The sun has well and truly been OUT
For the sunniest start to Parklife in a good few years, it was good vibes only as the biggest metropolitan festival made its return to Heaton Park.
With the weather staying in check throughout the day, it meant the usual presence of staples like ponchos and wellies were kept well out of sight, replaced instead by bandanas, bucket hats and football shirts.
Taking over the Bury park for the first of two days, it was pioneering ladies Alexandria and Niamh given the distinct honour of kicking off the line-up as gates opened at 12pm at The Valley and the Matinee – with Catching Cairo over at the Magic Stage thanking those who made an ‘early start’ to the festivities.
Click here for the latest on Manchester’s food & drink scene, gigs and more in our CityLife newsletter
A breath of fresh air has been injected into Parklife 2026 with the addition of several new features – spanning from secret sets to new stages – with festival-goers enjoying a whole host of new offerings including a new food court, a supermarket with a twist, and Polaroid photographers who will snap you a vintage pic for £8.
Drawing one of the big crowds of the day at The Valley a remarkably early 1pm was Leeds electronic duo Prospa – made up of Harvey Blumler and Guiorgi ‘Gosha’ Smith – who rose to fame in 2018 with breakthrough hit Prayer after it was named the ‘hottest record in the world’ by Annie Mac.
Following up not long after on the same set was Josh Baker – with plenty of unfinished business. The local lad was one of the big names on the line-up last year – yet he never actually got to perform with his set on the Matinee Stage shut down just minutes after stepping in front of fans.
Taking over The Valley on Saturday as he played songs including Leave A Message, Back It Up and latest single Down To The Bone, it proved to be a special moment for the star who has been brought up the ranks of the Manchester festival. “We started from not even being on the flyer for my first set at Parklife to now playing on the mainstage,” he told the M.E.N earlier this year about the significance of the event to him. “It feels unbelievable.”
Later on The Valley, an interpretive dance show courtesy of jungle and drum and bass collective 4am Kru. Matched with high energy beats, the group featured street dancing, beatboxing, and a bit of topless drumstick slapping (not an innuendo).
Anastasia Howden, 20, visiting with friends, said they had come specifically to see 4am Kru .“It’s been really good,” she said, though she noted the heat and lack of facilities: “The bad thing is there is no seating or shaded areas and it’s really hot.”
Lewis Norris, 19, said he had been looking forward to the event after missing a previous chance to see one of the acts. “I was meant to see them at Warehouse Project but didn’t, so I was excited to see them today. It’s our first time here.
“Prospa was also really good, such good vibes. Everyone has been really friendly and it’s been really good, so we’re really excited to do it all again tomorrow.”
In terms of fashion this year, attendees basked in the sun beaming down by fits that wouldn’t be out of place at Coachella festival with bohemian chic and bejewelled shawls popular alongside low-rise chunky belts, ruffled skorts, football shirts, and bucket hats.
Charlotte Crowther, 28, and her sister Sophie, 30, along with Jack Smith, 31, said they had come primarily for the drum and bass acts on the Magic Sky Budweiser Stage. Charlotte said: “We came to mainly see the people on the Budweiser stage, all the drum and bass acts. I saw Kanine which was really good and we’re looking forward to Mozey later.”
She added that they had previously attended the event but felt this year’s line-up was stronger. “We came two years ago and preferred this year, today’s line-up has been really good. We’re only coming today as we’re big drum and bass fans.”
Over at the smaller Beatbox area, Artful Dodger brought the nostalgia vibes with the demand for a party. Joining the crowd of revellers in the intimate area, the act told fans ‘it’s a ****ing rave right now, it’s a rave right now!’ as they belted through versions of Sambuca and Show Me Love.
And the lively vibes at Beatbox continued when Happy Mondays legend Bez appeared for a scheduled DJ set. Taking more of a hype man approach, he urged fans to ‘call the cops’ in a nod to the band’s hit Step On, which was mixed with KRS-One’s Sound of Da Police as he kept in line with Parklife’s top fashion choice of the day by sporting an orange bandana.
Over at the Magic Sky stage, Manchester DJ and producer BOU brought a rowdy drum and bass set to the festival before being joined by Moston rapper Aitch for a special unscheduled rendition of Raving In The Studio, followed by Ring My Bell. “O161 every time,” the rapper declared in his love for his home time as he left the stage.
Producer, DJ, singer and songwriter Nia Archives, who is no stranger to a Parklife stage, proved she is ever the multihyphenate with her takeover of The Valley between 4am Kru and Skepta on Saturday night.
Since being named both Artist of the Year by BBC Music Introducing and Best Breakthrough DJ by DJ Mag back in 2024, Nia has gone further and further up the ranks, working with the likes of PinkPantheress, Jamie XX, Jorja Smith and Fred Again.
The Emotional Junglist (the name of her upcoming album) brought an unrivalled energy as she tore up The Valley Stage, her 2023 hit Baianá feeling utterly joyful and anthemic – right on the money with the World Cup hype at the moment.
Skepta delivered a standout moment of Parklife at the Valley Stage, opening his set with Shutdown immediately set the tone and built the energy from the very start. The crowd reaction was instant, the entire field erupted as soon as the beat dropped.
From that opening, the energy never dipped throughout the entire set. He performed some of his biggest hits including That’s Not Me and Toxic, keeping the momentum high. The Valley Stage was completely packed, with fans seen hands up, dancing, and fully immersed in the performance as Skepta kept the atmosphere electric the whole way through.
Performing towards the end of the day, he brought a closing energy that felt like a perfect peak for the festival crowd. Further into the set he also performed Energy and Papi Chulo, both of which went down massively well with revellers.
One of the biggest highlights came when Skepta performed Praise the Lord by A$AP Rocky, which he featured on, sending the crowd into chaos as the track rang out across the Valley Stage.
To end the set, Skepta paused and closed with a nod to the moment, saying “it’s coming home” in reference to the World Cup, sending the crowd into one last huge reaction and finishing the performance on a high.
And so it came to one man to close the first night of Parklife 2026. Introduced to dubstep through Rinse FM mixes, Sammy Virji headlined The Valley stage on Saturday night for a celebration of his bassline and UK garage-tinged roots.
Last September, he released his album Same Day Cleaning, which featured collaborations with the likes of Chris Lake, Salute, Giggs, MJ Cole and fellow Parklife headliner Skepta.
Later this month, he’ll play Electric Island in Toronto, Canada before heading to Cardiff Castle in July for a special headline gig. But tonight it was all about Manchester and there couldn’t have been a more perfect ending as the light faded down over Heaton Park, revellers closing moments of the day were soundtracked by an intoxicating mix of tracks from the last 30 years.
Skepta made a return to the stage for their collab Cops & Robbers while Flowdan appeared for a rendition of Shella Verse. All that was left was a picture-perfect finish courtesy of some well-timed fireworks and plenty of pyro to cap off what was an epic first day down at the park.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login