Very much a student festival at heart, almost all the stalls and unique acts from comedy to drama and new music will be student or community run. This new concept, a daylong festival in Platt Fields Park after the end of exams, originated with two University of Manchester students Ben Tillet and Ben Cheetham, like all good ideas, over a pint.
The other organizers, head of sound Jack Gutteridge and two recent Manchester graduates Ben Paget and Thomas Barlow who are the booking and promo team, say the event couldn’t have been put together without the massive collaboration from students across the board with acts, ideas and enthusiasm as the keys to the project’s creation.
University of Manchester societies will play a big role in the event, from the Comedy Sluts and Drama Society to MUJO and the Circus Society. The Mad Ferret Festival promises to be an exciting time for students to blow off post-exam steam after torturous weeks at the library.
The main stage promises to showcase local and student talent alongside some big names. Acts include the Super Fresh Power Squad (featuring DJ Will Tramp) a mixture of students and non-students who play retro hip-hop, the student jazz Orchestra MUJO, the Let Freedom Ring Brass Section who are going to be playing with the legendary Iration Stepppas, and Riot Jazz Brass Band who have just been booked for Bestival to play with Skinnyman. Alongside these acts will be the long awaited return of AIM, talent that practically defines Manchester hip-hop.
The dance tent will start of with residents of Tic Toc and Micron before With Belly of the Beast residents Metalink and Sex with Robots DJs appear. The lineup gets heavier as Stanton Warriors will make an afternoon warm up appearance before their two-hour set at the Sankeys after party. Drum and Bass will then take over in the form of metropolis DJs - Chase N Status, Prophecy, Nicky Blackmarket and the superb DJ Friction.
The third tent will be a unique mash up of Global Beats and Sazon latino resident Franco Ze bringing the biggest Brazilian tunes, going up against live Samba bands and live Capoeira. Drum Music resident Ruf Mouth and Hit N Run residents Rich Reason and Al Sonar will showcase their talent before the Let Freedom Ring Brass Band will take to the stage with resident Prince Al to get the tent swinging to the most soulful roots reggae before Nucleus Roots, Manchester's biggest Dub act for the past fifteen years, play out with their new full eight-piece live band.
The music tents aren’t the only delights on offer. Throughout the day expect visits from traveling circus acts and sets from special DJ bars. Manchester Drama society will be presenting their new Edinburgh Festival acts whilst the comedy sluts are going to be bringing their best line-up of the year to get the place roaring with laughter. There will be live graffiti walls, face painting stalls and hosts of other things.
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