Fat City founder, Grand Central kingpin and one half of influential duo Rae & Christian, Mark Rae is a bona fide legend on the Manchester music scene. He was at the helm in Festival Square on Wednesday 14 July, with two DJ sets bookending a live show from terrific neo-soul act Lovescene.

To usher in the evening, Afrodeutsche joined DJ Paulette to play some of her Records of Reflection, before live funk-rock from NGUVU and reggae-infused hip hop from J.Chambers. Daytime brought Afrobeats from Sens Sagna & the Kajamor Family, roistering post-punk from INTI and excellent young singer-songwriter Julia Bardo, plus an MIF Sounds-supported set from producer Hur̃guf (DJ set) and two turns on the decks from dancefloor-friendly DJ Pablo Blanquito.

We would like to thank Therme Group, Co-op, JW Lees, Hawkins\Brown, Buro Happold and Civic Engineers for their contributions to Festival Square.