Castlefield Bowl

Castlefield Bowl is an amphitheatre style venue in Manchester’s city centre. This outdoor arena is shamefully underused, but sees a number of packed gigs every summer. With an 8,000 person capacity, it’s big enough to create a festival atmosphere, but is small enough to get a great view of the stage even from the back of the arena. Castlefield Bowl is the location of choice for the yearly Summer In The City series, which brings one-off shows by big names in music to the city. Previous years have seen Pixies, James and The Courteeners sell out the Castlefield Bowl and has given smaller support acts the opportunity to play to festival-sized crowds. Located next to the Bridgewater Canal, underneath the railway viaduct and surrounded by Manchester’s industrial red brick warehouses, it’s an ideal location to enjoy live music in the sun just outside of the busy city centre. [Charlotte Davies]