It’s official, festival season is back (!), and last weekend we well and truly kicked off the season in style attending Salford’s very own Sounds From The Other City, which took place on a sunny Sunday during the early May bank holiday weekend.
As a newbie to Greater Manchester, I’ve been so eager to attend my first festival as an official resident of the North West and explore all that Salford has to offer. As an avid live-music fan, with a working background in music, I was really intrigued by the vast amount of independent venues that Salford has on offer across Chapel Street and beyond.
Sounds From The Other City has no less than 22 stages to explore, with over 125 eclectic, enticing acts performing across the event…and that’s just the live music. Dotted around the streets of Salford you will also find live dance performers, art installations, and my personal favourite, the Compact Disco group, a travelling discotheque complete with an oversized disco ball created from discarded CDs and disco lights projecting from all angles. There is also a total of 10 different food sites to choose from, including Porta’s (Salford’s finest tapas bar) seriously delicious chorizo BBQ, and Ohh La La’s Loaded Fries van (I devoured the truffle & parmesan fries, requesting extra truffle, obviously). To say we had a jam-packed day ahead of us would be an understatement.
Once on site, with our SFTOC wristbands on one hand and drink in the other, we headed for the Regent Trading Estate marquee to catch dream team Gracie T & Vindya. The area was packing out very quickly, with Salford’s young music crowd, small children sporting huge ear defenders, and dogs (yes, even dogs) all in attendance, ready to enjoy the bank holiday festivities.
We were then able to catch a glimpse of Mali Hayes, who graced us with her dreamy vocals, before making our way down to Fivefourstudios where we were set to host the official press event for the festival. Welcoming attendees to the stylish Fivefourstudios bar, we were delighted to be joined by the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music, the Arts Council, and The Manc.
Once our press event had wrapped, it was time to enjoy some more live music. We headed over to St Philip’s Church to catch Freya Beer (there’s always something really quite enchanting about watching a live performance in such a grand venue) and ended our night back at the Regent Trading Estate to catch the glorious Lovescene perform to a heaving venue full of elated fans, who threw flowers onto the stage in adoration.
We couldn’t leave without one last visit to the Trading Estate marquee for our final dance-off. Bank Holiday Monday came as a total blessing, giving our feet the opportunity to recover!
In the lead up to the festival, we had the pleasure of working alongside the ultra-talented organisers, as we announced this years’ sterling line-up to press. As anticipated, the announcement received a hugely positive response, with outlets such as DIY Magazine, New! Magazine, and BBC Introducing (to name a few) showing their support for the event. The Manc also shared this ultra-fantastical promo video across their socials in the run up to the festival.
Bring on SFTOC 2023!
Charlotte x
Image Credit: Breige Cobane and Charlie Watkinson
