Festivals
John Shedwick

Summer Festivals

Creative Tourist

Festivals! From all-nighters to family-friendly fun via considered, thought provoking weekends, we pick out the best experiences in the North.

For some, probably (but not exclusively) younger readers, summer is synonymous with late nights enjoying music in what’s usually a farmers field, possibly even rubbing elbows with strangers in an increasingly boggy dance tent until dawn, then repeating it all over again the next day and the next with a stop-off at a motorway services on the way home the only light at the end of the tunnel.

For others, that just sounds too exhausting to even think about. While we fully endorse party-sized weekends that require their own holiday from which to recover, it’s not for everyone.

The brighter months are also about family experiences and the sort of pop-up, weekend-long events that you can get good and lost in together.

Scanning the festival calendar for the cream of the crop, we’ve selected our top picks for summer 2020. From hedonistic weekends of underground music like Sounds From the Other City to immersive family festivals Just So to rural film festivals (Hinterlands), we’ve got all bases covered.

Here’s our guide to the best Summer Festivals taking place in a field or on the streets near you.

Here are our picks

Because of the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, we are unable to bring you our usual recommendations for things to do in Manchester and the North. Our thoughts at this time are with our readers and with the organisations and businesses who make the North of England a great place to live and visit. We hope you stay well and look forward to sharing more unmissable events and places with you later in the year.

Here’s our guide to supporting organisations in Manchester and the North.

Please note – many of the venues on our site will be closed and events either postponed or cancelled. Please check the venue website for details.