Eurocultured has been running now for 5 years and in that time has gained ever-increasing importance within the urban festival scene, drawing people from all over to experience the best examples of European (and Mancunian) music and art. Indeed, at £15 for a 2-day ticket, anyone would be hard pressed to find a better value-for-money music experience.

Down the Oxford Road side-street (New Wakefield St. Ed) which features Font Bar, Space & Sound Control, these bars all host various stages. Eurocultured places the main stage in the railway arch tunnel opposite the Ritz, which produces a decent size site, mostly rainproof, with plenty to eat, drink and see.

I arrive on Sunday to a break-dancing contest just finishing on the main stage and a small number of artists going to town on the walls opposite the bars. A lamppost has been superbly decorated by Kerry Howarth garnering smiles and photos from the many passers-by. Check out various trees around Chorlton (South Mcr) for more of her excellent environmental sculpture.

After grabbing one of Fonts £2 cocktails (see what I mean; bargain festival!) I set about wandering around the various stages to see what was on offer and the variety is outstanding. I think the diverse programme and the crowds’ obvious enthusiasm for anything new & exciting combine to make Eurocultured what it is. I saw thrashing indie band 'The Cold One Hundred' and poppy electronica from 'Django Django' on the main stage before heading up to Space terrace for dub, reggae &  jungle cuts from the Hot-Milk DJs, always good for a dance!

I return later to the main stage to watch 'Slagsmalklubben' a Swedish group who play music that wouldn't be out of place in a SNES game, intricate energetic bleepy melodies. One member gets on a mic to apologise for their absentees. Only 4 of the sextet have showed up today, one member having, allegedly, feigned illness to 'stay at home smoke hash', but I doubt anyone there noticed any difference, the crowd bouncing around regardless. Following on from the Swedish act, and headlining the main stage, are 'Balkan Beat Box'. To describe their gypsy punk rock dance blend is nigh on impossible so I won’t try further, save to say they smashed it and you really should check them out. 

I had to call it a day after these guys but from what I heard the entertainment went on well into the night with Hit-&-Run, Micron and Hoya:Hoya taking over the indoor venues and storming DJ sets coming both from Icicle and Marcus Intalex

After sufficient recovery, Bank Holiday Monday I rolled back for the festivals’ closing. By this time it was a lot less crowded, it seemed most couldn’t face a second day of festivities, but it was their loss as it was a great time to see all the finished artwork, and the music certainly didn't stop! We saw a cracking performance from Skittles (despite the venue sound-system's best attempts to screw the gig). Can't wait to hear his new 'Poor With £100 Trainers' LP.

We were then treated to an epic (and really mean epic!) Classic House set from the one & only Mark XTC. He kept hands in the hair for about 2 hours solid! To top it off the main stage and to close the festival we got an exclusive debut performance from Zed Bias, Fallacy & Rodney P. These three have been around for years, all making banging tunes by themselves and performing as duos with one another but never all three at once! Now all three are ‘Sleeping Giants’ and, along with Fox, they rocked Eurocultured from front to back as a UKG/Dubstep/Hip Hop combination with new tunes alongside a few of their collabs. This brilliant combination of British talent should be putting out some fantastic material soon. So watch this space for more.

For the hardcore-few still craving more, there was one final After-party, Hit-&-Run moving to Subspace for the evening and bringing some extra sound reinforcement with them. For the lucky few hundred who stuck around were treated to a rare live appearance in Manchester. Jehst has been at the forefront of UK Hip-Hop for a long time now and, with a new LP in the offing, he brought a serious show to Subspace.

Warm up for the show was from Manchester MC 'Karmic Evolution'. There's some serious talent coming out of Manchester at the moment and this guy is definitely one to watch, producing & rapping on his own tunes with serious lyricism to boot, elder brother Tonn Piper better watch his back!

In between acts we got an impromptu break-dance session from some of the b-boys at the festival with some sick hip-hop beats to boot. When Jehst takes to the stage the whole crowd is pumped for the show. Along with his guy, Michael Parkinsun (not that one, another one), Jehst shows he is not messing about, tearing through UKHH classics and new material with the crowd hanging on his every line.

It is a great end to the festival and, although my feet are weary Jehst kept them moving right till the end!