Event type: Music

To celebrate our Build Our Future crowdfunding campaign, we are doing what what we’ve always wanted to do – throw a 48-hour, continuous live gig to show off everything boss about Future Yard!

Starting at 6pm on Friday 6th March, and running through to 6pm on Sunday 8th March, the 48 hour spectacular will showcase the full breadth of our community-led activity; celebrating amazing local artists, the emerging regional music scene, our Mosh Tots, New Noise, Sound Check and Propeller programmes, plus our partnerships with local schools.

This event will be broken down into seven sessions, with many ways for people to engage. Entry to each session will be through a donation to the Build Our Future campaign, and will be structured on a ‘pay what you feel’ basis. If you want to come to multiple sessions, or attempt the full 48 hours, select the ‘ALL SESSIONS PASS’.

The whole event will also be live streamed for people to watch along from home and enjoy the spectacle without being in the room.

Performers include Nik Glover, steel., Workstuff, Chicken Man and the Bad Eggs, Abdicator, Two Tonne Machete, Dead Animals, 2Nice Crew, Dub Defenders, Twelve Bells, SugarShack, Beats In Bliss, News From Neptune, Dog Minder, alright (okay), Flower Show, Trial Tapes, Tender Claws, The Drop Jonnies, DAMWMSSNI, Moolakii Club, The Mosh Tots Band, Michael Aldag, Silvermoon, Catherine Bullock + very special opening guest TBA.

All funds raised at the event will contribute to our Build Our Future crowdfunder, and you can find full details on this here.

Following the huge success of the Northern Soul Orchestrated tour last year, writer and BBC Radio 6 Music broadcaster Stuart Maconie, alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra and Manchester’s composer and conductor Joe Duddell will return with new dates in March 2026.

The Northern Soul Orchestrated tour promises to transport audiences back in time capturing the spirit of a movement. A celebration of raw, rare American soul music that first obsessed young people across the north and the Midlands in the 1960s and 70s, inspiring an all-night dance culture. Curated by Stuart and conducted by Joe, the orchestra will perform amazing new arrangements, by Fiona Brice, of some of the most famous Northern Soul anthems along with performances from a host of very special guest vocalists.

The Dubliners Encore is the official stage show celebrating the greatest folk band of all time. 

Produced by The Dubliners’ John Sheahan, renowned fiddle player and legendary Irish icon, this new show packs 50 years of songs, stories and craic into one unforgettable night.

Rediscover the original bad boys of Irish music – the beards, the ballads, and the band that put Ireland on the world stage. This hugely talented cast captures the magic of The Dubliners, singing all their hits including ‘The Wild Rover’, ‘Seven Drunken Nights’, ‘The Black Velvet Band’, ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and ‘The Irish Rover’. 

Be a part of the ultimate Irish sing-along. This music extravaganza will have you singing your heart out and dancing your cares away long after the lights have dimmed. 

Take the finest exponents of their native Scottish fiddle styles, the finest backing in folk music, and some of the Highlands and Islands’ famed warmth and craic, distil over 25 years, and you get Blazin’ Fiddles!

One of the most lauded and best-loved acts of the Scottish music scene, from the moment the multi award-winning Blazers take the stage to whisk you on a thrilling musical journey you’re in the finest of company. The mastery of fiddle virtuosos Jenna Reid (Shetland), Kristan Harvey (Orkney) and Rua Macmillan (Highlands), grounded by the second to none, driving accompaniment of Angus Lyon (piano) and Anna Massie (guitar), will leave you reeling.

For over a quarter of a century, no other band has quite captured Scottish fiddle music’s variety, energy and sensitivity like Blazin’ Fiddles. Atop many musical twists and turns, the group’s quicksilver playing is matched by lightning sharp humour and uproarious stories from their many tunes and travels. Whatever the hall – whether of the Royal Albert or highland village variety – they’ll turn it into the liveliest and warmest of hootenannies.

Programme: Barber Overture, The School for Scandal, Grieg Piano Concerto, Sibelius Symphony No.2

Performers: Daniela Candillari conductor, Alexandra Dariescu piano

Sibelius’ Second Symphony begins with a gentle pulse and a playful little tune. By the end, it’s reaching for the stars – an awe-inspiring soundscape, complete with ringing trumpets and a melody for the ages. But any concert is a journey, and Daniela Candillari is your guide on an adventure that begins with Samuel Barber in 1930s America and sees pianist Alexandra Dariescu return to Liverpool for Grieg’s hugely popular Piano Concerto. You’ll know it when you hear it!

Programme: Elgar Serenade for Strings, Mark Simpson The Immortal (new version)*, Sibelius Symphony No.2

Performers: Daniela Candillari conductor, Rory Musgrave baritone*, EXAUDI vocal ensemble

When you find your voice, you’ve got to make it heard. Sibelius poured all the hopes and fears of a new nation into a Second Symphony that flows and swells like a mighty river – crowned with a tune you’ll never forget. In 2015, Artist in Residence Mark Simpson astonished the world when he premiered his supernatural oratorio, The Immortal. With the help of conductor Daniela Candillari and a star vocal line, he’s bringing it home tonight. The evergreen favourite Serenade for Strings by Elgar sets off the evening.