Antwerp Mansion to Host All-Day Art & Music Festival of Rave Culture this Weekend!

Last month, we took a trip to the ominous outskirts of Rusholme where Antwerp Mansion still sits and met the wonderful West Art Collective, a group of young people who have transformed the archaic structure into a zero cost exhibition space.

This weekend, they will host another mammoth party featuring artists, DJs, stalls and performances that span the courtyard and iconic interior of one of the city’s most alluring party dens.

Kicking off at 2pm, the event is themed to rave culture and has been organised in collaboration with Bloc2Bloc – a radio station led by a group of Manchester-based DJs and promoters deep rooted in the local jungle and drum and bass scenes.

They’ll be taking over the Union Sound & Dankashire soundsystem across the event on Saturday, which will see the smoking area transformed into a dancefloor until 10pm when the party moves inside. Dance Policy, a magazine focused on local club and youth cultures, is also hosting an exhibition in one of the rooms inside the mansion featuring photography from after hours Manchester parties.

In traditional West Art fashion, Saturday’s Day Fest will feature the famous bouncy castle that’ll be blown up yet again, alongside barbecued food, a tattoo artist in the checkerboard room, prizes and a bonfire leading into the evening.

Comprising the line up of independent stores and designers popping up at the weekend include; Anna Billany, an artist from Newcastle Upon Tyne who designs bold, cyber space prints, Evelyn Mayflower a 70s influenced painter and illustrator and hand picked vintage and designer clothing from Defendergarmz.

Artist, performer and MC, MC YoYo will also treat guests to a live acoustic set and MC set later in the evening alongside Bloc2Bloc, as well as some trippy alien UV rave art pieces available to view inside the mansion.

Since 2019, West Art Collective has been transforming the space into an accessible arts space for the community. The group’s ‘Zero Cost Exhibition’ approach means that artists can exhibit their work without having to pay huge fees to do so. This then creates more space for working class artists or those on a low income to showcase their work, create more and collaborate with other like-minded individuals.