Grassroots festival Green Island returns to Manchester for its third year, presenting a three-part series of day festivals, with line-ups that place underground, underrepresented, emerging artists from across the UK and global sounds at the forefront.
The festival will span across summer and early autumn, with the first chapter falling on Saturday 17th June, part two on Saturday 29th July, and the final chapter on Saturday 9th September. The poster outlines the first wave of the line-up, with the full line-up to be revealed in April.
Accessibility is fundamental to its founders’ vision for the festival, so a combined day festival and afterparty ticket starts at £22.50 per person, while festival and afterparty-only tickets start at £12.50 each. Pre-sale for all tickets will go live on Monday 3rd April and general sale on Wednesday 5th April on Skiddle and Resident Advisor.
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Pete Tong Ibiza Classics 2024 UK tourGreen Island is an enriching music and cultural escapade for all ages. A festival stripped back to its most authentic form, with the community at its core. Manchester’s creative community is weaved into every element of the festival, from placing the finest musicians in the city on its stages, to showcasing the incredible cuisines of local, independent chefs, and partnering with an array of local organisations to curate unique experiences for festival-goers.
The 500-capacity festival will see Hulme Community Garden Centre’s flora paradise transformed into an arts mecca, housing three stages – the main stage, forest stage and the third will present a rotation of takeovers. Kicking it off in June, BBC Introducing’s takeover will present a stage dedicated to platforming the crème de la crème of the North West’s rising talent. Whilst July will see the legendary Ruf Dug present his renowned festival showcase ‘Ruffy’s Lab’ in his hometown for the first time; bringing a day of audio-visual nonsense of the finest quality.
The line-up – to be revealed in full next month – encompasses genre-spanning live bands, artists, DJs and spoken word performers. Headlining June is BCUC – a seven-piece band hailing from Soweto, South Africa, bringing their indigenous funk and high energy to Green Island. Joining them in June will be Galivantes – an eight-piece rowdy ska band, fusing skapunk, reggae, disco, folk and rock. High Hoops – the duo celebrated for throwing heroic LGBTQ+ parties centred on an ethos of love, inclusivity and voguing. SHEWillProvide – a collective championing Black women and non-binary artists, no style is off limits so expect a mashup of house, techno, breaks, Afro house and funk.
Repping the city across July and September will be alt-rapper Charlie Boy Manson, producer, DJ and founder of club night TRPHSE, Sham Steele, poet and rapper Meduulla – who notably featured in the 2021 season of BBC’s Rap Game – and one of
the city’s nightlife icons, DJ and founder of RebeccaNeverBecky collective, Mix Stress.
The early hours of the festival, 10:30am – 1pm, will be devoted to family-friendly activities. Curating the programme for each day will be family rave pioneers The Playhouse Project, who are celebrated for reimagining club experiences to get parents and kids stomping on the dancefloor together. Family activities will run all throughout the day until 3pm.
Making sure guests are well-fed will be Didsbury’s dumpling and kimchi masters, Midori, who will be providing Japanese – Hong Kong fusion fuel for the day. In addition to Boneless Brigade, who will be serving up their plant-powered street food delicacies, from mushroom wings to jalapeño poppers and banana blossom ‘fish’ tacos. Local legends Seven Bro7hers Brewery are official sponsors of the festival, so will be on hand to make sure guests are well quenched with some of their favourite pours on tap.
Afterparties will be hosted at the iconic institution that is NIAMOS, located a stone’s throw away from the festival. The June afterparty is set to be curated by vinyl enthusiasts My Analog Journal, and The Dub Smugglers are on board to present the September chapter afterparty; bringing with them their custom-built sound system, for an elite audio experience.
Green Island’s dedication to cultivating the next generation of musicians has also led them to partner with Manchester’s acclaimed grassroots station Reform Radio. Leading up to the first instalment, Reform Radio will be hosting DJ courses to aspiring selectors, where they will prepare for their first-ever gig at Green Island Festival. Sign up here now to register for the course.
Co-founder of Green Island, George McGirr said:
“We are committed to creating a festival that is inclusive, diverse and works as a space for Manchester’s underrepresented artists. There’s so much talent in the city so it’s more important than ever to have a platform to showcase it. Accessibility is a fundamental element of the festival as we want to encourage as many people from different walks of life to come and experience what our city has to offer.”
Co-founder Stephan Agbogbe added:
“For us, Green Island is about giving space to young creatives, helping them develop as artists by providing opportunities in physical spaces, booking them for their first gig, and encouraging them to establish their own network within the creative community here.
“Our main ambition for this festival is to work tightly with our partners and create long-lasting opportunities for young people in the music industry and be a stepping stone
for young emerging artists. For instance, the workshops will provide young people with skills which they can use in later life.”
Pre-sale tickets will go live on Monday 3rd April and general sale on Wednesday 5th April on Skiddle and Resident Advisor – sign up here now to access the pre-sale and keep up with all updates.
Green Island Festival 2023 will take place at Hulme Community Garden Centre, 28 Old Birley Street, Manchester, M15 5RG on all three dates.
Each afterparty will take place at NIAMOS, Warwick St, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5EU
