Festival Review: Neighbourhood Weekender // Warrington // May 2026
Neighbourhood Weekender returned to Warrington once again over Bank Holiday weekend, with thousands of music fans descending on the town for two days that turned Victoria Park into a three-stage celebration of indie, pop and everything in between. From established names to rising acts, it’s a festival that balances fresh talent with pure nostalgia - and this year, with the sun out across the weekend, the atmosphere around the site only benefited from it.
Getting the main stage underway on Saturday were Cassia, stepping into a 2pm slot with plenty of the crowd still filtering into the site. With the stage set furthest from the entrance, it could easily have felt like a tough introduction to the day, but they never looked fazed. Instead, they eased the afternoon in with warm, sun-drenched melodies, smiles across the stage as tracks like ‘Everyone, Outside’ and ‘Lemon Gelato’ drifted out across the field. It wasn’t until later in the set that things properly lifted, with ‘Motions’ and ‘Right There’ finally pulling people in and loosening up the early-day crowd.
Just third on the Viola Beach Stage, The Cheap Thrills drew one of the biggest audiences outside the main stage, already playing like they knew they had to win people over quickly. ‘Last Orders’ kicked things off with immediate intent, and from there the pace barely dropped as ‘Reborn’ and ‘Party’ kept everything moving. A softer moment arrived with ‘Calypso Blue’, briefly shifting the mood before the band snapped straight back into gear. By the time they closed with ‘Codependence’, the crowd had spilled right back towards the sound desk, giving the whole thing the feel of something far bigger than their billing suggested.
While Sophie Ellis-Bextor powered through technical issues on the main stage with trademark poise, John Denton delivered something far more understated but quietly magnetic over on the Viola Beach Stage. A late addition to the line-up following Esme Emerson’s withdrawal, he stepped into the slot without any sign of pressure. That confidence runs through his background - from busking around Manchester to fronting The Height and winning the inaugural Johnny Marr Award at just 12 years old, before now beginning to build momentum as a solo artist in his own right. Midway through the set, he told the crowd he was currently in the middle of sitting his GCSEs, a detail that drew a warm reaction from the audience and only added to the sense of how early this stage of his career really is. Switching between electric and acoustic guitar with ease, he moved through his EP material with a calm assurance that belied his age. A cover of The Stone Roses’ ‘Mersey Paradise’ naturally pulled more people in, while originals like ‘Someone Else’s Game’ held attention with ease. Later, he extended the set beyond its planned finish, slipping into ‘Dirty Old Town’ and joking about its meaning, especially as a lifelong Manchester United fan. It already felt like the kind of set that could easily sit on much bigger stages.
Backed by her band, Alessi Rose arrived on the Big Top stage with real intent, opening her first festival set of the year without hesitation. Even with relatively minimal staging - just a stained-glass style backdrop and a full lighting rig - the set felt much larger than its slot suggested. While the tent itself wasn’t completely full, the people packed into the front made up for it, screaming every word back at her and giving the whole thing the atmosphere of a headline show. ‘First Original Thought’ and ‘Stellar’ carried confessional lyrics about relationships and fallout, but were delivered with an energy that kept the crowd fully engaged rather than reflective. What stood out most was how confidently she held the stage, especially on ‘Skin’, which made its live debut and already felt like a future staple. ‘Gone Girl’ stripped things back with Alessi on acoustic guitar, pulling the focus firmly onto her voice and writing before the set built again towards a strong closing run with ‘Sway’.
Kaiser Chiefs brought exactly what they always do - a set built on familiarity, chaos and crowd connection. Drawing from two decades of material, they moved through hits including ‘I Predict a Riot’, ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ and ‘Oh My God’, alongside a spirited version of Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’. It was a perfect early evening slot: big hooks, instant recognition, and a crowd already in the mood for something loud and familiar. Ricky Wilson barely stood still, bouncing across the stage and constantly darting towards the cameras as the energy kept building towards the headliner.
Over on the Viola Beach Stage, Better Joy steadily pulled in one of the day’s most engaged crowds. Opening with ‘Pace the Road’, there was a genuine sense of disbelief at the size of the audience in front of her, though she quickly settled into it, moving through songs with a natural ease. Her alt-pop sound blends jangling guitars with sharp melodic instincts, but it’s her voice that carries the set, full of character and clarity. ‘What a Day’ dealt with generational trauma while ‘Dead Plants’ explored fractured relationships, both delivered with an honesty that landed strongly in the open air. The set moved between moods - sometimes introspective, sometimes bright and playful - but that contrast is exactly what made it so compelling.
Returning to a North West homecoming, Richard Ashcroft’s headline set carried a sense of occasion from the start. Rather than easing in, he opened with The Verve tracks ‘Weeping Willow’ and ‘Space and Time’, immediately anchoring the set in legacy. From there, his solo catalogue sat comfortably alongside them, with ‘Music Is Power’ and ‘A Song for the Lovers’ drawing just as strong a reaction. The pace dipped for ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’, placed late in the main set, before closing with ‘Lucky Man’. The encore leaned heavily into The Verve era, with ‘Sonnet’ and finally ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ turning the entire field into one unified chorus as the night came to a close.
Opening the main stage on Sunday were The Kairos, who wasted no time cutting through the early slot with a set built on urgency and distortion-heavy energy. ‘Tell Me Twice’ and ‘Never Met a Mess Like You’ stood out in a short but forceful set, with even the more restrained moments still carrying real weight. It was a brief but effective introduction to the day’s final stretch.
At the Viola Beach Stage, The Rions brought a confident and polished set despite travelling from the other side of the world for an early slot. There was no hesitation in how they approached it, with ‘Don’t Go Asking for Forgiveness’ setting the tone for a set that balanced hook-driven indie rock with more vulnerable edges. From ‘Sydney’ to ‘Scumbag’, everything felt locked in, before ‘Minivan’ closed things in unexpected fashion - starting stripped back before exploding into full band intensity. Tight, melodic and full of confidence, it felt like the sort of set that wins a band plenty of new fans.
Westside Cowboy arrived on the Big Top Stage with momentum already building around them, and it showed the moment they stepped out - the crowd were already with them before they properly started. Fresh from their Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition win in 2025, there’s a rawness to their sound that really connects when it lands, even if the tent acoustics occasionally worked against them. ‘Shells’ was the clearest moment of the set, with male and female vocals intertwining over driving percussion that gave everything its shape. It’s still early days, but the foundations are clearly there.
Moving into full pop nostalgia, Melanie C’s main stage set marked a three-decade celebration that balanced solo work with era-defining group material. ‘Northern Star’ and ‘When You’re Gone’ gave space to her solo catalogue, while Spice Girls tracks like ‘Spice Up Your Life’ and ‘2 Become 1’ lifted the crowd into full singalong territory. Her voice carried the entire set with ease, never needing to push for effect, just letting the songs do the work. It was a reminder of how durable those records still are, especially in a live band setting.
Ten minutes before The Fratellis hit the Big Top Stage, the tent was already packed, sweaty and starting to wilt after a full day in the blazing sun. The second ‘Henrietta’ kicked in, the whole place suddenly sprang back to life. ‘Whistle for the Choir’ arrived earlier than expected, cleverly reworked with brass taking over the familiar whistle hook and giving the track a fresh live spin. From there, it barely let up, with ‘Flathead’ and ‘Vince the Loveable Stoner’ landing exactly as they should, even if a lesser-known track briefly took the edge off the momentum. Still, nobody was leaving without hearing ‘Chelsea Dagger’, and when it finally arrived, the whole tent descended into the sort of bouncing chaos only that song seems capable of creating.
DMA’s leaned further back into their guitar-driven sound on the main stage, opening with ‘Timeless’ and never really letting the pace drop throughout a set that mixed eras cleanly. ‘Silver’ and ‘Delete’ sat comfortably alongside newer material, while their cover of Cher’s ‘Believe’ became one of the day’s most unexpected crowd moments. Hands stayed up across most of the set, even during slower cuts like ‘Step Up the Morphine’ and ‘Tape Deck Sick’, which says a lot about how naturally their songs translate to a festival crowd.
Closing the weekend, Blossoms felt like a perfect way to bring everything together, keeping the energy high right from the opening run of ‘Gary’ into ‘At Most a Kiss’. From there, it just kept rolling from one moment to the next, with some of their strongest material carrying the set forward. ‘Honey Sweet’ landed with a wave of nostalgia, while the live debut of ‘Joke About Divorce’ slipped into the set so naturally it already felt like it had always been there. The groove-ridden ‘Your Girlfriend’, dedicated to Warrington’s Viola Beach - who they previously toured with - stood out as a real centrepiece, especially with snippets of ‘She’s the One’, ‘You’re Gorgeous’ and ‘Half the World Away’ woven through as the crowd took over. After an extended intro to ‘There’s a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)’, they brought the weekend to a close in the only way they really could, with ‘Charlemagne’ sending everything out on a huge final moment.
Neighbourhood Weekender once again confirmed its place as the North West’s biggest indie gathering - a festival that balances established favourites with rising talent while continuing to define the region’s live music calendar. In its early days, it largely felt like a weekend built for local crowds, but its reputation has steadily spread far beyond Warrington, with people now travelling from all over the country to be part of it. Long may it continue.
Words by Laura Dean
Photography by Stefania Semini
