manchester jazz festival 2026 announces headliners.
Monday, February 09, 2026
manchester jazz festival (mjf2026) will take place between 15-24 May 2026 at venues and sites across Manchester. Press release attached.
We have received the following press release;
manchester jazz festival: bringing in the next 30 years of jazz!
Manchester’s longest-running music festival is back this Summer for 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…
Jazz lovers rejoice – manchester jazz festival is back for its 31st edition in 2026. Lighting up venues across the city, mjf2026 will see hundreds of northern, national and international jazz musicians descend on Manchester, showcasing the genre’s leading lights alongside its most exciting emerging talent.
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.
Building on the success of the last few years, manchester jazz festival (mjf2026) begins with a spectacular FREE opening weekender at the vibrant neighbourhood: First Street (mjf @ First Street) from 15 – 17 May. There will be two event stages: Main Stage and the Ask Garden Stage, each celebrating the breadth and individuality of our home-grown scene and beyond: bands emerging through mjf’s artist development programmes alongside a host of northern success stories giving their homecoming performance at mjf (Lara Jones, Thanda Gumede). The opening night shines a light on tomorrow’s talent, including a pop-up performance curated by mjf’s Youth Advisory Board, with family-friendly activities on Saturday morning and food and drink offers throughout the weekend.
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
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 http://www.manchesterjazz.com