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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Beloved British boy band Five are BACK in FULL for the first time in 25 years
Danny Jones
No, your eyes don’t deceive you: all five members of the beloved British boy band Five are set to reunite for the first time in a quarter of a century.
Formed way back in 1997 and dominating the charts throughout the period in and around the millennium, the iconic pop group was the UK’s answer to the Backstreet Boys and NSNYC, as well as a much-needed replacement for Take That just after their split.
And they did exactly that for a number of years, with hit tracks like ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Keep On Movin”, ‘Everybody Get Up’, ‘If Ya Gettin’ Down’ and more still firmly stuck in our memories.
It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, we still remember all the words and the dance moves to go along with them – and we’ll be able to prove it when the Five UK reunion tour comes to Manchester.
Although the London-formed group has reformed every now and again in different configurations over the years for special occasions, anniversary events, etc., this is the first time that the original lineup has been together for 25 whole years.
That’s right, Abz Love, J Brown, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson and Sean Conlon will all be reuniting on stage for a limited UK arena tour – because anything less simply wouldn’t be enough to mark this throwback celebration.
More importantly, if you don’t think every single one of these massive rooms is going to sell out in a flash, then you clearly can’t count to five.
As for the Manchester crowd, fans will be welcomed inside the equally legendary AO Arena for the ‘KEEP ON MOVIN’ 2025’ Tour later this year and we can’t wait.
Fellow domestic DJ and producer Naughty Boy will also be joining them as the main support act. We’re rolling back all the memories this autumn.
You can see the rest of the tour dates below, including equally massive shows at The O2 in London, the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, a First Direct Arena date in Leeds and more.
We really can't wait to get back on stage together and see you all in person, it's gonna go OFF!! Let's goooooo! International fans, make sure to sign up there so we know where in the world you are too 👀
Scott says: “This has been a long time coming and it really does feel right for all of us now – 25 years on and we’re so ready for it. Reconnecting as a 5 over the last year has been special and I know I speak for all the boys when I say we can’t wait to do this all over again. Hope you’re ready!”
Another fifth of the throwback boy band, Abz, added: “We really can’t wait to get back on stage together & see the fans, it’s gonna go OFF! Buzzing to have Naughty Boy on tour with us too… 5 bad boys and a naughty boy, that sounds like a lot of fun. Let’s gooooo!”
General admission for Five’s 2025 UK reunion tour goes live on Friday, 7 March from 10am but die-hards can access the exclusive pre-sale window on Wednesday, 5 March by signing up for the mailing list.
2000s indie rock icons The Enemy continue comeback trail with must-not-miss UK tour
Danny Jones
For fans of old-school indie and noughties contemporary rock, you do not want to miss the one because The Enemy are not just back making music but they’re heading out on a pretty big UK tour and, of course, they’ll be stopping right here in Manchester.
The Enemy first reformed back in 2022 for a limited run of shows, but it turns out the Coventry-formed trio were satisfied with a one-off reunion and a fifth studio album officially being worked on, the fierce Brit rock throwbacks have announced a series of pretty large UK tour dates.
Following on from some hugely successful comeback performances at TRNSMT, Isle Of Wightand a headline slot at Godiva Festival 2023, not to mention the instantly hit ‘Indie Til I Die’ shows last year – including an absolute stormer at Victoria Warehouse – they returning for more.
One of the few bands to make their way back to the live music circuit fully intact, with all three members still performing together, nothing has changed other than a few more grey hairs.
If you weren’t there at the outset, The Enemy’s debut LP We’ll Live And Die In These Towns (2007) was one of the most seminal domestic releases of its time, with songs like ‘You’re Not Alone’ going on to become indie anthems of the era.
To be honest, we’d argue their sophomore outing Music For The People just two years later is the better album, with tracks such as ‘Be Somebody’, ‘Elephant Song’ and ‘No Time for Tears’ still in plenty of our playlists to this day – but, you know, each to their own.
The point is, we’re very glad these lads are back and having played with everyone from Oasis and The Killers to even The Rolling Stones, we’d wager lots of other music lovers are too.
Set to play New Century Hall in Manchester as well as the legendary Leadmill in Sheffield, Beckett Students’ Union in Leeds, Rock City in Nottingham and more, it’s going to be a big tour.
We're absolutely buzzing to be back on tour & in some of our all time favourite venues.
We'll be trying out new material for the first time in years ahead of the new album we're making, we're all really excited to try some new tunes and see what you think whilst we finish it!
Frontman Tom Clarke, who has put out two solo records of his own in past years, said of the announcement: “We’ve been working long days in the studio recording new material, so we’re really excited to get out on the road again.
“The plan is to experiment with some of the new tunes, maybe different ones on different shows to see how the crowds react and which ones connect with fans, and let that guide the track listing on the record which is nearing completion.”
Co-songwriter and bass player, Andy Hopkins, added: talking about the upcoming tour: “My favourite part of being in a band is having those nights with the fans where the atmosphere is electric – I think this tour is going to be really special for the 3 of us.
“It’ll be the first time we’ve been back to some of these cities in a long time, in venues we absolutely love and have been really important to us on the way up – Electric Ballroom was the first venue we ever played in London supporting The Fratellis, I drove us there with all the amps & guitars in my Fiesta!”
The Enemy come to New Century, one of our favourite live music venues in all of Greater Manchester, on Saturday, 1 November.
Pre-sale has already been snapped up in the blink of an eye, which is no surprise whatsoever, but general admission will go live from 10am this Friday, 28 February.
Daisy Jackson -
16th April 2022 
