Spring/Summer Season at Progress
Johnny James, Managing Editor
Progress, Manchester’s only open air club, gets bigger and better every season. Transforming an underused industrial space in Ardwick, the venue served two summers of parties before becoming a permanent fixture on the scene in 2024. Now, the club has added two new spaces to the mix – Square One and Cakebread Street – increasing the capacity to 5000. And with this new scale comes a new standard of artists performing this spring and summer.
Set across a mix of meanwhile use sites and reinvented car parks, the programme spans forward-thinking electronic music and grassroots culture, with appearances from the likes of Maceo Plex, Shy FX, Chaos in the CBD, Rossi., Call Super, Amaliah, East End Dubs Dr Rubinstein, East End Dubs, MK, Sicaria and many, many more.
Highlights include two huge Early May Bank Holiday block parties. The first, on 3 May, is a day rave headlined by drum and bass and jungle legends Shy FX and Stamina MC, plus TSU Takeover, Shadev, Babyface and more. The following day sees the return of Animal Crossing x SlapFunk, which brings one of the heftiest line-ups from the season: Coast2Coast (The Ghost b2b Gene on Earth), Peach, Dungeon Funk (Samuel Deep b2b Dungeon Meat), Dr Banana, Ryan Elliott b2b Ogazón as well as Anna Wall and Tristan Da Cunha b2b Laidlaw.
Deeper into May, we’ve got our eye on Chaos In The CBD and Friends, bringing an elite selection of guests including Paramida, Amaliah and Francesco Del Garda. The following weekend Call Super, JASSS, Dr. Rubinstein, Bollibubbles and High Hoops’ Fastlove unite for Freak Queer Rave. Then there’s Rossi’s Homegrown party on 24 May, featuring Georgia, Phone Traxxx and Pach, plus Maceo Plex on the 25 May and – on the last day of the month – Area10 Presents Marc Kinchen/MK while Continental GT presents Steppers.
Shifting gear into full summer mode, 7 June brings Warped x 23 Degrees and a line-up built by Silva Bumpa, an artist on a meteoric rise for his Y2K-esque spin on pop-infused speed garage and bass. And into July, ExtENDed features East End Dubs, an act known the world over for his raves – bringing urban grit, late night menace and mischief. Finally for food lovers, the UK’s largest BBQ Competition FUME Festival will find its home at Progress, with a food line-up curated by internet food saviours Eating With Tod and Savour Festival.
Even with all this on the cards, there’s plenty more to be announced at the venue, with the latest word to be found via the button below.
