This year’s BBC Radio 6 Music Festival will take place from March 24-26 in Greater Manchester. The station’s flagship event returns to the location of the station’s first-ever festival in 2014. Plus, Greater Manchester will also become the 6 Music Festival’s permanent home.

6 Music Festival Presents, featuring live performances from the eclectic mix of artists, will take place each night at the O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester. There will also be club nights at Band on the Wall and Victoria Warehouse, themed around 6 Music’s Indie Forever and Rave Forever shows and a Morning After Mix live broadcast on the Sunday at RAMONA.

Highlights from the festival will be broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio Manchester from MediaCityUK in Salford, as well as on BBC Sounds, BBC Four, BBC iPlayer and BBC Music’s YouTube channel.

Samantha Moy, head of BBC Radio 6 Music, said: “6 Music will be rooted in Salford over time, so we’re bringing the festival back home to Greater Manchester, where it all began, with some incredible performances. You may have seen Arlo Parks, Christine and the Queens and Loyle Carner before, but you won’t have seen them like this before. It promises to be a very special weekend indeed.”

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “We are delighted to welcome the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival to Manchester. There is a rich musical heritage in Greater Manchester, and a real pride in the independent music scene, and as BBC Radio 6 Music has always supported new and alternative artists, it’s a perfect fit for the festival to have its permanent home in the city for the years to come. There’s so much new Greater Manchester music out there right now that deserves to be heard, which is why we started Artist of the Month with BBC Radio Manchester, and like BBC Radio 6 Music, we want to give emerging talent a platform.”