NightGarden Festival

Somewhere in Trafford, behind an unmarked gate, a former garden centre hosts one of Greater Manchester’s most original festivals. This is NightGarden – an off-grid, audiovisual gathering powered by collectivism and care.

Dreamt up five years ago by co-producers Broaden and Kikimora, NightGarden invites a 300-strong, intergenerational crowd to pick their own path through a shifting landscape of live music, installations, workshops, forest sculptures and rogue performances – all exploring themes of biodiversity, human resilience and radical futures.

Wait, where is it? That’s part of the magic. The secret location – a private residence in Trafford – is revealed only once you book. But take a look at the photos from previous years and you’ll see the setting is pretty stunning; stages, sculptures and lights emerge from between the trees of a wooded area, in surreal contrast to the surrounding industrial sprawl.

At the centre of it all is the hand-built Decagon Stage, where high-end sound and projection mapping frame an eclectic live programme. Highlights include the mercurial art-pop of Voka Gentle, glitchy global grooves from SILVERWINGKILLER, the stripped-back folk experiments of Me Lost Me, and ambient-jazz shapeshifters Higher Intelligence Agency. Also on the bill: the sunny electro-leanings of Life Aquatic Band, and Zyggurat, blending synths, jazz drums and accordion into something part ancient, part sci-fi.

Visuals come courtesy of Morphogen, Jamie Wardrop, and Scylla – a new solo project from Modulate Sc – alongside microscope-driven projections from Saudi artist-biologist Waad Albwardi, who brings nature’s minutiae into focus. As dusk turns to dark, the energy shifts with a dusk procession led by drag clown Cake Boi, giving way to DJ sets from Looking Glass Alice, Soborgnost, and Pure Ravers, spinning deep into the night from a repurposed disco horsebox tucked among the trees.

There’s plenty to get involved with during the day, too. Workshops include natural dyeing with Suspended in Sunbeam and a collaborative clay artwork led by Sorcha Noble. A shared, nutritious vegan dinner – included in the ticket price – offers a moment of collective pause before the evening’s transformation begins.

NightGarden puts care and inclusion at the centre. There’s no assumed demographic, no VIP section – just a mix of people drawn to something thoughtful, low-key and off-grid. Tickets are priced on a pay-what-you-can model, with an optional ‘sprinkle of magic’ add-on for those who want to give a little extra.

A festival that puts people before profit, and imagination before everything.