As the MOBO Organisation marks its landmark 30th anniversary and the MOBO Awards heads to Manchester for the first time, MOBO Fringe 2026 returns with its biggest and most exciting programme to date, transforming Manchester into a city-wide celebration of Black music, culture and creativity.
Running from Thursday 19 March to Tuesday 24 March, the free weeklong programme will bring together live performances, industry conversations, cultural activations, workshops and talent development initiatives across the city, building momentum ahead of the 2026 MOBO Awards at Co-op Live on Thursday 26 March.
For the first time in its history, the MOBO Awards is coming to Manchester, a city globally recognised for shaping musical movements and cultural conversations. MOBO Fringe 2026 extends that moment far beyond the awards ceremony, spotlighting Manchester’s vibrant creative communities while creating meaningful opportunities for artists, young people and cultural leaders across the region.
Delivered with support from Manchester City Council in partnership with Manchester Music City, the MOBO Fringe programme has been developed in collaboration with more than 50 community leaders, creatives, grassroots platforms and industry representatives, ensuring the Fringe reflects the voices and energy of those already shaping culture in the city.
Across the week, attendees can expect a dynamic programme spanning live music showcases, industry panels, education programmes, heritage activations and community-led events, hosted in some of Manchester’s most loved cultural venues.
At the heart of the programme is the MCR MOBO Fringe Assembly 2026, a delivery-led fellowship placing Manchester’s Black music commissioners, producers and cultural operators at the centre of programming during Awards week. The assembly commissions and produces events across the city, ensuring MOBO Fringe is shaped by the people already building scenes, audiences and opportunities locally.
The 2026 cohort brings together a range of leading Manchester-based platforms and organisations working across the city’s music and creative sectors. This includes Studio 88, Aaspire Records, SHIMRISE Selects, Habitat, FARO Presents, Melophile, 54 Agency and Black Creative Trailblazers and journalist Amelia Fearon. Together, they represent expertise spanning management, live events, media, artist development and community-led initiatives.
A major highlight of the programme is the MOBO Summit in association with Amazon Music, taking place on Tuesday 24 March at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International.
The summit will bring together artists, executives and emerging creatives for a day of panels, workshops and networking focused on the future of music, culture and creative careers. Highlights from the programme include the MOBO30 Legacy Spotlight, with iconic artists (to be announced) celebrating 30 years of the MOBO movement and its cultural impact. The Getting Seen and Heard panel with industry figures will discuss how artists break through and build audiences today. The Independently Done panel features artists sharing how they sustain careers outside major labels. Cultural discussions featuring Red Bull, the playmaker group and BBC Music Introducing also spotlight the growing influence of Northern music scenes, with a conversation examining how cities like Manchester are driving new energy and opportunities in the UK industry, alongside a wider discussion on the future of diversity in music.
MOBOLISE x Salesforce AI will host discussions exploring AI, inclusive leadership and future-ready skills, with networking facilitated by Afrosocial UK. The evening will conclude with the MOBO x PPL Manchester Talent Development Programme showcase, presenting ten emerging Manchester artists to an invited industry showcase.
Education and youth engagement also sit at the heart of MOBO Fringe 2026. Activity will include school tours at Co-op Live and a recording session at the adidas x Abbey Road Studios space inside the arena, where young people from Contact Theatre’s Studio School will record new verses inspired by Nas’ classic track “I Can.” Alongside this, led by One Education Music MCR and supported by Sing Up Music, more than 70 primary schools and the gospel choir from Trinity High School have been learning “Optimistic” by Sounds of Blackness.
Building on the success of MOBO Fringe 2025 in Newcastle, which attracted thousands of attendees and generated an estimated £1 million in combined economic and social impact for the North East, the Manchester edition expands the model through deeper local collaboration and commissioning.
MOBO Fringe 2026 positions the programme not just as a festival, but a city-wide cultural moment that connects grassroots creativity, industry opportunity and community celebration.
Kanya King CBE, Founder and CEO, MOBO Awards, said: “Bringing the MOBO Awards to Manchester in our 30th anniversary year is incredibly meaningful for us. Manchester is a city with a proud history of shaping music, culture and movements, and MOBO Fringe allows us to celebrate that energy in a way that goes far beyond one night.
Over the course of a week, the city will become a platform for artists, creatives and communities, from grassroots talent to industry leaders, all coming together to share ideas, create opportunities and celebrate the power of Black music and culture.
What makes MOBO Fringe special is that it is built with the city and by working with local creatives, organisations and community leaders, we are creating something that reflects Manchester’s voice while opening doors for the next generation.”
Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “As a proudly diverse city known around the world for our music, creativity and talent, we’re thrilled to be hosting both the MOBO Awards and this year’s MOBO Fringe here in Manchester as they mark an incredible 30 years of celebrating Black music and culture.
“Supporting emerging talent and our grassroots music scene in Manchester is really important to us and the MOBO Fringe is set to provide some amazing opportunities that do just that in the run-up to the awards for our schools, young musicians, and others, alongside an unmissable wider programme of free activities across the city for our local communities and visitors to get involved in.“
To register for free tickets and view the full programme, please visit: mobo.com/fringe. Follow @mobofringe on social media and download the MOBOLISE app for live updates throughout Awards week.
