Brand-new Indie by the Sea festival, Blackpool, May 2027, with headliners Ocean Colour Scene, Peter Hook & The Light, plus more acts TBA

Ocean Colour Scene, Peter Hook & The Light,
Embrace, Black Grape, Paul Draper, The Wedding Present,
Space, Northside, The Primitives, Cud,
Ben Ottewell, Mark Morriss, James Walsh, Ian Prowse.

Plus after-show parties with Bez and John Robb.

And more to be announced

Tickets:

Announce: Tuesday 25 August, 5pm

General Sale: Friday 28 August, 10am

Via: Ticketmaster

Blackpool Winter Gardens is throwing open its doors for a new weekender built around the bands and songwriters who soundtracked British guitar music from the tail end of the 80s through the 90s and beyond.

Blackpool: Indie By The Sea lands over the May Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May 2027.

Across the two days, the Winter Gardens will host a run of bands and solo artists who between them cover Madchester, baggy, Britpop and the wave of guitar music that followed it, with the after-hours parties hosted by Bez, of Happy Mondays and Black Grape, and broadcaster and journalist John Robb keeping the weekend going once the main stages wrap.

The bill so far brings together Ocean Colour Scene, playing to the Mod-inflected songwriting that carried them from the Camden Falcon to Knebworth; Peter Hook & The Light, performing the New Order and Joy Division catalogue that Hook helped write; Embrace, back with the widescreen choruses that made them a fixture of British radio; and Black Grape, Shaun Ryder and Kermit’s follow-up to Happy Mondays and one of the defining sounds of the mid-90s.

They’re joined by Paul Draper, former Mansun frontman and one of the more inventive songwriters to come out of the Britpop era; The Wedding Present, still touring the DIY, motorik guitar sound they built their reputation on; Space, whose run of singles made them festival regulars in the late 90s; The Primitives, the Coventry band behind Crash; and Cud, Leeds mainstays known for pairing sharp lyrics with a live show built on chaos.

Rounding out the bill are Ben Ottewell of Gomez, Mark Morriss of The Bluetones, James Walsh of Starsailor and Ian Prowse of Pele and Amsterdam, each performing songs from across their own catalogues, with further names still to be confirmed.

Blackpool: Indie By The Sea

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 May 2027
Winter Gardens, 97 Church St, Blackpool FY1 1HL

Featuring Ocean Colour Scene, Peter Hook & The Light, Embrace, Black Grape, Paul Draper, The Wedding Present, Space, The Primitives, Cud, Ben Ottewell, Mark Morriss, James Walsh, Ian Prowse + more TBA