Live music, a fun fair, extreme sports, and a huge beach are just some of the attractions kicking off summer in Manchester next month.
After a number of community action projects and events have been taking place across the region over the last few months now, Festival Manchester is set finally come together for one last huge celebration in Wythenshawe Park next month – and it’s free for everyone to attend.
Taking place on Friday 1 – Sunday 3 July, and organised by hundreds of churches, and businesses, as well as local charities The Message Trust and Luis Palau Association, Festival Manchester will also include a family fun zone, a high-tech gaming lobby, a mass children’s choir, and live music from a lineup of local acts.
Some of the artists on the musical lineup include Goodboys, Lecrae, Kingdom Choir, Matt Redman, LZ7, Saintz, Guvna B, OTC, Amongst Wolves, and SoulBox.
Festival Manchester is aiming to create “region-wide transformation across the North West”, according to festival organisers.
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It’ll be done so by bringing local churches, charities, and communities together to help address real societal problems amid the cost of living crisis – such as food poverty, homelessness, the environment, and the need for more safe and loving homes for children and teenagers in care.
Festival Manchester will take over Wythenshawe Park on Friday 1 – Sunday 3 July 2022 / Credit: Festival Manchester
The run-up to the event has also seen multiple ‘Love Where U Live’ community action projects launched to support communities across Manchester with a range of local issues.
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Speaking ahead of the arrival of Festival Manchester next month, Paul Dennett – Mayor of the City of Salford and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester – said: “After a really difficult few years following the COVID-19 global pandemic, it is great to see community, voluntary and faith-based organisations coming together to celebrate the amazing work our residents and communities do all-year-round through a free family friendly music festival.
“Festival Manchester will be a real spectacle in celebrating our city-region’s rich and diverse talent and creativity, bringing people and communities together, whilst also providing many activities for residents of Greater Manchester and beyond to get involved in.”
Andy Hawthorne OBE – founder and CEO of The Message Trust – added: “We’re filling Wythenshawe Park with live music, a fun fair, extreme sports, huge beach, hi-tech gaming lobby, inflatables, kids zone and so much more that everyone across Greater Manchester and the North West can come and enjoy for free.
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“It’s all being put on by hundreds of churches from across our region who want to bring the community together and share a message of hope with people as they have fun.
“In the build-up to the festival weekend, you may see teams out clearing litter from streets, tidying up gardens or planting some of the 5,000 fruit trees we’re adding to the local environment.
“We can’t wait to welcome you to Festival Manchester.”
Live music, a fun fair, extreme sports, and a huge beach are just some of the attractions to make the most of / Credit: Festival Manchester
Festival Manchester will take over Wythenshawe Park on Friday 1 – Sunday 3 July 2022, and you can find more information here.
Featured Image – Supplied
What's On
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Yard Act announce handful of new headline shows ahead of 6Music gig in Manchester
Clementine Hall
Yard Act are back as they announce first round of UK headline dates since 2024, including a show right here in Manchester – but not before their BBC 6Music Festival gig later this week.
We are so, SO back.
It’s been a few years, but Yard Act have just announced a limited run of domestic shows for later in the year including their homecoming gig at the O2 Academy in Leeds on Friday, 6 November.
But after playing over in Yorkshire, the lads will be performing shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse on the following Friday (13 Nov).
Yard Act completed the touring for their critically acclaimed second album, Where’s My Utopia?, with a victory lap back home at the 5000 capacity Millennium Square in Leeds in August ’24.
It was a record that brought a stark change of pace to the acerbic, post-punk of their debut, embracing something altogether more playful and bringing a different energy.
It shifted the dynamic on stage too, with the addition of dancing backing singers and additional musicians and openly challenged listeners to reconsider who they thought Yard Act were.
Since then, the band have been keeping busy writing and recording their third studio LP, as well as heading out across the UK and Europe with The Hives – oh, and that intimate one-off show at Blackpool Tower last May.
Following a lengthy stint in the studio, the band now look to this coming autumn for three big UK dates and we cannot wait. We spoke to them a little while back and know how much big stuff they’ve got further pipeline; you can see the interview HERE.
Booking just three headline slots, the handful of tour dates are as follows:
06 Nov – Leeds
13 Nov – Manchester
26 Nov – London
Tickets go on artist presale from 10am on Wednesday, 25 March before hitting general sale at 10am on Friday, 27 March. Sign up to grab yours right HERE.
As for those wanting to find out more about this year’s 6Music Fest, you find the full lineup and more down below.
Emily Sergeant -
7th June 2022 
