From the stage of The Cavern Club to the city’s legendary grassroots spaces and global arena shows, Liverpool still shapes the sound of modern music, and a brand-new celebration of that influence arrives to take over the city region as Liverpool Music Month launches between Fri 1 – Sun 31 May 2026.
Delivered by Culture Liverpool and Sound City and striking the first loud chord of a new, Liverpool Summer of Music 2026 programme. Timed to fill gaps left by Glastonbury Festival, events focus on both influential independent venues and major city events including Foo Fighters and My Chemical Romance huge Anfield Stadium shows, Lewis Capaldi taking over Sefton Park and eternal festival headline favourites Nile Rodgers & Chic performing outdoors at Lock and Quay in Bootle.
It’s said that a third of all Glastonbury Festival-goers are from Merseyside, despite representing just 1% of the UK population, meaning that thousands of music lovers miss out on their favourite weekend in the fields as the summer months come into view. Keeping that sense of cultural adventure and party spirit alive, organisers take the lead from Michael and Emily Eavis to bring gig-goers, artists and city visitors together in the name of music as Worthy Farm takes a year to recover.
Included in the first month of events to come under the Summer Of Music umbrella are Sound City itself, helping to bring both homegrown and international talent to wider prominence over the weekend of Sat 2 – Sun 3 May 2026, the Dark Reign Metal Fest at Birkenhead’s Future Yard on Sat 2 May 2026 and Baltic Weekender, spanning Sat 30 – Sun 31 May 2026, taking over multiple venues including Camp and Furnace and Brick Street with a line-up of up-to-date house music, disco, techno, bass, grime sets.
Performances by Emmy Lou Harris, The Longest Johns, Kingfishr, Biird, Sunny Afternoon, James Morrison and Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox are amongst those being spotlighted by the first, four-week-long celebration. At the Liverpool Philharmonic there are gigs across all genres on most days including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s Celebration of the Beach Boys, Roland Gift Presents Fine Young Cannibals, Max Cooper and US acts Hannah Wicklund and Ondara.
Liverpool Music Month’s May-long celebration of live music, spotlighting the artists, venues and communities that have made Liverpool, a UNESCO City of Music, one of the world’s most influential music cities, the programme is twinned with New York Music Month, an established fixture in New York City’s cultural calendar since 2017. Creating a transatlantic partnership between two of the world’s great music cities, Liverpool Music Month celebrates both cities’ standing as historic centres of trade, their musical legacies and the new generations of artists shaping their futures, strengthening international cultural ties through a shared celebration of music.
Liverpool Music Month – May 2026
Part of Liverpool Summer Of Music 2026 – Twinned with New York Music Month
www.liverpoolmusiccity.com