Factory International

mjf closing shows

manchester jazz festival – the Undercroft

Free to attend – no booking required
Nine members of Young Pilgrims covered in colourful paint, posing in an artistic setting.
Date
25 May 2025
Venue
The Undercroft, Aviva Studios
Tickets

12–12.30pm: Lou Barnell + Neighbourhood Voices

1.45–2.45 pm and 4.30–5.15pm: Young Pilgrims

Free to attend – no booking required

Accessibility features available for this event: Wheelchair Access

Drop by the Undercroft for two free unplugged performances as part of manchester jazz festival's closing shows

Alternating in between manchester jazz festival’s (mjf) international shows in the Social, join us outside in the Undercroft for spectacular unplugged performances from artists closer to home.

First up, award-winning vocalist, sound and performance artist Lou Barnell joins the 25-strong Sheffield Neighbourhood Voices. Then, Young Pilgrims – the new brass band making waves on Birmingham's jazz scene – perform two energy-filled sets.

Explore the line-up in the Social here.

Schedule

12–12.30pm: Lou Barnell + Neighbourhood Voices

1.45–2.45 pm and 4.30–5.15pm: Young Pilgrims

A person poses in an avant-garde wearable art piece made of intricate folded white paper structures. Their eyes are closed, with bold makeup, and they stand in front of a blue sky.

Lou Barnell + Neighbourhood Voices

Lou Barnell creative director / Neighbourhood Voices vocals / Hazel Thompson collaborator

Lou is an award-winning vocalist, sound and performance artist, one of Sound and Music UK's New Voices 2022 composers, and an mjf hothouse 2023 artist alumnus. She was also a 2021 Oram Award-winner, in recognition of innovation in sound and technology. 

In collaboration with the 25-strong Neighbourhood Voices inclusive choir from Sheffield, Lou will immerse the audience in a 'Live Dream' using embodied deep listening to bathe listeners in sound, inviting people to luxuriate in the here-and-now as music and sound from the city merge.

Lou's music communicates her synaesthetic experience of sound, hyperfocus and sensory overload, celebrating her qualities as a neurodivergent woman. She creates constellations of materials, wearable music technology, voice and movement.

She is currently working with the concept of 'Live Dreaming', which explores how musical performance and dreaming have the same functions: to help us know ourselves and find our way. Lou's work is inspired by the work of Pauline Oliveros, Neuroqueer materialities, feminisms, quantum futures and imaginings. 

Nine members of Young Pilgrims posing with their brass instruments

Young Pilgrims

Aaron Diaz, Sean Gibbs, Sam Wooster trumpets / Richard Foote, Kieran McLeod trombones / Chris Maddock baritone saxophone / Michael Owers sousaphone / Euan Palmer, Jonathan Silk drums

Young Pilgrims are an addictive young brass band brimming with jazz-rock energy and rhythmic groove.

Growing out of the thriving Birmingham jazz scene, Young Pilgrims have drawn fans from across Europe and beyond with their intense live performances - from beer-soaked dance floors to London’s South Bank, the Paris Jazz Festival to Love Supreme Festival. 

The Pilgrims’ adventurous, brass-heavy, rock-influenced sound is brought together by their explosive nine-strong line-up, with improvising invention set against infectious melodies, inspired by renegades, Scottish cities, skateboarding and even a brief and murky incursion into a local canal…

Access information

Our full address is Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ and the what3words is chop.feeds.chase.

You can approach Aviva Studios along Water Street (coming from Quay Street) or along Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield). Both entrances to the building have double sets of glass doors.

Once inside Aviva Studios, there is step-free access to all areas of the venue. The flooring throughout the building is smooth concrete.

The entrance to the Warehouse is by lift or stairs from the Social. Two lifts and a staircase to the Warehouse are located in the Social opposite the bar.

The entrance to the Law Family Hall is by lift, escalator or stairs from one side of the Social beside the brick arches. There is only one escalator, and this will take you up to the Law Family Hall before the show, and will be reversed so that you can travel down at the end of the performance.

The Social has a range of seating, including those with arms and backs.

The bars in the Social and Hall Foyer have lowered accessible service points.

Our building is large. We have portable stools available to borrow if you would benefit from resting along the way during your visit.

We have wheelchair spaces and seats at standing events for all events.

There are accessible toilets on all public levels of our building.

Accessible toilets are located inside the main toilets space in the brick arches of the Social.

Here you’ll find a mixture of accessible cubicles with left- or right-hand transfer, towards the back of the space, as well as ambulant accessible cubicles with grab rails, as well as a Changing Places facility.

The toilets in the brick arches of the Social are split into male, female and gender neutral – all of which contain accessible cubicles. There are shared handwashing facilities in each arch – they have soap dispensers under the mirrors to your left and dryers to the right. There are separate handwashing facilities inside the accessible cubicles.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in both Hall Foyers, at stalls and circle level.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in the Warehouse Foyer.

You do not need a key to use the accessible toilets at Aviva Studios.

Assistance dogs are welcome in our building, and we can provide mats and water bowls on request, just ask a host when you arrive. We can also take care of your assistance dog if you do not want to take your dog into the performance space. Please also refer to our assistance dogs policy.

If you are bringing an assistance dog to a ticketed event, please let us know in advance by contacting access@factoryinternational.org or calling our access phone number: 0161 817 4531 (phone lines are open 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday).

Travel information

There are a number of rail and tram stations within the city centre which are just a short distance from Aviva Studios. The closest stations are:

By Bike

There are 40 bike parking spaces at Aviva Studios including space for two accessible bikes.

National Cycling Route 6 passes close to the venue and this TfGM webpage can help with route planning.

You can also hire bikes from on-street docking stations across the city centre. The closest docking stations to our venue are currently on Deansgate by Liverpool Road and (400m from the building) and by King Street (500m from the building). Take a look at Transport for Greater Manchester’s webpage for advice on cycle hire.

By Walking and Other Active Means

Aviva Studios can be approached along Water Street via Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

If you're coming from Quay Street, the safest route to avoid construction works is via the cut-through opposite Gartside Street and past Booking.com.

All footways in the surrounding area are well lit and there are appropriate crossings across all main roads.

Pedestrians with visual impairment are recommended to approach the building via Water Street, from Liverpool Road. This route has traditional carriageway and footway design with fixed street furniture which should help with navigation to the entrance.

A footbridge at Left Bank in Spinningfields provides an accessible link across the River Irwell to Salford Central station, and a further footbridge also links Aviva Studios with the Salford area of Middlewood Locks.

Free bus

The free bus 1 service connects Piccadilly Station, Oxford Road and Deansgate rail stations, as well as other areas of the city centre to Aviva Studios.

The service stops on both Liverpool Road and Quay Street, close to the venue. Buses operate every 10 minutes during the day from Monday to Sunday and they are wheelchair accessible. For full details of the free bus 1 route and timetable, please visit the Bee Network website.

Bee Network services

Piccadilly Gardens is situated in the heart of Manchester and there are a number of bus services that will take you on to Aviva Studios. The 33 bus which starts at Shudehill, calls at Piccadilly Gardens and will take you straight to Liverpool Road. Services operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sunday.

Alternatively, you can board either a 35, 36 or 38 bus to Bridge Street bus stop which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

Coming into Manchester Victoria rail station? Head on over to Shudehill Interchange (which is a seven-minute walk via Hanover Street) where you can catch the 33 bus to Liverpool Road.

Alternatively, you can board either an 8, 67 or 100 bus from Manchester Victoria to Bridge Street bus stop, which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

There is a car park approximately 0.2 miles (350m) from Aviva Studios at Water Street Car Park, New Elm Rd, Manchester, M3 4JH.

There is also a NCP car park (Manchester Spinningfields) approximately 0.25 miles (400m) away from Aviva Studios at Spinningfields, New Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3BE. It has 35 accessible bays.

There are a small number of Blue Badge spaces along Water St and Quay St. Otherwise head towards Liverpool Road, Great John St and Lower Byrom St – close to our neighbours, the Science and Industry Museum where there are a small number of additional Blue Badge spaces.

For a list of other parking bays available in the area, visit Manchester City Council website.

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