FESTIVAL GUIDE: The Great Northern Ska Festival

Name: Great Northern Ska Festival

Where: Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester

When: 20th August 2016

Headliner: The Selecter

Also Featuring: The Beat, Neville Staple, Dawn Penn, King Hammond & The Rude Boy Mafia.

What to Expect: According to the festivals website, this is what the GNSF will entail:

“The Great Northern SKA festival will take place on Saturday August 20th, we will bring you the biggest artists in the business on the biggest of stages. Half a day of SKA, 2 tone, & reggae. A festival bringing you live entertainment & music, food & drink courts, merchandise stalls, entertainers, outdoor stages, funfairs, SKA TV, and 6000 like minded people.”

Similar specialist gigs, such as the Mod & Ska festival, have had undeniably upbeat reviews from critics too, with a buoyant sense of reminiscent partying seeming to be the theme of these events.

How to Get There: A mile from M60 J9. Trafford Park is your closest train station, but even that is a taxi job away.

Gigslutz Top Tip: The Selecter. There’s a reason why these old timers born in the golden era of Ska’s prime have been invited to headline the festival. These natural performers have everything you want from a closing act, and although we do look forward to seeing some of the emerging acts, we’d be lying if we said the thought of moonstomping to the likes of ‘On My Radio’ and ‘Thee Minute Hero’ wasn’t the most exciting prospect for the day. Don’t be tempted to sneak off, stay ‘til the 3am curfew and experience live Ska at its frantic best.

How to Get Tickets: Tickets available on Skiddle HERE

Sam Wright

Sam Wright

Music Journalist, formally at MOJO Magazine. Black Country born, now mainly covering Birmingham and North-West England
Sam Wright

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