Beyond The Music 2026 venue map — MediaCity and the University of Salford, Salford

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Host Buildings

Host building

MediaCity Studios

The waterfront campus at Salford Quays that has been the northern home of the BBC and ITV since 2011, built around the studio floors where a large share of what Britain watches is actually made.

For Beyond The Music it is the centre of the site. Studios, halls and bars across the campus turn over to the festival, all within a few minutes of each other on foot.

The spaces inside, and the Manchester venues they are named for, are announced soon.

Host building

University of Salford

The University of Salford moved its School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology onto the MediaCity campus in 2011, putting students on the same waterfront as the industry they are training for.

Its rooms carry the parts of Beyond The Music closest to the people coming up next.

The spaces inside, and the Manchester venues they are named for, are announced soon.

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Beyond The Music 2026 Venue Inspiration

Every space is named after a legendary Manchester music venue. Here are the places that inspired them.

The Russell Club

The Caribbean social club in Hulme where Factory Records was born.
Electric Circus

The crumbling former bingo hall that became Manchester punk’s first home.
Photo: Duncan Watts (Geograph) · CC BY-SA 2.0

Paradise Factory

Factory Records’ old HQ, reborn as the brightest club in the Gay Village.
Twisted Wheel

The all-nighter that gave birth to Northern Soul.
Photo: Tim Green (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0

65 Oxford Street

One building, three legendary clubs: Rafters, Jilly’s Rockworld and the Music Box.
Photo: David Dixon (Geograph) · CC BY-SA 2.0

Free Trade Hall

Where Dylan went electric, next door to the Sex Pistols gig that changed Manchester music.
The Roadhouse

The Northern Quarter cellar where Elbow pulled pints before they pulled crowds.
Club 43

The peripatetic modern-jazz club that smuggled America’s greatest players into Manchester.
Photo: David Dixon (Geograph) · CC BY-SA 2.0

The Ranch

The basement gay club beneath Foo Foo’s Palace that became punk’s clubhouse.
Photo: Mikey / raver_mikey (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0

Legend / 5th Avenue

The space-age club where Greg Wilson’s electro-funk lit the fuse for Manchester dance music.
Photo: Duncan Hull (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0

The Boardwalk

The Victorian Sunday school where Oasis played their very first gig.
Press Club

The hidden members’ den where Manchester’s press, telly and music crowd drank until dawn.
Photo: Miles Glendinning / Tower Block project, University of Edinburgh · CC BY 4.0

The Kitchen

Three Hulme flats knocked into one, the lawless 24-hour heart of acid house.
The Beach Club

The short-lived Factory haunt where New Order played their first ever gig.

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