Ah festivals. We do them well up north. From giant, inhibition-loosening weekends in farmers’ fields to inner-city parties that showcase the best of local, underground scenes, festival lovers are spoilt for choice.
Here we pick our highlights for spring/summer 2025, taking in everything from hedonistic escapes to world-leading culture via family-friendly fun.
Manchester’s longest running music festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, returns with 10 days of the best northern, national and international contemporary jazz – featuring big-name bands, emerging artists and new works.
A new festival is born as Outer Waves brings to Liverpool an inclusive space for all things experimental and underground.
Set in the plant-filled sanctuary of Hulme Community Garden Centre, Green Island champions underground, underrepresented, and emerging artists from across the UK, and places global sounds at the forefront.
This summer, Manchester International Festival invites the world’s best creative minds to reach across art forms, smash boundaries, and speak to urgent contemporary issues.
Manchester Psych Fest, an all-day celebration of psychedelic music and art, returns this September with more musicians, DJs and visual artists than ever before.
Britain’s longest running celebration of arts from across the Arab region returns to Liverpool, with the provocation of ‘Nostalgia’ being explored across theatre, storytelling, music, art and food over nine days.
Presenting the best walking tours in Manchester for history buffs, culture enthusiasts, and those looking to scratch beneath the surface of the city.
Take me there
With these lighter, brighter days and warmer temperatures, it's really starting to feel like summer here in the North West!
Books, beer and burlesque. Dive into a glorious tangle of joyful happenings.
The sun is shining in the North, so use our guide to get out there and eat, drink and be merry in it.
Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.
Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month
We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.
Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring.
Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.
