White Paper: Sacha Lord on the ‘Madchester’ influence

Founder of Parklife Festival and NTE adviser to the Mayor of Greater Manchester, on live music events Sacha Lord contributes to our White Paper, produced with We Are The Fair and the NTIA…

He said: “We are very lucky in Greater Manchester that the city’s political leaders have a full understanding of the key role events of play within the region – and especially the role played by live music and clubs. I think this goes back to the Madchester period of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Then the whole world was looking for our next move and our next band.

“Parklife is now the largest metropolitan festival in the UK, attracting 80,000 people a day over the first weekend in June. Outside of the festival proper, it brings more than £10m into the local economy. Greater Manchester recognises that, supports that, but also encourages other exciting events to make it a healthier, diverse and diversified city. Glasgow has the same spirit. The towns and cities that don’t have it will suffer.”