Manchester Folk Festival, a new annual festival, has launched in the city to celebrate the best of English folk and acoustic roots music.

The festival is announcing the first six concerts ahead of its programme launch this April. Taking place on 12-21 October, the event will be across the city of Manchester and at an outdoor stage at the arts, theatre and film space, HOME.

“I am thrilled to bring this exciting new festival to Manchester to present great folk found from throughout England,” said David Agnew, producer for Manchester Folk Festival.

“We have fantastic venues and to add a city based music festival to the global folk industry is really exciting. This festival is all about profiling and celebrating the range of great music described as folk or acoustic, offering audiences new artists and supporting emerging artists who deserve to be on the world stage.”