MANCHESTER PROVES IT’S THE MUSIC CULTURAL CAPITAL OF THE NORTH AS INDIE FANS SATURATE THE STREETS FOR NEIGHBOURHOOD FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL REVIEW | NEIGHBOURHOOD FESTIVAL | 17th October 2026 by Jasmin Savage
You know when you wish you could be in two places at once? Well, that’s exactly how I felt whilst planning my day for Neighbourhood Festival, only instead it was more like ten places at once.
With twelve venues across the city and over eighty artists to choose from, the day proved to have something for everyone. This was perfect for me as I really love discovering new artists so of course I made sure to check out plenty of lesser known acts. In fact, I almost exclusively caught artists from the small print of the lineup.
Me and my friend Amanda collected our wristbands at the Students’ Union just before 11am to the sight of at least 100 eager fans waiting for Academy to open their doors for Keo despite their set not being until 2:15pm. Even if I had the time to catch Keo, I stood no chance getting in for their set at the rate the queue was growing. Luckily, Jenna – our wonderful photographer for the day – managed to get in for both the headliners for the day.
Anyway, let’s rewind for a second, because contrary to the aforementioned Keo fans, the music for the day did not start there.
My festival experience actually began with the pleasure of chatting to The Mercians before they took to the stage at 1:30pm in Ambers. They kicked off the day with a well needed punch to the face of energy, opening with their newest single ‘The Man‘ which you could say had me spending serotonin (haha). For an early start, the atmosphere was very promising as we all jumped around and sang along to tracks like ‘Leave Your Man‘ and ‘Is It Worth It?‘. Their set was just what I needed to keep high adrenaline for the rest of the day.
We then rushed our way to Gorilla for the very anticipated special guests Westside Cowboy. You know what’s better than one singer? Four. Every member of the band were not only unbelievably talented at playing their own instruments, but the way this band utilise their vocal abilities with layered singing brings a wonderfully unique dynamic to their music. This was my very first time seeing them live and it’s safe to say that it was worth risking Keo for.
From this point onwards I essentially ran around the streets of Manchester like a headless chicken, bouncing from venue to venue to catch as many amazing artists that I could possibly pack into my day. I managed to catch Cherryholt‘s first two songs, but that was more than enough for me to know that this band deserve to be so much bigger than they already are. Then, I was back at Ambers for Et Al‘s last three which solidified my opinions of their recent EP as nothing short of incredible. The way this translated to a live crowd gave the music so much emotion, especially with their closer ‘Fat Kid‘ – the whole room screaming back “Does no one wanna be friends with the fat kid?”
Sparing a couple minutes to hydrate and meet back up with friends, we headed to Jack Rosenthal Street for an acoustic set from Saint Clair (which was on the street itself not in a venue) ahead of their evening set. It was quite difficult to hear at first due to the fact that it was just Toby and Lawrence with their guitars, but once the flock of people settled down, this made for a beautifully intimate set. We sang along barely louder than a whisper in order to hear Toby’s vocals shine, and honestly hearing everyone echo “Find what you’d die for and live a lot of it/Take a piece of this life/Put it in my pocket” from their newest track ‘Dreams‘ felt like one of those exact moments to cherish forever.
I headed back to Ambers for Florentenes who revived the energy with explosive gritty garage rock tunes. Honestly I was a little gutted to leave their set early but I quickly shook this feeling the moment Morningstar* took to the stage at Factory 251. The excitement of seeing a new band for the first time paired with this being in such an intimate venue made for an enthralling experience. The moody grunge notes to their music paired with raw Liverpudlian vocals gave the music a unique sharpness, and I honestly think this might’ve been my favourite set of the evening.
Afterwards, guess which venue I went to? That’s right, Ambers. At this point the security bantered with me and asked me why I didn’t have my hat on anymore as I passed through for Beaux. From what I managed to see of his set, it was magically wholesome and the crowd felt like a proper community rather than just people watching an artist play. The fans right at the front had made custom merch and signs, and just about everyone in the room was singing along. Me and my friend shared an intimate moment for ‘Edge Of St. James’s‘ where we swayed and held hands and for a couple minutes nothing else mattered. I contemplated staying for Beaux’s full set as it was so sweet, but ultimately decided to take my chances for Saint Clair as they were probably my most anticipated act of the whole festival.
I darted to Yes (Basement) and only just made the cut for Saint Clair’s set. You could audibly tell that the crowd were having a great time, but visually it was harder to notice which may be due to the fact that moving more than an inch would require brute force with the way we were packed like sardines in there. If you wanted to put your arms up, you’d have to commit to it for the whole set so you didn’t keep accidentally hitting people. After catching both their acoustic and official sets for the day, I can safely say that the band need to release an acoustic version of ‘Too Young To Notice‘ and that I need both versions of ‘Josephine‘ immediately. The acoustic set may have had a more vibrant atmosphere, but their stage performance trumped this when it came to the music itself. Think studio version, only with more passion and edge to it. There’s something really satisfying about the way Toby sings – a little rasp or growl here and there but overall really smooth and expressive. At some points I actually forgot to sing along despite knowing the words purely because I was so mesmerised by how good the music sounded.
The most difficult part of the day had finally arrived as I raced against the clock to Lion’s Den for August. I did originally struggle to find the venue and almost gave up, but thankfully I made it in time for half of their set and even that was worth the detour out of the centre.
Whilst the majority flooded O2 Ritz and Academy for Florence Road and Red Rum Club, my priorities stood with a handful of people witnessing London‘s best kept secret in action. It was quite baffling how typically conflicting genres – garage rock and grunge, paired with jazz and even classical influence – sounded so good together, but August undoubtedly made it work. I especially enjoyed the incorporation of a megaphone for ‘Dirt‘ that gave the song a distorted grit and rawness to the performance. Not only this, frontman (also by the name of August) had this erratic rockstar stage presence that reinforced the whole experimental vibe of the band, flailing around on stage as if the music was controlling him.
With an influx of adrenaline and possible tinnitus, we made our way back to the Students’ Union for the Shit Indie Disco afterparty in partnership with AO Arena. Here is where I started to lose my voice because there wasn’t a single song played that I didn’t know. From the yearner’s anthem ‘Cariad‘ to indie mix staples like ‘Mr Brightside‘ or ‘I Predict A Riot‘, Shindie delivered on vibes all night long.
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