Keep Walking Live Takes Over Manchester, UK

Keep Walking Live: Manchester, a three-day, city-wide takeover celebrating pioneering music kicks off tomorrow, March 13-15, marking the first city-wide edition of the initiative run by Johnnie Walker and and music platform NTS.

It’s a grassroots focused initiative that activates some of Manchester’s most revered venues and spaces including SOUP, New Century, Eastern Bloc, and Impiety Hour. The program spotlights a mix of homegrown talent alongside internationally acclaimed names including DJ EZ, KOKOROKO, Venna and Nubya Garcia.

Johnnie Walker and NTS will contribute 100% of the net proceeds of ticket sales of the event to Manchester music charity Brighter Sound Ltd, a registered charity that supports local artist development.

“From community projects to international exchange, Brighter Sound supports emerging talent and music professionals through programs and advocacy that tackle inequality and strengthen grassroots music,” according to a press release.

Keep Walking Live kicks off tomorrow, Friday, March 13, at SOUP in Manchester’s iconic Northern Quarter. The program celebrates the depth of UK underground dance culture with a focus on UKG and bass-driven club music.

Saturday offers free, bookable DJ workshops at the NTS Manchester Studio, while the afternoon continues at Eastern Bloc with an intergenerational DJ showcase featuring Annabel Fraser, Kim Lana, and Rick. That evening, the energy shifts to New Century, formerly Century Hall, the landmark venue where the city’s working-class history, radical politics and progressive music culture have collided for over half a century. An afro-fusion and neo-jazz celebration will be headlined by MOBO-nominated collective KOKOROKO, known for their joyous horn-led live shows, plus a live set from Venna, a leading figure in the UK’s contemporary jazz renaissance who will perform alongside a live band.

Sunday takes place at Impiety Hour, the off-kilter and experimental space from the minds behind The White Hotel. Dubbed the ‘Sunday Slow Down’, this community-oriented day features listening sessions and panels with local figureheads. The evening finale features a special, stripped-back performance headlined by Nubya Garcia, one of the UK’s most influential contemporary jazz saxophonists and composers, whose work bridges jazz, dub, and Afro-Caribbean traditions.

She is supported by atmospheric Space Afrika’s Manchester contingent, known for their city-rooted sound, and genre-fluid artist Oriki, providing a final moment to celebrate Manchester’s creative energy in its most intimate form.

“By focusing on spaces rooted in community culture, Keep Walking Live: Manchester celebrates the venues that cultivate and sustain the city’s creative talent. These cultural ecosystems—spanning the legendary basement of SOUP and the forty-year legacy of Eastern Bloc to the historic Century Hall and the experimental Impiety Hour—are essential to the artists and curators who define the local landscape,” the press announcement concludes.

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