The unique festival returns with a unique bill that captures the variety and vitality of modern alternative music.

Manchester’s Fair Play festival returns for its third instalment this April (6^th) and we can’t wait to have it back. A city festival highlight of 2023, the festival brings a forward-thinking lineup to a mindfully selected set of venues around the city (centring on Oldham St., the longest trip between the festival’s venues is 5 minutes at the very longest). Added to that is a proactive booking policy that insists on a considered, ambitious and inclusive selection of acts, many of whom won’t be found on the rest of the festival circuit. Also living up to the implications of the name is a ticket sales policy with considerations made for unwaged/low-income fans.

Each year, the festival collaborates with a defining tastemaker label around whom they structure their lineup. This year they are working with PRAH, who have so far announced that they will be bringing Nicky Harris, Orbury Common, MF Tomlinson, TaliaBle and Uh to the festival. We were huge fans of uh’s ‘humanus’ album, released via the label last year, which translates into a fierce, free-wheeling, posthuman live set. Similarly volatile in sound are Orbury Common, whose work invests trip-hop and dancefloor-ready sounds with folkloric significance.

Headlining the festival this year is shared between a pair of forward-thinking artists who have each forged their own distinctive sound: Marie Davidson, whose work masterfully combines new electronic-oriented sounds with impactful songwriting, and Denzel Himself, who brings goth and hardcore attitude to a hip-hop he describes as coming from “outer-London.”

Not a festival to limit itself in style (Fair Play describe their remit as “‘alternative’ in all its forms”), the rest of the bill offers up some relief through artists with a sense for softer and acoustic sounds. Skydaddy and Blossom Caldarone both involve chamber elements in their richly detailed arrangements. The New Eves, while capable of summoning volcanic fury at times, are also capable of bringing delicately sparse moments of space within their set, one of the standout discoveries of 2023 for many. Other noisier highlights that have been tearing it up live recently include Hank, Cowboyy and Comfort, a must-see in the wake of the release of their debut album ‘What’s Bad Enough?’ With plenty more still announced, keep an eye on Fair Play’s socials for more updates. Tickets available here.