An independent, city-wide record fair arrives in Manchester this weekend

A city-wide record fair will take over Manchester this weekend, as the folks behind Independent Label Market make a welcome stop-off.

It’s part of Tim Burgess’ Vinyl Adventures Record Fair, which will take over The Royal Exchange on Sun 5 Dec.

Beloved Manc venues will host a variety of events, including live podcasts, gigs and on-stage interviews.

Along with the Charlatans frontman, an impressive list of familiar faces will also host stalls. Getting involved will be the likes of: The Lovely Eggs, We Are Scientists, Badly Drawn Boy, Gail Myerscough, Peter Doherty, LIINES, Clint Boon, Microdot Creative, James Walsh, Keel Her & more.

Venues and record shops also taking part will be Gorilla, The Deaf Institute, 33 Oldham Street, The Royal Exchange, Escape To Freight Island, Piccadilly Records, Mars Tapes, Vinyl Resting Place, Clampdown Records, Eastern Bloc Records, Vinyl Revival, Wax and Beans, Stutter & Twitch.

33 Oldham St will also be hosting a special exhibition titled ‘Round Pegs/Square Holes’—a showing of 100 record sleeves designed by Andy Votel. The local creative has spent the last 25 years creating more than 300 sleeves, and the NQ venue will showcase some of his personal favourites. That kicks off on Thu 2 Dec.

Market goers can look forward to a host of exclusives including vinyl rarities and test pressings from some of Manchester’s most popular traders, as well as extended back catalogues, signed merchandise and advance copies from 4AD, Bella Union, Erased Tapes, Speedy Wunderground, The Leaf Label & many more.

ILM co-founder Joe Daniel says: “We’d been wanting to come to Manchester for a long time and for one reason or another had never quite found the right time or place to make it happen. When Tim asked us to be part of Vinyl Adventures we leapt at the chance, it’s a perfect fit…and of course, we’ve had great fun in the past hosting O Genesis Recordings at our London Market. We’ve got a super exciting bunch of labels on board already and we’re really looking forward to it.”

Keep up to date with the fair’s latest announcements by joining the Facebook group.