In Photos: Outbreak Fest 2024

From hardcore moshers to old school emo fans, Outbreak 2024 was a rowdy celebration of alternative music and culture in the UK.

Having taken over Manchester’s Mayfield Depot in 2023, last weekend’s edition of Outbreak Fest returned to its 2022 home of Bowlers Exhibition Centre. Now expanded with a new outdoor main stage, the weekend was full of raucous energy, with stage dives, singalongs and stage invasions aplenty.

The programming focused on hardcore, metal, metalcore and thrash-y punk rock and rap. There was a strong showing from US heavyweights such as Poison The Well, Ceremony, Thursday and Have Heart, who opened their set with Sinead O’Connor’s ‘War’ and a call for a Free Palestine — a sentiment echoed across the stages — but many of the highlights came from UK acts, such as Scotland’s crushingly heavy Northern Unrest crew. Elsewhere, acts like Basement, JPEGMAFIA, Flatbush Zombies, Mannequin Pussy and American Football triumphed, among others.

Revisit some of Outbreak’s visceral moments and wholesome community energy in the pictures, taken by Nat Wood and Anna Swiechowska, below.