you can literally dance on top of cars. DJs spin sets from inside the vehicles, cooking up a storm from the front seat while the crowd parties on the roof.
It’s unhinged in the best way possible and one of the most unique spaces you’ll ever rave in.
Power and the people
What really makes Beat-Herder feel different is the people. There’s an unspoken code of friendliness here – everyone’s up for a chat, a laugh, or a spontaneous dance. You could spill your pint and end up making a friend for life. That kind of energy is rare, and Beat-Herder wears it like a badge of honour.
The merch stand has that signature hand-crafted feel. All of the merch is hand-printed, with designs that feel like proper collector’s items rather than throwaway souvenirs. We spotted punters proudly repping Beat-Herder tees from as far back as 2012 – testament to how deep the community pride runs here.
Even on the way out, with vans and cars getting stuck in the mud, everyone mucked in to help push – proof that the Beat-Herder spirit sticks with you long after you’ve left the gates. Just a bunch of lovely people all getting together to have a good time and make memories for life.
Credit: Andrew Whitton
Fantastic fancy dress
Saturday brought the iconic fancy dress theme – this year, the letter G. And wow, did people go for it. Giraffes towered above the crowd, Gnomes danced in groups, Gardeners handed out seed packets, and one hero turned up as ‘Garbage’, wearing an actual dustbin with a lid strapped to his head. We laughed for a full five minutes.
Final thoughts from the fields
Even though Beat-Herder was slightly scaled down this year due to budget cuts, it never once felt like anything was missing. If anything, it brought a tighter, even more magic-filled experience. The attention to detail, the creativity, and the atmosphere are still unmatched – a reminder that this isn’t just a festival. It’s a fully fledged world of its own.
If you’re looking for something different – stick this one at the very top of your list. But be warned: once you’ve been, you’ll never stop going back.
Tickets for next year go on sale on Thursday, 31 July, and you can be ready to grab your tickets HERE.
You can guarantee you’ll see us at back-to-back Beat-Herder Festivals again in 2026.
Oasis are well and truly back on top as they performed for the final night at Heaton Park and what could still be the very last time in Manchester.
There are countless moments every night that show how uniting this full-on cultural moment has been.
The guy in the wheelchair being lifted overhead by a group of strangers for a better view. The couple getting engaged before being enveloped in a sea of bucket hats. The thousands of people gathering on ‘Gallagher Hill’ every night just to be close to this historic music event.
Then the celeb-spotting too: Jack Grealish, Shaun Ryder and Andy Whyment off Corrie in the same frame of a video; Orlando Bloom waving at fans. Liam and Noel’s kids all together on a big cousins’ night out. It’s had it all.
For a lot of Mancs, the Oasis reunion has felt like Christmas morning ever since it was announced last year following a number of post-gig teasers like that Blossoms headliner at Wythenshawe Park.
And it certainly felt like that as we braved the soggy ground over at Heaton Park for their fifth and final live show in Manchester.
The atmosphere in the crowd was almost surreal, a mass of Britpop-loving super fans who have been waiting for this exact moment for almost twenty years – and you could tell.
As the brothers strutted on stage, hand in hand, a feeling of euphoric joy surged from the crowd of 80,000.
For two hours, they deliver anthem after anthem, each song transcending generations as the older lot look back to their ‘Live Forever’ days and the youth can’t quite wrap their head around the band in front of them being here and now.
Oasis’ final night at Heaton Park was everything we dreamed it would be. (Credit: Audio North)
Oasis are just as good as ever; Liam’s gritty vocals and Noel‘s ripping guitar slot together perfectly as though they were made for one another.
They’re loud and they’re unapologetic, they are the sound of the people, and we were absolutely lapping it up.
Every song was a hit, from bangers like ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ to fan favourite ‘Live Forever’, and of course ‘Wonderwall’, the brothers gave the people exactly what they wanted.
Liam, maracas in hand and parka zipped to the top, not only might be the coolest man to walk the planet, but was undoubtedly born to be a frontman of a band. The head nods, the frowning eyebrows, the fists clenched behind his back – we were fully gripped by his sheer stage presence.
Images: The Manc Group
There was a moment where he put the tambourine in his mouth, closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky, taking it all in and getting lost in the music – an icon.
And of course, in true Manc fashion, the heavens opened an hour into their set as the grey cloud everyone had an eye on took centre stage.
Did we care? No, we did not. It only made the moment that more special as we united as one unit, singing as loud as we could to combat the elements.
It’s clear to see how much Oasis means to so many; their music is embedded into the national psyche with a presence that simply defines generations.
Who knows when they’ll be performing back in Manchester again, and if this was their last time, then they can rest assured that by returning, they’ve made themselves the biggest band in the world again. And that’s an accolade they truly deserve.
Daisy Jackson -
21st December 2022 
