The incredible line up for this year’s BBC Radio 6 Music Festival, which takes place from Thursday 7 – Sunday 10 March in Greater Manchester, was announced live on air this morning by Lauren Laverne (7.30am–10.30am).

The station’s flagship live music festival, which is now based permanently in Greater Manchester, will once again feature performances you won’t see anywhere else, new music debuts, unique collaborations and surprise guests. The artists who will perform at O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester include:

Thursday 7 March

Young Fathers, performing a unique collaboration with the Hulme and Moss Side based NIA community choir, supported by Hak Baker and SHERELLE (DJ set)
Friday 8 March

Gossip, with their first UK show in four years and giving 6 Music the global premiere of unreleased material as well as celebrating International Women’s Day, supported by CMAT and AFRODEUTSCHE (DJ set)

Saturday 9 March

The Smile and the London Contemporary Orchestra with a world exclusive performance and the first time the Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner project have performed with an orchestra. The Smile will be supported by Jordan Rakei and Mary Anne Hobbs + Anna Phoebe (a unique hybrid performance featuring a DJ set from Mary Anneand Anna playing live violin and viola)
Further shows include a BBC Music Introducing night at Band on the Wall and New Music Fix Live at YES, the first time the 6 Music Festival has visited the venue. Club nights will include Indie Forever at Band on the Wall and Rave Forever at Archive, Depot Mayfield Manchester in partnership with the Warehouse Project. There will also be Morning After Mix Live events on the Saturday and Sunday at RAMONA: Jamz Supernova will broadcast her 6 Music show from the venue on Saturday 9 March (1pm-4pm), which will feature a live DJ set from Konny Kon (Children of Zeus), and Cerys Matthews will present from RAMONA on Sunday 10 March (10am-1pm), with a live DJ set from Femi Koleoso of Ezra Collective.

DJs playing across the city at the festival during the weekend include:

Lolly Adefope, Space Afrika, 96 Back, Daphni, Lily Fontaine (English Teacher), Mary Anne Hobbs, I. JORDAN, Femi Koleoso (Ezra Collective), Amy Lamé, LCY, Mica Levi, Rainy Miller, Not Bad For A Girl, DJ Paulette, Emily Pilbeam, salute, DJ Seinfeld, Nathan Shepherd, Iceboy Violet, Yyre and Konny Kon (Children of Zeus).

Highlights from the festival will be broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio Manchester from MediaCityUK in Salford, as well as on BBC Sounds, BBC Four, BBC iPlayer and BBC Music’s YouTube channel.

Tickets for each separate event will be available from 10am on Thursday 18 January via www.bbc.co.uk/6musicfestival. All events are 18 and over only.

Young Fathers says: “A 6 Music stage has been given to us and the door of endless possibilities has been opened. Beyond anything else it will be a night to celebrate a wide mix of folk coming together. GERONIMO!!”

Hak Baker says: “6 Music has been a long-time supporter but I feel since the birth of my debut you lot have just taken it to another echelon. I just can’t thank you enough for broadcasting my messages on the airwaves. Outside East London, Manchester, home of theHaçienda, has long been my fave city. We always sell out over there and we always have it large, most importantly so bringing it heavy on March 7 2024. Couple of newbies no one’s ever heard and a few more tricks up the old wizard sleeve. Hold on to ya hats!!”

Gossip, who will be performing never heard before tracks, says: “We’re so excited -Manchester is going to be the first to hear our new record live! Such a special crowd, we’ve missed you so much and can’t wait to be back!”

CMAT says: “My performance at the 6 Music Festival will be the best show you’ll see in your whole entire life! Expect camp, gay people, energy, country music as well as mediocre guitar playing from me and very good guitar playing from other people. When I was making my first album and listening to 6 Music most days, Iggy Pop played one of my songs on his show. I heard it from the other room and ran in to hear Iggy Pop’s mouth forming my name – it was a crazy day for the parish.”

During an on air interview with Lauren Laverne, The Smile says: “ARRGGGH – we’ve got a lot of work to do to prep for the 6 Music Festival as it’s one thing to do it in the studio, but it’s another thing to do it live. We’ve decided to work with the London Contemporary Orchestra on the performance but as they’re all incredibly versatile musicians, we’ll figure it out!”

Jordan Rakei says: “I’m really excited to play in Manchester again because it’s one of the earliest shows I can remember after moving to the UK in 2015, so I can’t wait to show love to the city that showed me love when I first moved over. I’ll be playing new music as well as some of my favorite older songs. I’ll also be bringing my biggest band I’ve ever had, there will lots of singers on stage so I’m super excited! I’m a massive fan of 6 Music because whenever I turn the radio on, I always hear something progressive, which pushes me to discover new music in all different fields, sounds and genres. It’s somewhere I tap into to learn something new because it’s very easy to get caught up in what you know. So it’s such an honor to be at a festival championing new music like this… so super grateful!”

Lauren Laverne says: “We can’t wait to kick start the 6 Music Festival and find out what some of our favourite artists have in store for us – in a busy festival season this is a chance to see and hear something brand new! See you there!”

Samantha Moy, Head of 6 Music says: “The 6 Music Festival is always a very special moment in our year and we can’t wait to bring our audience some truly unique performances. Come and join us! ”

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham says: “It’s fantastic to see the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival returning to Greater Manchester this year. We’re immensely proud of our musical heritage, but also the phenomenal depth of talent and the exciting independent scene across our city-region right now. As BBC Radio 6 Music has always supported new and alternative artists, it’s a perfect fit for the festival to have its permanent home here for years to come.

“There’s so much new Greater Manchester music out there right now that deserves to be heard, which is why it’s so important to develop platforms for emerging artists. That’s precisely what we’ve been celebrating with the Mayor’s Artist of the Month on BBC Radio Manchester, and like BBC Radio 6 Music, we want to help those acts get on and reach new audiences.”

6 Music Festival 2024 full line up

Thursday 7 March

6 Music Festival at Victoria Warehouse Manchester from 6.30pm:
• SHERELLE (DJ Set)
• Hak Baker
• Young Fathers (performing a unique collaboration with the Hulme and Moss Side based NIA community choir)

BBC Music Introducing at Band on the Wall from 7pm:
• OneDa
• Witch Fever
• Porij

New Music Fix Live at YES from 10pm, featuring DJ sets from:
• Yyre
• Rainy Miller b2b LCY
• Iceboy Violet b2b 96 Back
• Space Afrika b2b Mica Levi

Friday 8 March

6 Music Festival at Victoria Warehouse Manchester from 6.30pm in celebration of International Women’s Day:
• AFRODEUTSCHE (DJ set)
• CMAT
• Gossip

Indie Forever club night at Band on the Wall from 9pm, featuring DJ sets packed with solid gold, upbeat indie bangers:
• Emily Pilbeam
• Amy Lamé
• Lily Fontaine (English Teacher)
• Lolly Adefope
• Nathan Shepherd (Good Future)

Saturday 9 March

Jamz Supernova x Morning After Mix Live at Ramona, live on air from 1pm–4pm featuring DJ set from:
• Konny Kon (Children of Zeus) (3pm-5pm)

BBC Introducing presents Open Decksat RAMONA from 5-8pm
• RAMONA sees the return of BBC Introducing presents Open Decks, offering the unique opportunity for emerging DJs to jump behind the turntables to perform at this year’s 6 Music Festival. There will be a sign-up sheet at the door and all genres are welcome! Participants are encouraged to share original compositions as part of their mixes. The only things attendees will need are their USB’s, headphones and their A-Game!

6 Music Festival at Victoria Warehouse Manchester from 6.30pm:
• Mary Anne Hobbs + Anna Phoebe (DJ set from Mary Anne and Anna playing live violin and viola)
• Jordan Rakei
• The Smile and the London Contemporary Orchestra

Rave Forever at Archive, Depot Mayfield Manchester from 9pm, in partnership with the Warehouse
Project featuring the finest dance music from across the decades, with DJ sets from:
• Not Bad For A Girl
• DJ Paulette
• I. JORDAN
• Daphni
• DJ Seinfeld b2b salute

Sunday 10 March

Cerys Matthews x Morning After Mix Live at Ramona live on air from 10am – 1pm featuring DJ set from:

• Femi Koleoso of Ezra Collective (12pm-2pm)

6 Music presenters including Chris Hawkins, Craig Charles, Deb Grant, Mary Anne Hobbs, Don Letts, Amy Lamé, Lauren Laverne Stuart Maconie, Cerys Matthews, Gilles Peterson, Jamz Supernova, Mark Radcliffe and Tom Ravenscroft will all be broadcasting live over the festival weekend from MediaCityUK in Salford and the festival venues.

There’ll be live and recorded-live performances from every event broadcast on 6 Music across the schedule for listeners to enjoy, wherever they are in the UK.

6 Music Broadcast Schedule

Thursday 7 March

• Chris Hawkins (5am-7.30am), Lauren Laverne (7.30am – 10.30am), Mary Anne Hobbs (10.30am – 1pm) and Craig Charles (1pm-4pm) will all broadcast from MediaCityUK BBC studios
• 4pm-7pm – Huw Stephens from Band on the Wall
• 7pm–11pm – Deb Grant & Tom Ravenscroft from YES, featuring live music from Victoria Warehouse Manchester and Band on the Wall.
• 11pm – 2am (into Friday 8 March) – New Music Fix Live featuring live DJ sets

Friday 8 March

• 5am-7.30am – Chris Hawkins
• 7.30am–10.30am – Lauren Laverne
• 10.30am–1pm – Mary Anne Hobbs
• 1pm-4pm – Craig Charles
• 4pm-7pm – Huw Stephens
• 7pm–11pm – Deb Grant & Tom Ravenscroft, featuring live music from Victoria Warehouse Manchester
• 11pm – 2am (into Sat 9 March) Indie Forever club night live from Band on the Wall

Saturday 9 March

• 8am–10am – Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie
• 10am –1pm – Craig Charles
• 1-4pm – Jamz Supernova x Morning After Mix Live, featuring DJ set from Konny Kon (Children of Zeus), from RAMONA
• 4-7pm – Gilles Peterson
• 7-11pm – Deb Grant and Tom Ravenscroft, featuring live music from Victoria Warehouse Manchester
• 11pm-3am (into Sunday 10 March) – Rave Forever at Archive, Depot Mayfield Manchester

Sunday 10 March

• 8am-10am – Chris Hawkins
• 10am-1pm – Cerys Matthews x Morning After Mix Live, featuring DJ set from Femi Koleoso from RAMONA
• 1pm–4pm – Guy Garvey
• 4pm-6pm – Stuart Maconie and Deb Grant present highlights from the 6 Music Festival 2024
• 6pm-8pm – Amy Lamé and Don Letts present Now Playing – 10 years of the 6 Music Festival
• 8pm-10pm – Freak Zone Manchester special presented by Stuart Maconie
• 10pm-00:00 – Lose Yourself Manchester special

BBC Radio Manchester will hear from BBC Music Introducing Live at Band on the Wall on Thursday 7 March, bringing listeners performance highlights from the Manchester-based artists playing that evening.

All BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio Manchester programmes will be available on BBC Sounds after broadcast.

On the evening of Sunday March 10, BBC Four will broadcast programmes from the 6 Music Festival.

From early afternoon on Saturday 9 March, BBC iPlayer will stream performance highlights from the festival, including Gossip, Young Fathers, Hak Baker and CMAT before showing sets from Jordan Rakei and The Smile live from Victoria Warehouse.

Sets will also be available to watch on BBC iPlayer for 30 days, with individual tracks available on BBC Music’s YouTube channel.

In the lead up to the festival, listeners can enjoy programmes celebrating artists who are performing at this year’s festival, and stars of past festivals.

Gossip’s Beth Ditto will feature on The First Time With…, presented by Matt Everitt on Tuesday 16 Jan (11pm-midnight), following the recent interviews with Cate Le Bon, Holly Johnson, John Grant, Stormzy and David Holmes, which are available to listen to now on BBC Sounds. In addition to her work with Gossip, Beth has also collaborated with Calvin Johnson, Simian Mobile Disco, Jarvis Cocker, Paul Weller and Graham Coxon. As a solo artist she is known for her self-titled EP, released in 2011 and her album Fake Sugar (2017). In November 2023, Gossip announced that they will release their first album in 11 years, Real Power, produced by Rick Rubin.

This year’s headliners will also be featured in February as the station’s Artist in Residence, a four episode series which takes a journey into the musical soul of an artist, based around a theme or mood. Young Fathers will host four episodes w/c 12 February (Monday-Thursday, 11pm-midnight), Gossip w/c 19 February (Monday-Thursday, 11pm-midnight) and The Smile w/c 26 February (Monday-Thursday, 11pm-midnight).

From Tuesday 16 January, BBC Sounds presents a 6 Music Festival Back to Back Sounds collection, launching with themed episodes of Indie Forever, Rave Forever and The Morning After Mix.

Artists who have previously performed at the festival, or are performing this year, will be featured in 6 Music’s Artist Collection (Tuesdays, midnight-5am), including Thom Yorke (9 January), Gossip (6 February), The National (13 February), Depeche Mode (20 February), Little Simz (27 February) and Young Fathers (5 March).

Since it began in 2014, the 6 Music Festival has taken place all over the UK, including in Manchester, Tyneside, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Camden (London) and Cardiff and has seen performances from artists including Anna Calvi, Bombay Bicycle Club, Depeche Mode, Ezra Collective, Goldfrapp, Hot Chip, Johnny Marr, Kae Tempest, Khruangbin, Little Simz, Pixies, Primal Scream, Róisín Murphy, Self Esteem, Wet Leg and many more.

The 2023 festival featured performances from Loyle Carner, joined by the AMC Gospel Choir, Christine and the Queens, who gave the global premiere of his new live show and Arlo Parks, with the world-exclusive performance of her latest music and guest appearances from Romy and Tom Coll of Fontaines D.C.