After All Festival
16 May 2026 – Northern Quarter Manchester
Start 12:00 Noon – Tickets: Fatsoma
One of Manchester most authentic grass roots festivals – After All, takes place this Saturday the 16th of May across multiple venues, including The Band on The Wall, Gullivers and The Rose and Monkey.
The yearly festival curated by Owen Miekle-Williams and sponsored by RGM and Bury’s Wax & Beans, has gone from strength to strength over the years, with 2026 being the biggest yet. Headlined by one of the city’s legendary bands Dirty Laces, other artists appearing are Cobain Jones, Concrete Club, The Falls, Frankie Dobson, Freight, INEGO, James Holt, Manilla Times and Pageant Mum.
Owen had this to say to Louder Than War:
“After All Festival started in 2019 and this is our biggest one yet. It’s an honour to be working with Dirty Laces who I’m a huge fan of, and also so many up-and coming bands and artists that epitomise the grass roots music scene”
Entry is just £21.50 including booking fee with a premium ticket at £41.50 which includes a “Limited Edition Festival T-Shirt, fitted to your liking and to be picked up at the festival, on the day”.
Line-up:
Dirty Laces
Jonny Blade
Rivia
James Holt
Manilla Times
Pageant Mum
Cobain Jones
Concrete Club
Frankie Dobson
The Falls
The Tails
FREIGHT
INEGO
99 Degree
Bank Holiday
BOI TOI
Big Cat Chic
Corah
The Cove
Frank and The Beats
Joseph Davis
Lydia Reddy
Nick Shane
The Radio Addicts
Saskia
Westheads
More:
It is not surprising that the festival has had to up-size this year, with the historic Band on the Wall (and its 500-capacity main room) serving as its main stage for the first time. Manchester’s own Dirty Laces take the top spot at Band on the Wall. Following a packed-out Manchester headline show and announcement of EU festival slots, the band are going from strength to strength. Their home-grown, DIY ethic and Mancunian spirit echo everything that After All Festival is about. Other recent additions include Scouse alt-rockers RIVIA and Manc indie-punks Big Cat Chic. They join the likes of festival favourites such as INEGO and The Falls.
After All has a history of supporting budding talent – founder Owen Meikle-Williams started the festival in 2019 to give a platform to all of the small and up and coming artists he saw around the city. This year will see rising star Jonny Blade (fresh off the back of a triumphant UK tour supporting Freddie Halkon) ascend to headline Band on the Wall’s Copper Bar stage, after playing his debut show at the festival in 2024. It has become a tradition to have an artist play their first gig at a festival – this year will see Saskia on the acoustic stage, as well as a debut show from Bank Holiday (featuring members of previous AAF headliners SHADE). You can catch plenty of future rock and roll stars including The Radio Addicts, The Cove, and The Tails.
New for this year is the ‘Grassroots Ticket’, which exists for those that want to support the festival, and includes a limited edition After All Festival t-shirt in collaboration with Northern Couture. The festival is supported by RGM, Puffer Fish Press, and Wax & Beans.
“After All Festival is unique in so many ways…it’s just a brilliant event with a great atmosphere to discover new music” – DJ Dave Sweetmore
“One of the UK’s most exciting new music festivals” – Rob Fiddaman, Deadly Records
“Manchester’s After All Festival seems unstoppable, growing from strength to strength” – RGM
Links: Facebook, Instagram, Website, Twitter, Tickets: Fatsoma
Watch Owen’s interview on RGM:
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Words by Nigel Carr – More writing by Nigel on Louder Than War can be found in his Author’s archive. You can find Nigel on Twitter and Facebook Nigel is the Executive Producer of New Dawn Fades – A Play About Joy Division and Manchester which is touring this Autumn from 1 September.
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