The Keep Walking Live: Manchester programme is a three-day city-wide music takeover organised by Johnnie Walker and global radio platform NTS. Running from 13 to 15 March 2026, the initiative activates venues across Manchester including SOUP, New Century, Eastern Bloc and Impiety Hour. The programme brings together local artists and international performers such as DJ EZ, KOKOROKO, Venna and Nubya Garcia. All net ticket proceeds from the events will be donated to Manchester-based music charity Brighter Sound to support local artist development and grassroots music programmes.
The programme opens at Northern Quarter venue SOUP with a night dedicated to UK garage and bass music led by DJ EZ alongside Manchester DJ Anz, Finn, KD22LR and Tyronwithnoe. Saturday features DJ workshops at the NTS Manchester studio and a showcase at Eastern Bloc before an evening concert at New Century with KOKOROKO and Venna performing live. The weekend concludes with the Sunday Slow Down at Impiety Hour, including listening sessions, panels and a closing performance by Nubya Garcia supported by Space Afrika and Oriki.
Image Credit: NTS
What's Driving This Trend
- City-wide Music Takeovers
- Growing multi-venue festivals that mobilize urban cultural corridors present opportunities to rethink decentralized programming and audience flow models.
- Charity-linked Ticketing
- A shift toward donating net proceeds to local arts organizations creates new value propositions linking ticket sales with community impact and donor engagement metrics.
- Hybrid Workshop-performance Programming
- Integration of educational workshops, listening sessions and panels alongside concerts blurs boundaries between learning and live entertainment, enabling deeper artist-audience relationships.
Who This Affects Most
- Live Music Venues
- Smaller independent venues and larger concert halls alike can be reshaped by programming strategies that prioritize networked city itineraries and shared branding for cross-venue attendance.
- Music Education and Workshops
- Local music charities and workshop providers stand to expand by offering credentialed skill-building experiences tied to high-profile events and artist residencies.
- Event Technology and Ticketing Platforms
- Ticketing and event platforms can incorporate impact-tracking, dynamic revenue-sharing and itinerary-building tools to support multi-venue festivals and charitable giving models.
