Save Dpercussion!

Oh no! In a cruelly ironic stroke of bad luck, this year’s Dpercussion, the free music festival that came about in response to the Manchester bomb, may this year - of all years - not happen.

Two of the festival’s major local sponsors have pulled out, despite promising increased support earlier in the year, leaving a £40,000 shaped hole in the boat.

Unless the festival can secure last minute sponsorship, in the year of the bomb’s tenth anniversary Manchester will have to go without the festival that was set up as a positive response to the destruction that occurred in 1996.

Since it was set up, Dpercussion has become Manchester’s biggest free music festival, attracting 50,000 people into Castlefield for a day of live music and DJs across a range of different stages. In the past, the festival has played host to the likes of Badly Drawn Boy, Nine Black Alps, Mr Scruff and Snow Patrol.

The planned line up for this year’s event, that was all set to take place on August 5th, included Polytechnic, The Pipettes and The Whip, with DJ sets from Greg Wilson, Benji B and Recloose, and some ‘very special’ guests waiting to sign up.

But, alas, it may all come to nothing if the festival can’t get hold of the cash. Steve Smith, Creative Director for Dpercussion said:

“Music is the lifeblood of Manchester and Dpercussion has always demonstrated its ability to spot and nurture tomorrow’s talent. The event is free and relies entirely on sponsorship and council funding. At the moment we are about £40,000 short and don’t see any way of raising the money at this late stage. It seems terrible that 10 years after the bomb, one of its most successful and positive responses is not being backed the private sector.”

Xfm are running a forum to gauge local reaction to the event’s cancellation – click here to see what Manchester has been saying and to post your own comment.

Want to let us know what you think? Email editor@manchesterconfidential.com with your comments.

Jayne Robinson
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