Manchester Jazz Festival celebrates its 30th Anniversary this weekend
To celebrate its 30th edition, manchester jazz festival (mjf) have curated a special 30th anniversary exhibition at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, taking a closer look into the history of Manchester’s longest running music festival.
2025 Headliners include: John Helliwell’s Super Big Tramp Band, ganavya, Small Print (Winstone/Iles/Walker/Watts), Yazz Ahmed Quartet, Richard Iles, Alice Zawadzki, James Pearson Trio, Emma Rawicz & Gwilym Simcock, Camilla George, Mammal Hands, Sylvain Rifflet, Elliot Galvin, Jasmine Myra, JazzJamaica, Gia Fu + Me Gusta DJs and many more…
Lighting up venues across the city, mjf2025 will see hundreds of northern, national and international jazz musicians descend on Manchester, showcasing the genre’s leading lights alongside its most exciting emerging talent.
mjf was first staged in the summer of 1996, hosting nine bands in one venue over the course of a single day. Who could have known that this would mark the start of what is nowManchester’s longest running music festival, radiating across the city for 10 whole days each year. And yet, for all it’s grown, mjf’s spirit remains the same, rooted in the joyful celebration and genuine support of the contemporary jazz world’s diverse and local artists.
The frstival begins with a spectacular FREE opening weekender at the vibrant neighbourhood: First Street (mjf @ First Street) from 16 – 18 May, supported by House of Social; a brand-new food hall due to open at First Street in summer ’25, who will curate a section of the food offering – a preview of what’s to come when the two-storey venue opens later in the year.
There will be three event stages: House of Social Main Stage, Ask Garden Stage and HOME stage, each celebrating the breadth and individuality of our home-grown scene and beyond: bands emerging through mjf’s artist development programmes alongside a host of northern success stories giving their homecoming performance at mjf (Mali Hayes, Olivia Cuttill, Phil Meadows).
On Saturday 17 May there are free family-friendly activitiesbetween 10am – 1pm on the Ask Garden Stage including Yoga with Gilly, music workshop with Little Groovers and Doctors of Music, plant your own meadow workshop with Plant MCR, Adventures in Wonderland with Z-Arts and more… And on Sunday 18 May mjf partners with Jazz North for the return of the Northern Line showcase: on the House of Social Main Stage and HOME Stage, showcasing five acts selected by industry experts to be elected onto the 2025 artist roster.
manchester jazz festival’s final weekend includes an extended weekend-long party at Band on the Wall, where the full-on festival vibes are in full swing from Thursday 22 May with Mammal Hands, whose intense and mesmerising performances have earned them a strong reputation as a live band.
There are also four new gigs to add to the party mix: saxophonist Jasmine Myra (23 May) who’s signed to local record label Gondwana Records and ushers in “a new generation of spiritual jazz (Jazzwise).
On 24 May, Alina Bzhezhinska’s HipHarp Collective returns to mjf with special guest Brian Jackson to celebrate the centenary of one of the foremost proponents of spiritual jazz, Alice Coltrane, closely followed by a late-night gig with Gia Fu + Me Gusta DJS + Special Guests. And what better way to bring mjf’s 30th anniversary celebrations to a rip-roaring close on the 25 May…Jazz Jamaica bring on the good times!
To celebrate its 30th edition, manchester jazz festival (mjf) have curated a special 30th anniversary exhibition at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, taking a closer look into the history of Manchester’s longest running music festival.
The exhibition is free and will feature archival photos, footage, brochures, memorabilia and more, spanning mjf’s growth and achievements and runs from 13-25 May, and on the last day of the exhibition (25 May) mjf’s Artistic Director and co-founder, Steve Mead, will give a personalised exhibition walkthrough taking place 2pm – 2.30 and 4.30 – 5pm.
As a new partner venue for 2025, Aviva Studios is also host to multi-talented soundsmith ganavya whose deeply moving blend of spiritual jazz kicks off manchester jazz festival on the 16 May
On the final afternoon of the festival (25 May) an international triple-bill takes over The Social at Aviva Studios featuring European jazz from across the continent: this year they’ll debut Sylvain Rifflet’s We Want Stars (France), Nabou (Belgium) and Sanem Kalfa’s Miraculous Layers (The Netherlands). You’ll hear them first at mjf!
Richard Iles has reinvented his mjf originals commission from 25 years ago: Miniature Brass Emporium: New Futures II, to bring together players from the original line-up with emerging players of today, supported by Granada Foundation and PRS Foundation, to perform at The Stoller Hall on 21 May.
Continuing its commitment to new work, mjf is one of the 20 organisations selected for the PRS Foundation’s 2025 New Music Biennial, for which we’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 and makes its debut at The Carlton Club on 20 May.
The mjf2025 piano trail competition is in full swing! manchesterjazz festival and Forsyth Music Shop are looking to find Manchester’s hidden talents across a trail of 16 street pianosat locations across Manchester city centre and for those who want to take part, there’s a chance to win a Yamaha electric piano and many more prizes.
The mjf2025 piano trail competition encourages everyone to get involved and share their creativity and just have fun, but hurry, the competition closes at midnight on Saturday 31 May!
Alongside the piano trail itself, there will also be two bespoke piano trail walking tours available, run by Free Manchester Walking Tours (FMWT), on the 17 and 18 May (£10 per adult, children go free) and live performances at some of the pianos on the trail.
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: mjf @ First Street, and gigs in the Copper Bar at Band on the Wall and some at Matt & Phreds.
Tickets: manchesterjazz.com
