Animal Crossing Announce Summer Of Love – A Brand New Festival For Manchester

Impressive programming spans across 3 stages of music – the Summer Of Love line up reflects Animal Crossing’s ethos to showcase only the finest within the underground scene. On Saturday, Animal Crossing joins forces with the iconic Gottwood Festival who will take the reins in the Love Factory (Main Stage) with Romanian stalwarts Praslesh (Raresh b2b Praslea), SIT, Priku, Sepp & Nu Zau. The Second Stage is headlined by Turkish wizard Onur Ozer, alongside the pioneering Evan Baggs, & up and coming RA+RE resident Ethel.
 
Sunday is one for the heads as ARPIAR come to Manchester for the first time in over a decade. The trio of Raresh, Petre Insperecsi & Rhadoo bring a fourth member, Dreamrec, who promises to provide a mind blowing visual performance to work in perfect harmony with the set, creating a full 360 degree experience. The Love Factory also welcomes fan favourite Dyed Soundorom; the Apollonia frontman brings 3 hours of deep grooves before passing over to the Romanian Trio. The second stage continues to set the pace with an equally impressive Sunday selection as local hero Josh Baker passes over to French selector Charlotte. The day progresses with party starter Truly Madly, setting the scene for a closing set – a world first b2b for the one and only Shonky & Traumer. 
 
The festival has a large emphasis on community, and throughout the day provides a multitude of connective experiences including a full programme of classes provided by national yoga platform Blok; they co-host a dedicated wellness area alongside Mind Manchester. There will be a record fair onsite which features a selectors stage – local outlets Basement Wax, Vinyl Pimp, Wax Material will be representing for all crate diggers attending. Summer Of Love will also be one of the first festivals in the world to accept bitcoin as payment.
 
Artist Corner is hosted by Smolensky Gallery and welcomes a selection of local Manchester painters, designers, photographers & graffiti artists to synergise and create an environment of live art, communication & showcase their amazing talents. Animal Crossing lead illustrator Matthew Alker also hosts an in-depth look into the impressive visual festival campaign. 
 
To round off what is set to be an unbeatable addition to Manchester’s underground event sphere will be a street food market hosted by local food gurus Eat MCR. The team have hand picked the who’s who of Manchester street cuisine including the likes of Nells Pizza, The Green Lab and FryBy.
 
Animal Crossing statement – “This is our moment to reunite, rejoice and celebrate the reopening of the world we love and have missed so dearly. The Summer of Love Festival represents our freedom, our connection, our artistic expression in an environment that has been created bespoke for the two-day music, arts & mindful experience. There is always a positive, always a light to shine brighter. It’s all about the love. We can’t wait to see you in August, let’s dance like we mean it.”