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Factory International and From the Other have announced a special day-and-night festival stage programme, curated by two early-career music professionals for Sounds From The Other City, taking place on Sunday 3 May.
Arif True and Nikki Milla are among a cohort of young creatives from Greater Manchester who took part in Factory Academy’s inaugural Promoter Academy, a free 8-month training course delivered by Factory International’s training arm in collaboration with From The Other, the team behind Salford’s long-running festival of new music, Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC).
Over this May bank holiday weekend, festival-goers will experience the pair’s winning concepts, developed during the programme: Terrarium Stage, an immersive, interactive garden and performance space, and Instant Noodles, a late-night hyperpop stage.
Arif True and Nikki Milla were chosen after pitching to an industry panel featuring Co-Directors of From the Other Emma Thompson and Mark Carlin, Creative Producer Beau Azra, Chief Programming Officer at Band on the Wall Santana Guerout, and City Co’s Head of Events Gary Williams.
Sounds From the Other City is programmed by some of the most exciting promoters, record labels, radio stations, magazines, and tastemakers in the North, this year including: community music venue The DBA, record label FIXED ABODE, DIY station Steam Radio, music magazine SEEN, queer Sheffield venue Gut Level, and Manchester’s musical powerhouse Now Wave.
Hosted across Salford in its centenary year, the festival will take place in independent venues and unconventional spaces across the city, with 17 stages around Chapel Street and The Crescent, from pubs and churches to concert halls and galleries.
Artists include the uncategorisable masked provocateur Lynks, South African ‘future ghetto funk’ trailblazer Moonchild Sanelly, and Manchester-based artist jasmine.4.t, BBC 6 Music Artist of the Year 2025.
Emma Thompson, Co-Director of From The Other said “Sounds From the Other City is a melting pot of ideas, influences and genres. It’s a platform for emerging artists alongside legendary musicians. Our programme is selected by our brilliant creative community in the North who keep our scene alive. Working with all the Promoter Academy cohort over the past 6 months has been really inspiring and we are excited to welcome Arif and Nikki to the Sounds family. I can’t wait to see their imaginative and really fun stage ideas come to life!”
Rivca Burns, Factory International’s Head of Music said, “Initiatives like Promoter Academy are close to my heart and central to our aims as an organisation. Collaborating with partners like From the Other further strengthens the impact. For me, it’s not just about supporting the artists, like we do through projects like Factory Sounds, but about nurturing the whole music ecology. We want to see a scene that is reflective of the diversity of the region, and a thriving ecology that means people can build careers in music and still call Greater Manchester home without moving to London. This programme is one of our many commitments to that.”
Instant Noodles
Instant Noodles, is a new venture by Amsterdam-born Nikki Milla, rooted in her love of love of all things pop. The late-night hyper-pop stage champions live performances from a new wave of Manchester artists including samxemma, MARiMARi, kaoti Lavender Rodriguez and Beck Pocket.
The stage promises a high-energy, nostalgic birthday party atmosphere, complete with vibrant visuals and decoration.
Nikki Milla said, “I’m excited to bring my idea to life in such a fun festival. It was really exciting in general to have the chance to think about an idea for SFTOC, to present it and have all this feedback.
It was also great to have sessions so many industry professionals with different backgrounds in the creative industries during the Promoter Academy. It’s inspiring to hear that everyone had their different ways of getting there, as it’s easy to get lost in what other people are doing, so it’s nice to hear people from people who paved their own way.”
Terrarium Stage
Arif True has designed his Terrarium Stage with the intention to create an indoor botanical garden, filtered through an interactive, 360-degree, panoramic projection mapped space. The audience are invited to control a collection of visual artworks on the theme of nature; designed with help from the artistic community of Islington Mill and Factory International.
The Terrarium Stage is a playful gentle and intimate space to reconnect with our senses and shared human nature. Drawing on his British and Turkish heritage, Arif has curated a line-up of fellow international and mixed heritage artists including Sharari, Zolatec, and Micah Stalgic, Nøelle, and Vélez.
Arif True, a.k.a. Indigo Jung, said, “It’s been great meeting all of the people that we spoke to during the Promoter Academy, including programmers from the White Hotel and Band On The Wall, and to learn about different models for how to run a club night and how to work with different communities.
A highlight for me has also been the other promoters that I have met in the group and hearing about the club nights they have been putting together, what their philosophy is, how they book artists, the vibe they like to curate, and how passionate the other promoters have been. It’s been really nice connecting with them.”
The Promoter Academy supports emerging creatives to develop new event concepts through hands-on training and mentoring from industry experts. Sessions cover key areas such as branding, marketing, finance, curation and collaboration.
Promoter Academy reflects Factory International and From The Other’s shared commitment to championing grassroots artists and events in Manchester.
Header Image: Aviva Studios, home of Factory International (Rina Sraboni)
