| D:Percussion facts | - Re:Percussion started in 1997 in response to the IRA bomb.
- It became D:Percussion to celebrate Manchester's place in the digital age.
- The D became a G for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
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Now in its eighth year, D:Percussion arrives at its usual home of Castlefield’s Amphitheatre (and the surrounding bars, clubs, fields and Roman ruins!) with possibly its best line-up yet. On Saturday 6 August, six stages, 100 artists, over 40,000 people plus food, drink, live street art, street performances, thrill rides and even some extreme sports will all be packing into the area between 12 noon and 11pm.
 | | Andy Votel |
Heading up the musical side of things are the seething rock of Nine Black Alps, Fear of Music and The Longcut; Stephen Fretwell and Jane Weaver’s acoustica; the rhyme onslaughts that are Broke’N’English and Raw T; the gentler sounds of Alfie and Durutti Column; and a plethora of other artists, including Beats For Beginners, Performance, Blak Twang, The Young Offenders Institute, The Forest, Daywalkers and Domino Bones, otherwise known as Bez's band. On the decks, it’s most of the extended B Music family (including Andy Votel, David Holmes, Marc Riley, St Etienne’s Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley, Gruff Rhys, Cherrystones, John McCready and Dom Thomas) who are likely to turn heads, and they’ll be backed up by some of Manchester’s finest club night teams including Eyes Down, Aficionado, Chibuku Shake Shake, Tangled, El Diablo’s Social Club, Akoustik Anarkhy, Fuse, Kindergarten, and Blowout.
Steve Smith, Creative Director for D:Percussion, believes that music is the lifeblood of Manchester and that "D:Percussion is needed to support tomorrow’s talent. It has had so many question marks since it started in 1997. It is a real labour of love for us and why we are so incredibly happy we are going to make it to our tenth anniversary."
 | | D:Percussion can be too much for some! |
It’s not just music though. Artistically, there’ll be Sketch City doodling everywhere with their pens and paints, and they’ll be letting anyone who fancies it join in on the boards provided. Alongside that, D:Percussion will play host to Urban X, Manchester’s leg of a nationwide extreme sports series. The Rat Race will be open to all abilities and incorporates running, climbing, abseiling, racing and navigation around a course that will cover the natural, historic, and contemporary beauty of the site. Plus, professional climbers will be able to get a birds-eye view of the festival, as Urban X will also bring with it an Ariel Assault course. It sounds like another fantastic free day out and if the weather is anything like last year, when the sun beat down all day, it might just be the best D:Percussion yet! |
