Sounds From The Other City announce huge 2026 lineup

Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC) has announced its full lineup ahead of the 2026 edition of the beloved May bank holiday festival.

Lynks, Moonchild Sanelly, Blue Bendy, Richie Culver, Rainy Miller, Sorvina, jasmine.4.t and over 100 other artists will perform across 17 stages in Salford on Sun 3 May.

The 21st edition is curated by some of the most exciting and renowned promoters, record labels, radio stations, magazines, and tastemakers in the North, including: community music venue The DBA, record label FIXED ABODE, DIY station Steam Radio, music magazine SEEN, queer Sheffield venue Gut Level, and Manchester’s own Now Wave.

Hosted in Salford in its centenary year by creative producers From The Other, the festival will take place in independent venues and unconventional spaces across the city, with 17 stages around Chapel Street and The Crescent spanning pubs, churches, concert halls and galleries.

Artists announced today include the masked provocateur Lynks, dubbed the “merchant of pure gay chaos”, who will take over Salford University’s brutalist Maxwell Hall for their first announced show of 2026, alongside South African ‘future ghetto funk’ trailblazer Moonchild Sanelly and Manchester-based artist jasmine.4.t – BBC 6 Music Artist of the Year 2025 and one of The Guardian’s 2025 ‘ones to watch’.

The Maxwell Hall lineup is curated by independent Manchester promoter Grey Lantern and Sounds From The Other City’s grungier younger sibling, FaT OuT.

County Durham’s masked ambient pop artist Pollyfromthedirt will join an exciting lineup of new music discoveries in Salford’s 300-capacity Grade II-listed Victorian concert hall, Peel Hall, curated by the legendary Manchester promoters Now Wave.

The critically acclaimed South London six-piece, Blue Bendy, praised by NME for their “bold, inventive art-rock”, will perform in the beautiful St Philip’s Church alongside fellow South London trio ashnymph and Pyncher.

Brume will take over Salford Museum and Art Gallery with a programme featuring stalwart of the Manchester music scene, Ellen Beth Abdi and the city’s newfound nu-jazz fusion outfit, NONUNONU.

Islington Mill will be programmed day and night by the legendary Band on the Wall, multi-award-winning Reform Radio, Manchester’s infamous queer day-rave BENT, and the LGBTQ+ POC collective Swagga, with performances from New York-born, Berlin-based artist Sorvina, Manchester-based hip-hop writer and producer Renee Stormz, and Chimpo, a cornerstone of UK bass culture and one of Manchester’s most influential DJs.

Also taking place at Islington Mill, in a Sounds From the Other City first, a cohort of early career music promoters will present their own exciting artist programme developed over a free 8-month training course in collaboration with Factory Academy, Factory International’s award-winning training arm based at Aviva Studios.

Continuing on through the early hours, the White Hotel will see DJ sets and live performances from the fringes of the electronic scene, including from cult figure of British underground culture, multidisciplinary artist Richie Culver, and Prestonian singer-songwriter and producer Rainy Miller, founder of the record label FIXED ABODE.

The historic Bexley Square and the Green outside the University of Salford will return as central outdoor hubs for the festival with a heavyweight combo of party igniters ready to forge new festival memories.

Emma Thompson, Co-Director of From The Other, said, “This year we’re shining a spotlight on Salford’s independent venues and the selectors in the North who shape our programme. Giving these organisations the space to showcase the artists they champion is vital – not just for discovering emerging talent, but to recognise how important these spaces are for our scene. Roll on 3 May when Salford will host another explosion of new music across countless genres, with Chapel Street once again full of people searching for their next musical obsession.”

Book tickets to Sounds From The Other City 2026 below.

Featured image credit: Jason Sheehan