The BBC Radio 6 Music Festival will return next spring, having found a permanent home in Greater Manchester.
Scheduled to take place between March 26 and 29, 2025, the four-day event is set to bring a mix of live acts and DJ sets to venues across the region. The news was announced live on air this morning (December 3) by broadcaster Nick Grimshaw, who is currently covering the 6 Music breakfast show while regular presenter Lauren Laverne recovers from cancer treatment. Laverne is set to return to the show in the new year.
Throughout the festival, the 6 Music team will be broadcasting live from MediaCity UK in Salford. Current presenters include Iggy Pop, Huw Stephens, Mary Anne Hobbs and former London night czar Amy Lamé.
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The 6th Music Festival is the station's flagship event and is broadcast across various BBC radio, television and online channels. From 2023, it takes place in Greater Manchester, while previous iterations of the festival have been hosted in different cities each year across the UK, including Cardiff, London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Newcastle.
In a press release, Samantha Moy, Head of BBC Radio 6 Music said: “We're really proud that our festival brings listeners truly unique performances from the artists they love, alongside a celebration of the fantastic acts emerging from Greater Manchester – and 2025 will be no different. We can't wait to bring the whole station back to Greater Manchester again for four days of incredible live music.”
The line-up for the 2025 edition of the 6th Music Festival will be announced in February. The 2024 event saw headline acts Young Fathers, Gossip and The Smile, while CMAT and Hak Baker also performed over the weekend.
In January 2014, the BBC launched the 6th Manchester Music Festival hosted by Damon Albarn. In the years since, the event has seen sets from world-renowned acts such as Depeche Mode, Fontaines DC, Father John Misty and Neneh Cherry.
