All About Parklife Festival

Manchester, UK

Open air

XXL – 50k+

Electronic, Hip-Hop

$$$

Live music, International

2 Days

Parklife grew from being a small Manchester project to a famous music festival bringing in the best acts in the industry.

Since its inception, the event has welcomed big industry names and even had to change venues to accommodate its rapid expansion.

Here’s everything you need to know about Parklife festival.

Parklife was founded in 2010, by the same person behind the Warehouse Project 

Initially, Parklife started as a one-day event that brought in 20,000 people to Platt Fields. The idea was established when a group of students hosted a mini-festival named Mad Ferret fest. 

The event was a success and brought in 10,000 students.

However as the years went by, the students couldn’t keep up financially with Mad Ferret’s growth. That’s where Sacha Lord stepped in. Sacha Lord was co-founder of a successful series of club nights in Manchester, The Warehouse Project.

Two of the original founders of Mad Ferret teamed up with Lord and others to use their small independent festival as a springboard for Parklife.

The festival brings in music from all genres

At Parklife, you’re likely to hear sounds from all sorts of different genres, including hip-hop, grime, pop, rock, club, house and dance DJs.

Since its first event, Parklife has brought in the likes of electronic underground duo Disclosure, indie-pop band The 1975, alternative R&B artist Frank Ocean, and American rapper Snoop Dogg.

Parklife grew from hosting 20,000 attendees to 160,000 over its lifetime 

For their 2021 event, 160,000 music lovers traveled to Heaton Park to attend the festival over its two days.

That’s quite a big jump from their first show at Platts Fields, which brought in a crowd of 20,000 people. 

The festival takes place in one of the largest municipal parks in Europe

Heaton Park, located to the North of Manchester city center, stretches over an area of 600 acres, featuring amenities such as a golf course, boating lake, adventure playground and more.

The park’s history is filled with large events and festivals alike.

In 1982, over 100,000 people filled the park to see Pope John Paul on his visit to Manchester.

Gen Z dominates Parklife’s audience

Whether it’s the type of artists Parklife brings to its stages or the fact that teenagers and young adults today are considered the ‘experience-seeking’ generation, the demographic that populates Parklife is definitely on the younger side.

One Parklife attendee of the 2021 edition told The Guardian that the young crowd dominated the scene so much that “even 27-year-olds could feel like fossils here.”

Camping is a no-go at Parklife

Leave your tents, sleeping bags and PJs at home because the show wraps up at 23:00 and all guests are expected to leave the premises.

Unlike festivals like Glastonbury or Tomorrowland that are all about camping experiences, Parklife doesn’t allow any overnight stays.

Smirnoff Ice celebrated its 20th birthday at Parklife

Being the official vodka sponsor of Parklife as well as European festivals, Smirnoff has become a staple at live music events.

For Smirnoff Ice’s 20th birthday, Parklife held an exclusive Smirnoff Ice Slushy bar to quench your thirst and get the party going.

Attendees could get their hands on limited-edition Smirnoff Slushy drinks to keep their cool.

The festival found a unique way to announce their lineups and ticket sales

Perhaps in a way to appeal to its young audience, the festival has found an exciting strategy to announce Parklife 2022 lineup and Parklife festival ticket sales that goes beyond announcements on socials.

Parklife Revealed is a series of animated shorts with funky cartoons used to reveal the upcoming festival’s lineup. The campaign featured hero artwork with illustrated elements that reflect each year’s theme.

Parklife was the first major UK festival headlined by Dave

Dave performed an exclusive headline set at Parklife 2021, along with big names like Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Young Thug, and many others from all over the world.

Dave, also known as Santan Dave, is one of the most critically acclaimed and recognized British rappers of today. Two of his albums debuted as number one in the UK, alongside 10 singles making it to the UK Top 10 charts.

During his Parklife performance, the first festival where the artist headlined, Dave brought out grime star and rapper Stormzy.

Parklife gives back to the community

At Parklife, it’s about more than just partying and music.

The Community Fund, run by Parklife and local councils, generates funds from guest-list attendees, festival tickets and auctions.

Between £100,000 was raised between 2016-2019 for the benefit of community groups, including those that utilize parks and open spaces, as well as Superjosh, a charity for brain tumor sufferers and their families.