Mr Scruff joins an Oxjam line-up featuring Cats In Paris and Suzuki Method

On the 25^th of October, musicians from Manchester will be taking part in the UK’s biggest music festival, as we launch The Oxjam Manchester Takeover in the Northern Quarter.

The festival will take over the best venues in Manchester: Odd, Common, Nexus Art Café, MOHO, Mint Lounge, Night & Day, Matt and Phreds, The Northern, Apotheca and Dough.

Oxjam will focus on a refreshed Manchester this year. By featuring the best of the city’s obscure and upcoming talent in music, comedy, art, dance and theatre, as well as established names - we can challenge our attitudes towards our city.

This year we’re collaborating with Mr Scruff at his ‘Keep It Unreal’ evening on the 2^nd of October. We’ve got a huge list of eclectic acts on board for the Takeover, including Paris Riots, Sunshine Underground (DJ), Humble Soul, Cats In Paris, Girl Peculiar, May 68, Sophie’s Pigeons, Crooked Rooks, Meadows, Deadly Brotherhood Of The Gun, Briggzy, Young British Artists, Kathryn McEdwards, Former Bullies, Nathaniel, Waiters, Kamal Arafa, Shmoo, Sukuzi Method and Louis Barrabas and the Bedlam Six.

This festival is interactive – you may stumble upon a live jam session in a cosy café, impromptu dance performances, get your hands into collage art, or be filmed for a documentary.

Oxjam Manchester have collaborated with the Big Issue In The North by giving winners of their National Poetry day competition a chance to perform at the Takeover. We’re also working with established club nights in Manchester – Cloud Sounds, Comfortable on a Tightrope, Micron, and Asparagus Next Left.

Sophie Bromley, Regional Manager for Oxjam Manchester said: “Other Manchester culture festivals don’t mix new city talent, fundraising and volunteering. We raise money for Oxfam and showcase our city’s best upcoming acts in unique ways.”

National Oxjam Music Festival 2009

Oxjam is a national music festival made up of independently organised events in over 20* cities across the UK. Hundreds of fundraising music events are put on by passionate volunteers – from large-scale festivals to local sponsored busks – making it the biggest line-up of any music festival in the country.

Our work this year focuses on Oxfam's 'Here and Now' climate change campaign. As well as raising hundreds of thousands of pounds, gig goers will be painting their faces blue as part of a massive visual statement to the UK government to take action on climate change before it’s too late.

Since the launch of Oxjam in 2006, more than 36,000 musicians have taken part in almost 3,000 Oxjam events nationwide, raising more than £1,000,000 in the process – enough to provide care for 20,000 vulnerable children and safe water for almost 1.4 million people. Be a part of the Takeover.

Tickets are £7 for Oxjam Takeover from We Got Tickets. £8 on the door.

www.oxjammanchester.org