Bury: Burrs Live festival to return to town this summer

Burrs Live 2023, a five-day long festival of outdoor entertainment, will return this August for a fantastic new season of summer music events.

The event boasts live music, activities, family fun and artisan food as a grand finale to the summer, celebrating the great outdoors.

Burrs Live, offers an extensive arts and music programme with the chance to take in the beautiful scenery, marvel at the steam trains of the world-famous East Lancs Railway and enjoy an array of entertainment.

At the core of Burrs Live is Head for the Hills, Greater Manchester’s long-running music and arts festival which takes place on Friday, September 1 and Saturday, September 2.

Burrs Live will return to the country park later this summer (Image: The Met)

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Established in 2011 as Ramsbottom Festival, the festival re-emerged at Burrs Live in 2021 with two days of incredible live music and arts as part of The Met’s outdoor programme.

With support from Arts Council England, the council and business sponsorship, there are plans for the festival to grow over the next three years to become one of the country’s best boutique festivals.

Friday’s line-up includes Scottish icons The Proclaimers (Letter from America, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), Katherine Priddy, Izzie Walsh and Mr Wilson’s Second Liners.

Burrs Live 2023 is a five-day long festival of outdoor entertainment (Image: Journey House Productions)

Saturday features two-tone legends The Selecter, Manchester indie masters Dutch Uncles, Elephant Sessions and local band Urban Theory.

Burrs Live 2023 opens with The Bootleg Beatles on Wednesday, August 30.

The world’s premier Beatles band returns to Bury and continues to draw critical acclaim with their flawless recreation of the greatest songbook of all time.

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Tracing the Fab Four’s journey through the swinging sixties, every tiny detail is forensically observed from their authentic period costumes and instruments, a must for Beatlemaniacs of all ages.

Previous headliners Everything Everything on stage (Image: Journey House Productions)

The programme for August 31 and September 3 will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Met’s artistic director David Agnew said: “We’re delighted to bring you Burrs Live 2023 featuring Head for the Hills – five days of music and entertainment for all the family.

"We’re thrilled to announce that Burrs Country Park will be the permanent home of Burrs Live and Head for the Hills festival from now and into the future.

"The large area of Burrs Country Park will give breathing space for the event to grow, while its proximity to Bury will make the festival more accessible to visitors.

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Festival goers can also enjoy artisan food and drink at Burrs Live 2023 (Image: The Met)

"I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Ramsbottom Cricket Ground who hosted the Head for the Hills festival for many years – without their help the festival would not be what it is today.”

The Met thanked sponsors Arts Council England, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the council, as well as principle sponsor and technology sponsor Avoira, who will provide free Wi-Fi at the event.

The Met’s chief executive, Victoria Robinson welcomed Avoira’s support, saying: “We are extremely grateful to Avoira for their sponsorship.

"It will bring to Burrs Live expertise and technologies which we know from experience will be invaluable in enabling us to deliver the very best experience for festivalgoers.

“Any festival organiser will tell you that good communications, spanning both voice or data, are absolutely key to the efficient operation and security of a festival.”

Burrs Live takes place at Burrs Country Park from Wednesday 30 August 30 to Sunday, September 3.

For more information and tickets visit https://themet.org.uk/burrs-live/