manchester jazz festival unveils blockbuster 30th anniversary lineup

Manchester’s longest-running music festival, manchester jazz festival (mjf), returns to the city for its special 30th anniversary edition this May.

Running from Fri 16 May – Sun 25 May, the 10-day event will again be taking over some of the city’s most iconic venues, celebrating the latest up-and-coming talent from across the North, and the best names in contemporary jazz.

Staged for the first time back in the summer of 1996, organisers have unveiled a bumper lineup ahead of the festival’s big birthday. Headliners include the likes of John Helliwell’s Super Big Tramp Band, ganavya, Small Print (Winstone/Iles/Walker/Watts), Yazz Ahmed Quartet, Richard Iles and Alice Zawadzki.

Also topping the bill across the 10 days will be James Pearson Trio, Emma Rawicz & Gwilym Simcock, Camilla George, Mammal Hands, Sylvain Rifflet, Elliot Galvin, Steam Down and many more.

Three decades on, the team say the festival’s spirit remains the same; rooted in the joyful celebration and genuine support of the contemporary jazz world’s diverse and local artists.

Building on the success of last year, manchester jazz festival begins with a spectacular FREE opening weekender along the First Street neighbourhood. Running from Fri 16 May – Sun 18 May, there will be three event stages: House of Social Main Stage, Ask Garden Stage and HOME stage.

Bands emerging through mjf’s artist development programmes will feature alongside a host of northern success stories giving their homecoming performance including Mali Hayes, Olivia Cuttill and Phil Meadows.

The opening night shines a light on tomorrow’s talent, including Chetham’s students and a pop-up performance curated by mjf’s Youth Advisory Board, with family-friendly activities following on Saturday morning.

House of Social, a brand-new food hall due to open at First Street this summer, have joined mjf as sponsors and will curate a section of the food offering – a preview of what’s to come when from the two-storey venue.

There are four new venue partners for this year: Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, Low Four Studios, Flawd and Stage & Radio, alongside mjf regulars and returning venues: St Ann’s Church, Matt & Phreds, RNCM, Forsyth Music Shop, The Stoller Hall and The Carlton Club.

The festival closes with an extended weekend-long party at Band on the Wall, coinciding with an afternoon showcase of international debuts at Aviva Studios.

mjf is also hosting a new ‘mjf originals’ commission in Richard Iles’ Miniature Brass Emporium: New Futures II, which revisits the festival’s first-ever commissioned work from 25 years ago, in which Richard profiled established and then-emerging players. Reinvented for 2025, this performance unite players from the original line-up with emerging players of today, supported by the Granada Foundation and PRS Foundation.

Continuing its commitment to championing new work, mjf is one of the 20 organisations selected for the PRS Foundation’s 2025 New Music Biennial, for which they’ve commissioned sound artist Verity Watts to create P E A C E. Airing at mjf, Bradford UK City of Culture and South Bank Centre and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, the radical work uses turntables, spoken word, bassline improv and archive audio samples to ask us what peace sounds like in 2025.

Of course, it wouldn’t be mjf without the beloved piano trail competition. The team have again joined forces with Forsyth Music Shop to uncover Manchester’s hidden musical talents. 15 street pianos will be spread across the city from Thu 20 Mar – Sat 31 May, encouraging anyone who fancies it to tickle the ivories.

For those who want to take part, there’s a chance to enter a competition to win a Yamaha electric piano and other prizes. Alongside the piano trail itself, there will be two bespoke piano trail walking tours available, run by Free Manchester Walking Tours (FMWT), on Sat 17 & Sun 18 May (£10 per adult, children go free). The trail will be hosting a series of live performances, too, with more information to be announced soon.

Ticket prices for the festival start from £9.50 but there’s plenty of free-to-access music and activities taking place at locations across the city centre, including the whole of the opening weekender as well as gigs in the Copper Bar at Band on the Wall and at Matt & Phreds. Also free is mjf’s international triple-bill on the final afternoon in The Social at Aviva Studios.

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