Made in Manchester Festival – Review 

Last Updated on 30 August 2026 by Colette

Whilst you know we love a festival, for one reason or another our summer has been festival lite this year – we’ve done a few outdoor gigs at The Piece Hall and Kirkstall Abbey which have scratched the itch but it’s not quite the same so we were excited for a day out at Made In Manchester Festival at Waterside Farm, Romiley. Made In Manchester a small, local two-day festival hosting mainly tribute acts so whilst it doesn’t give that big headline festival vibe that we love, tickets are inexpensive and it’s only 20 minutes from home. 

Ben was working so this was a day out for four, but we met up with friends who live nearby and honestly, this made a huge difference to how enjoyable the event was for us. 

Made In Manchester has been running for eight years but this year is under new ownership and I believe this was the first time it has been held on the August bank holiday weekend. As I mentioned already, it’s a small local festival with a ‘main stage’, a dance tent and a small VIP area. 

What we loved about Made in Manchester Festival

• The biggest win is that Made in Manchester Festival is on our doorstep – 20 minutes door to door made for an easy day out and, with the weather being a bit suspect, it was nice to know that if we did get soaked we were close to home to get showered and into bed at the end of the day. 

• The size of the festival means it’s super easy to navigate and you’re not trekking about between stages – you’ve got one central area surrounded by food trucks, fairground rides, the bar etc. 

• The atmosphere of the festival felt pretty safe – we were quite comfortable letting the girls go off with their friends (an added bonus of it being a really small event was that that there was no issues with phone reception so we could easily contact each other!) Obviously our girls are experienced festival goers but a festival of this size definitely allows them to have more freedom and independence (Chloe is actually talking about going without us next year). 

• Because Made in Manchester Festival is a small event without big name acts or a huge infrastructure to support, the ticket prices are really affordable. Under 12s go free, I paid £17.50 for Chloe and the VIP tickets were £50 each or £30 for standard adult entry (personally I don’t think the VIP area was worth a £20 price difference so we definitely wouldn’t bother with that if we went back). Made in Manchester were running a 2 for 1 ticket offer for a while too which either meant you could have got two tickets for Saturday for the price of one or could have returned on Sunday for free! 

• I’m not normally a fan of people taking chairs to festivals (I tend to just have some PACMAT patches in my bag!) mainly because I think they get in the way but at Made In Manchester Festival, people were really respectful with where they’d placed their chairs and I must admit to being grateful that Dave and Lindsay had brought chairs because it gave us a bit of a base for the kids to return to and I did appreciate a sit down! 

• Food and drink pricing was fairly standard for a festival if not slightly cheaper than we are used to – £7 a pint, £11 for a pizza, £5 for cheesy chips and £7 for a small churros. I particularly enjoyed a fresh lemonade at £4.50 and cans of pop were £2. (You aren’t allowed to take your own food and drink into the event so you’re pretty bound by this pricing!) Dave said he’d have liked to have seen more choice food wise but realistically we know you’re limited by the size of the event and have to cover the main bases!) 

• The tribute bands were all pretty good – we had tributes to Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Stone Roses, The Smiths – basically giving you a good karaoke vibe as they rocked out all the classics we know and love. Dave and I enjoyed a good dance in the dance tent too – Kevin & Perry Official were a good laugh and brought out plenty of nostalgic dance classics though I found myself getting frustrated that they didn’t play enough of anything, they just kept throwing out tastes of old favourites before moving onto something else. We didn’t last their whole of their set as it reached a point where I felt they’d lost the crowd a bit and I wasn’t enjoying the music as much so we headed back out to the main stage. Later on in the evening, Dave and I popped back to the dance tent for Judge Jules – now 20+ years ago I’d have turned my nose up at Judge Jules and said he was too cheesy or mainstream but I was really looking forward to seeing him last night. Sadly he didn’t give us quite what we were hoping for in terms of classics but I enjoyed half an hour or so of his set before deciding I (and my old lady hips) had had enough.

Things about Made in Manchester Festival we’d love to see improved next year 

• The festival site quickly became really messy – there seemed to be a lack of bins for empty cups or food packaging. This was compounded by one of the stalls selling huge ‘viral TikTok surprise boxes’ which were basically £5 cardboard boxes of tat that were then strewn around the festival site. I didn’t see anyone tidying – and ongoing litter picking would have made a really big difference. 

• One of the stalls was selling silly string – so you had kids with cans of silly string spraying it everywhere – at other festival goers (no I don’t want it in my hair or my drink thanks) or just all over the floor (adding to the mess I just mentioned). Bearing in mind most festivals won’t allow any form of aerosol or spray through security, letting kids loose with aerosol cans doesn’t seem like a smart move to me? 

• I would love to have seen more things for kids to do. Beyond spending money on tat and fairground rides, we didn’t feel there was a lot for younger children. Bearing in mind this is billed as a family festival, Henry (9) was pretty bored until he bumped into one of his mates in the evening.

• Whilst there was a good few fairground rides, which I always think helps had to the vibe if nothing else, the one that Amy and Lu had their heart set on remained closed all day. 

• The VIP area cost an extra £20 per person and I don’t honestly think it was worth it – there was a small covered seating area, an open top double decker bus offering a viewing platform, a small bar and a handful of toilets. The main arena was well served in terms of the toilets and bar so it wasn’t like your £20 saved you any queuing time. It just felt unnecessary. 

What you need to know before you go

• Made in Manchester festival is hosted on Waterside Farm in Romiley, Stockport 

• Parking on site is free and whilst you are warned that it’s on a first come, first served basis, the car park remained fairly empty as I think anyone who lived locally just walked. 

• The festival opens at 12 – we rocked up at around 3pm which felt about right in terms of avoiding the worst of the weather and also just not getting bored by being there too early. Last entrance is at 8pm.

• You’re asked not to take overly large bags but rucksacks are OK which allowed us to be prepared with raincoats and jumpers

• You can bring camping chairs but are asked to be sensible and not to build yourself a full campsite! 

• No outside food or drink is allowed 

• There is no re-entry once you’ve entered – which means you can’t leave things in your car to grab later! 

• Bag searches/security were quick, easy and friendly 

• If you’ve booked a child’s ticket and they are on the cusp (like Amy who will be 13 soon) take ID otherwise you might be charged the full entrance cost. 

• Coloured wristbands are given at the gate so if you look under 25, your ID will be checked than to make it easier for bar staff. 

• You can use cash or card on site.

• Because the main stage is relatively small, the sound isn’t massive and I don’t think ear defenders are as important for this one – in fact I think I only saw one child wearing them.

• Festival goers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult (18+). 

As I mentioned earlier, for younger families I don’t think there’s enough going on – though we did see plenty of kids who seemed to be having a good time. Where I think Made in Manchester wins though is it’s a great value festival for teens to enjoy the vibes, a bit of independence and the chance to enjoy some live music (even if it just a tribute act!). Chloe didn’t actually want to come home because she was having a such a good time down in the crowd at the main stage with some friends – I on the other hand was well done and needed to sit down! 

Would we go to Made in Manchester Festival again?

So we chatted about this on the way home last night – Chloe likes the idea of going without us next year – because she will be 16, she’d still need to be accompanied by a ‘responsible adult’ but as Ben will be 18 by then, it’s totally doable for them to go without us. 

Dave and I said we’d both happily go again but only if we had friends going and more just if we didn’t have anything else on rather than a ‘ooh must make sure we book tickets for that as soon as they come out’ kinda vibe. For a small, local festival, it was a well organised day and we had a good time but it definitely wouldn’t take the place of a bigger weekend event for me.

Have a read of these posts next:

Music festivals in and around Manchester

Food and drink festivals around Manchester

Best day festivals for families

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