here’s plenty to enjoy this Summer at The Met. From top-flight comedy and brilliant music to family fun and an exciting outdoor festival, there’s an array of entertainment to suit all tastes.
Burrs Live (Wed 30 August – Sun 3 September)
Burrs Live, The Met’s much-loved outdoor festival at Burrs Country Park, will re-open for a new season of summer music events. This Bury-based festival features five days of live music, activities, family fun and artisan food in the great outdoors. Burrs Live will play host to evening performances including appearances by The Bootleg Beatles, plus The Met’s very own music festival Head for the Hills.
Music at The Met
Highlights of the Summer programme include:
Gryphon, (Fri 5 May, 8pm), as exhilarating, energetic, unpredictable and addictive today as they were when they were founded in the 1970s, legendary British band Gryphon return with songs from their new album Get Out of My Father’s Car.
Show of Hands and Michael Wood with special guest Kirsty Merryn, (Sat 20 May, 7:30pm), take a journey through eight hundred years of the English radical song tradition with these West Country folk legends, joined by historian and BBC broadcaster Michael Wood.
Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band (Sun 21 May), award- winning and internationally-acclaimed brass band perform folk tunes alongside a selection of rousing brass band favourites.
Akram Abdulfattah (Sun 28 May), a young Palestinian-American violin master who combines jazz with Middle Eastern and Indian music.
Spiers & Boden (Thu 8 Jun, 8pm), superstars of the folk scene, this much-loved folk duo returns with songs from their latest album Fallow Ground.
Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express (Sun 11 Jun, 8pm), Californian alt-country pioneer Chuck Prophet brings his band the Mission Express to the UK for the first time since 2017.
Tom Russell (Sun 25 Jun, 7:30pm), singer songwriter, painter, and essayist with over thirty highly acclaimed albums to his name, Tom Russell’s songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, K D Lang, Iris DeMent, and many others.
Mike Sweeney’s Sixties Classics, (Sat 10 Jun, 8pm), broadcasting legend and BBC Manchester front man Mike Sweeney takes to the stage with a show packed with Sixties
classics.
The Happy Festival Celebrated all over the town, The Happy Festival is inspired by the legacy of the Bury’s own Victoria Wood, her work and unique talent. As part of the festival, The Met will be staging two events: Valley Radio – Happy Half Hour (Fri 19 May, 7pm, £12), presented by Happy Festival and Doodlebugs.
Popular mid-morning-show host, Tina, navigates deftly through traffic and travel, random callers, lost and found, the day today, mystery guests and the end of the world…; plus 50 and Nifty (Fri 19 May, 8.45pm) presented by Eleven 80 productions. A coming-of-age comedy with a difference, the 50 and Nifty self-help group offers classes to men and women in later life who want to stay active by promoting self-worth and wellbeing. More information about the festival: https://happyfestival.org/online/
Family Shows
After the success of last year’s pantomime, Dick Whittington, tickets for next year’s production Aladdin are already selling well. Meanwhile, Bury audiences can enjoy a year-long programme of family shows. The Summer Season includes: The Munch Mission! (Sat 3 June), quirky comedy, for all the family from award-winning theatre company Brave Bold Drama; and Splash Test Dummies
(Thu 20 July), an exciting adventure of oceanic proportions featuring dazzling acrobatics, dexterous juggling and side-splitting comedy, an exciting hour of circus-filled hilarity for the whole family.
Tribute Bands
A great night at The Met is guaranteed with a regular programme of tribute acts. This Summer, audiences can look forward to: Blondie, (Fri 2 Jun, 8pm), the world’s number one official Debbie Harry and Blondie tribute band; Beatles Complete (Fri 9 Jun, 8pm), a night of Beatlemania, packed with massive hits from the most influential band of all time; CODA: A tribute to Led Zeppelin (Sat 24 Jun, 8pm), Europe’s most authentic and exciting Led Zeppelin tribute band, replicating the power, excitement and magic of one of the greatest bands ever.
Automatic
The Met is home to an independent restaurant Automatic, the perfect place for pre-show meals and post-gig drinks, recovery breakfasts and quick lunches. For more information visit: automaticcafe.com
Support The Met
The ongoing support of The Met’s audiences has enabled The Met to continue adapting our work to the changing situation. As a charity, The Met relies on donations to ensure the delivery of brilliant projects designed to uplift, entertain and inspire audiences, and it is only through this continued support that The Met will be able to continue delivering world class entertainment, right in the heart of Bury. To find out more about supporting the work of The Met by donating as little as £5 per month visit: themet.org.uk/support or call us on 0161 761 2216.
