Garden centres are known for a pretty limited amount of things. They sell plants, and are a source for respectable advice about premium mulch. They’re places where you take your mum for a soup and sandwich or where you buy fresh produce from the farm shop. Rarely, though, are they a place for a multi-stage daytime rave. That’s where Green Island Festival has changed things, perhaps to the detriment of avid horticulturists looking to pick up a hibiscus plant on a Saturday afternoon.
Green Island is a meeting of minds between Stephan Agbogbe and George McGirr. In their everyday lives, Stephan is a Programmer at the much-loved Manchester venue Band on the Wall. George, meanwhile, is an event freelancer who work with the likes of London’s Junction 2 and Tobacco Docks, Glastonbury Festival and more. But from July-August they run Green Island, a three-part series of day festivals that, for a moment, takes over an alternative green space in Manchester to celebrate everything that makes the city unique.
Before settling down in Manchester, George jumped from place to place, which included a stint in the cold depths of Alaska. “I traded thick jackets for raincoats,” laughs George. Stephan, meanwhile, grew up in a household with parents from both the African and South American continents. He was born in Vienna, grew up in Belfast, and came to Manchester for university. This coming together of countries and cultures is not only represented in the music offerings of Green Island, but also in its ethos.
Across the many stages, each one connected by winding trails decorated with tropical plants and daffodils, you’ll find a diversity of sounds and experiences. A main stage hosts headline acts such as Nubiyan Twist, DRS and Reuben James. Elsewhere, you’ll stumble across ten-piece Latin bands and DJs pumping out everything from Afrobeat to ambient. The music is as bright and vibrant as both the decor itself, and all those dancing alongside you.
Like many newer festivals, Green Island was born from the need for human interaction post-COVID. Beginning in 2021, the duo wanted to create something in Manchester when restrictions eased. But this mutual goal only came to fruition through a chance encounter. On one of George’s meanders around the city, he came across a garden centre in Hulme, south Manchester. “That’s where I envisioned this festival,” says George. From there, he cold-called Stephan on a whim, they shared ideas, and the festival came to be. “It was a weird twist of fate where I met the right person at the right time,” adds Stephan. But while the Green Island format came through necessity – “everyone had been locked in their rooms for months, so we thought, why would we want to bring people into a basement?” says George – this setup has become its USP. And it shows.
Walking through the gates of Green Island is like stepping into a village féte, albeit one designed for the young and old revellers of Manchester. It’s a place to bump into old faces and make new friends. Dancing breaks are taken while sat on tree stumps that surround small ponds. There’s just as much fun to be found at the main stage as there is in getting lost amongst the garden mazes. In the day, it’s a place to chat under wooden verandas or soak up the stages, depending on your preference. At night, it’s a place to get lost under the lights.
Both George and Stephan stress that their way of doing things is shared across every element of the festival. “We both have a very similar mentality in how we like our music, but also the people that we work with,” says Stephan. “We really care about working with very genuine people.” And through this, Green Island has garnered something that’s becoming rarer in the modern music festival. A genuine, real life community, not built on buzzwords but through direct action.
In their own words, Green Island provides “a platform for new talent,” while “creating a safe network for community cohesion.” They support emerging artists through workshops and developmental programmes, support local businesses through funding and business opportunities and champion accessibility and diversity in meaningful ways, whether through the acts they book or organisations they collaborate with, such as the climate group Play It Green.
In this, Green Island may have (accidentally) created a new format for the modern small festival. In 2025, at least 40 festivals have been cancelled. As Music Week reported in June, “the total number of UK festivals to have disappeared since 2019 is now 249.” Venues are in an arguably more dire situation. The Guardian recently reported that “one in four late-night venues across the UK have closed since 2020,” which amounts to “almost 800 in total.”
But amongst the doom and gloom, Green Island has created something of a unique model for summertime events. It’s a festival, but not quite. It’s held in a venue, but not a typical one. It’s hyperlocal, hyper-representative, and isn’t reliant on the typical logistical pressures that come with setting up a festival in a field from nothing. It’s something undeniably refreshing.
But in a monetary sense, sticking to your morals isn’t exactly the best way of doing business. “The concept behind Green Island is all about grassroots music and creating a platform for young people to have their first festival gig,” says Stephan. “We want to help with the evolution of new promoters, new artists and new DJs, but to get the infrastructure in and get someone to facilitate that costs a lot of money.”
It’s no secret that everything is getting more expensive. “We really don’t want to have to rely on brand partnerships, but the margins just become tighter,” says Stephan. This is down to a myriad of factors, from the cost of portaloos to simple music industry profits.
“Everyone just wants more,” adds Graham giving his thoughts on the wider festival industry. “More money and more people to cram into the festival. But sometimes more isn’t better. It’s important to look inwards and recognise that we have a good thing going on here. It’s better to perfect what we have than try and aim for more.”
Despite the growing challenges and the pressures to keep growing something that began from humble beginnings, the Green Island duo aren’t deterred. After all, they’ve built something that it’s hard for money to infiltrate. Community, in a very real sense. And they’ve done it all from a garden centre in south Manchester.
Find out more about Green Island on their website and on Instagram.
