Beyond The Music 2026 will see Andy Burnham on AI whilst Steve Coogan will talk and celebrate 24 Hour Party People
Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson in 24 Hour Party People, which will get a 24th anniversary celebration at this year’s Beyond The Music(Image: Revolution Films)
This year’s Beyond The Music festival in Manchester will kick off with a very special premiere paying homage to Tony Wilson.
The global conference and music festival began three years ago and has since featured the likes of Aitch, New Order and Rita Ora. Co-founded by Oliver Wilson, who is the son of the Factory Records pioneer, this year’s event will take place at MediaCity for the first time.
Beyond The Music 2026 – which will take place on October 6 to 9 – will kick-off with a 24th anniversary screening of the iconic 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which saw Steve Coogan portray the role of Mr Manchester. The screening will be followed by a special keynote conversation with Coogan and director Michael Winterbottom.
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“24 Hour Party People was made as a celebration of the spirit and music of Manchester and Factory Records under the chaotic leadership of Tony Wilson,” director Winterbottom said today. “So, Beyond the Music is the perfect place to premiere the re-release of the film, just 24 years after we made it.”
Coogan added: “24 Hour Party People is the work that is closest to my heart. I haven’t seen it for nearly 25 years. It captures the creative spirit of the town I am proud to have grown up in. I feel very sentimental about it all which Tony Wilson would have deplored.
Steve Coogan alongside Tony Wilson during filming of 24 Hour Party People(Image: Revolution Films)
“Like Anthony HW and all those working class musicians, when it came to tell the story, Michael Winterbottom and Frank Cottrell Boyce made something special. ‘A vague plan wrapped in an impossible dream’, but it worked.”
Closing off the ceremony will be a previously announced first-of-its-kind All Content AI Summit, which brings together the music and creative industries to align on a shared, rights-based position for AI. It will be convened by Andy Burnham, as well as important names in the modern creative industries.
Throughout its duration, Beyond The Music will consist of a series of summits, keynotes, in-conversations with leading artists and music industry figures, lectures and networking events. Other highlights include a Manchester Music Dance keynote from Mike Pickering and an address from Tom Gray, the chair of the Ivors Academy.
Andy Burnham helped unveil the arrival of Beyond the Music in MediaCityUK earlier this year(Image: Mark Waugh Manchester Press Photography Ltd)
There will also be a session asking Is The Music Industry Now Too Posh To Push The Envelope?, which follows on from Sam Fender’s comments that the industry was a ‘rigged system’ in terms of class and upbringing.
Stop The Votes: Challenging The Political Value of the Creative Industries will also ask why music, film, TV, gaming and other sectors are at the back of the queue when it comes to governmental support, investment, strategy or even attention.
On the festival side of things, there will be more than 150 emerging acts playing across MediaCity, dock10 studios and other Salford venues across the three days. Curating the line up this yeare the likes of The Line of Best Fit, SXSW 2026, Dot to Dot and BBC Introducing.
Beyond The Music 2026 takes place from October 6 to 9. Tickets are available to buy now, as conference or festival passes with a limited number of allocated tickets for specific keynotes also available.