Jazz lovers rejoice - Manchester’s longest-running music festival is back this Summer for for its 31st edition 10 days of jam-packed festival fun and musical vibes across the city this May!
· manchester jazz festival (mjf2026) will take place
between 15-24 May 2026 at venues and sites across
Manchester, celebrating the latest up and coming talent from across the
North, and the best names in contemporary jazz.
· Headliners include: China Moses, Andy Sheppard Trio, Yellowjackets, Toni Kofi/Denys Baptiste Quintet, Cassie Kinoshi’s seed., Bel Cobain, Lau Noah, NOUT, Cotonete, Sarsen Drift + Tom Cawley, Olivia Cuttill & Friends, Orchestra Mambo International and many more...
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 now Manchester’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.
New for this year, a series of programme
partnerships (Manchester Folk Festival, Oldham Coliseum Theatre) will
bring mjf artists to new audiences and new artists
to mjf audiences. You’ll see mjf spread across
our usual range of venues and music nights: Matt & Phreds, RNCM, Forsyth Music
Shop, The Stoller Hall, Low Four Studios, Stage & Radio and The
Carlton Club. The festival closes with an extended weekend-long
party at Band on the Wall, and an
afternoon triple-bill at Aviva Studios, home of Factory
International, that shines a light on
three contrasting approaches to songwriting, against the backdrop of
the special Women in Jazz Photography exhibition on display there
throughout.
Featured in that triple bill will be
Satnam Galsian, who’ll be presenting 2026’s mjf originals new work
premiere, and whose music blends the rich tradition of Punjabi folk
with contemporary, feminist storytelling. It’s a compelling piece
that we’ve co-commissioned with Oldham Coliseum, Wigan Old Courts and
Khushi Festival.
The mjf piano trail competition is also
making a comeback! manchester jazz festival and Forsyth Music Shop
have joined forces once again for the mjf2026 piano
trail competition: to find Manchester’s hidden talents across a trail
of at least 18 street pianos at locations
across Manchester city centre and beyond, including Rochdale,
Trafford, Salford, Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Wigan. From 29 March (which
happens to be World Piano Day!) to 31 May, the mjf2026 piano
trail competition encourages everyone to get involved and
share their creativity and just have fun! For those who want to
take part, there’s a chance to enter a competition to win
a Yamaha electric piano and many more
prizes, and there will be live performances at some of the
pianos on the trail, more information to be announced soon.
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 24 May (£12 per adult, children go
free) with some of the proceeds from the tours going to support the Play it Forward: Street Piano Fund, run
by mjf and Forsyth Music Shop, which aims to expand the
current network of street pianos across more boroughs and communities across
Greater Manchester all-year-round.
Ticket prices for the festival start from £7.50 and there’s plenty
of free-to-access music and activities taking
place at locations across the city centre, including
the entire opening weekender: mjf @ First
Street, and gigs in the Copper Bar at Band on the Wall and at
Matt & Phreds.
Festival fans have come to expect international debuts at mjf; this
year we welcome artists from France, Spain, Poland,
Italy, Cuba and Brazil. You’ll hear them first
at mjf!
Tickets go on general sale at 10am on
Friday 13 February at manchesterjazz.com
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Highlights of the festival programme are as follows:
· mjf @ First Street, 15 - 17 May
As well as some of the North’s leading artists gracing the Main
Stage on
Friday, Saturday and Sunday (15 - 17 May),
there will be family-friendly activities launching the Saturday (16
May) morning vibes on the Ask Garden Stage,
followed by performances from mjf’s talent development
programme alumni, and on Sunday 17, mjf partners with
Jazz North to present the Northern
Line showcase: profiling five acts selected for the touring
scheme by industry leaders.
· The Stoller Hall 15 & 22 May (main venue and
*Carole Nash Hall)
Andy Sheppard Trio
Andy Scott & Carmel Smickersgill + Simeon Walker + Her Revelation
(triple bill)*
· RNCM Theatre 16 & 23 May
Cassie Kinoshi’s seed.
Legacy - Coltrane and Cannonball: Tony Kofi & Denys Baptiste Quintet
· Matt and Phreds, 15 - 24
May
Hijack Horns, M&P's Big Band Brunch ft. DG Kollective, Kemani
& Friends, Chinese Marbles, Tom Sharp Jazz Orchestra, M&P's Big Band
Brunch ft. DG Kollective, Three or Four Shades of Mingus, Hania
Derej Trio, Beyond the Blue, The Plimp Souls, M&P's Jazz Brunch
ft. The Grant Russell Quartet, Suboptimal, Alligator Gumbo and mjf Wrap
Party Jam ft. Ed Kainyek Quartet.
· The Carlton Club, 18-19 May
Big Ideas x mjf and Brume x mjf
· Low Four Studios, 20 May
mjf presents a special double-bill performance in the intimate
surroundings of Low Four Studios.
Sarsen Drift + Tom Cawley (double-bill)
· Whittles, Oldham, 20 May
OCT x mjf presents: Vipertime + support
· Forsyth Music Shop, 21 May
Olivia Cuttill & Friends play the Legends of Jazz
· George St Chapel, Oldham, 21 May
OCT x mjf presents: Her Revelation + Lullaby - Sonic
Cradle
· Band on the Wall, 19 - 24 May
Main venue: Yellowjackets, Bel Cobain + support, Lau
Noah, Cotonete + support, Tara Lily, China Moses +
support.
Copper Bar gigs: Beat the Jams x mjf: Tom Thorp & George
King, Calico, Finite Experience, Yoni Mayraz, Thiara Collective, Manchild,
Jon Onabowu, Nout, Flo/ra and Band on the Wall Jazz Workshop
Band.
· Stage & Radio, 22 May
The GreensKeepers Jam x mjf
·The Social, Aviva Studios, 24 May
Dilettante, Caraway and Satnam Galsian + Special
Guests.
************************************************
Steve Mead, mjf CEO and Artistic Director, said:
“After last year’s bumper
30th anniversary celebrations, we’re heading purposefully into
our fourth decade with mjf’s trademark array of contemporary
sounds, surprising discoveries and the promise of good times.
Festivals are a prized possession for a city: no other
occasion presents so many opportunities to come
together with friends old and new, to embark
upon curious adventures and to simply spend time surrounded by
exceptional music of the highest calibre. Music
offers something valuable to each of us – be
it cultural nourishment, escape or good company.
In a time of ongoing financial, social and political challenges,
music has the power to unite us and remind us of the values that are
important for us all. I hope you’ll choose to spend some of your
valuable time in our company and be rewarded at mjf this
summer.”
mjf2026 will take place from 15 – 24 May 2026 in venues
across Manchester city centre. Tickets go on sale at 10am
on 13 February at manchesterjazz.com
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