No Play Festival

About No Play Festival

Liverpool's city-centre rooms frame No Play Festival 2027, a hardcore music festival with metal, alternative, punk and emo running through the bill.

The first No Play Festival took place at Invisible Wind Factory in 2023, with Liverpool Noise describing it as a 1,300-person celebration of alternative music. The format moved into multiple Liverpool city-centre venues in 2024. The format stuck.

Lineup and Programme

The programme uses a city-centre, multi-venue layout rather than a field site. Stages named across recent editions include the Rough Trade stage, Best Life Records Stage, Guillotine Stage and Arts Club main stage.

The 2026 edition expanded to five barrier-free stages, 38 artists and a Friday pre-show. Activities listed for recent editions include moving between venues, heavy and hardcore sets in barrier-free rooms, Guillotine Sessions showcase sets and the Friday pre-show when programmed. No barriers separate the rooms.

Who Is It For?

The audience is primarily local to Liverpool, typically aged 18-35, with a growing draw from farther afield including the US. Promoters describe the event as inclusive and community-focused. Admission is 18+.

The Venue and Site

The festival is centred on Liverpool venues including Arts Club, Rough Trade Liverpool, Kazimier Stockroom and Jacaranda/Jacaranda Basement. Arts Club has a cloakroom, Rough Trade Liverpool has a bar and dedicated venue space, Jacaranda has a bar, record store and basement live music space, and Kazimier Garden has food and snacks with Kazimier Stockroom on site. Lost Art hosted the 2026 Friday pre-show.

Travel

No Play Festival sits across Liverpool city centre, with venues around Seel Street, Hanover Street, Slater Street and nearby streets. The nearest major city-centre rail options are Liverpool Central, Liverpool Lime Street, James Street and Moorfields.

• Liverpool Central: nearest station to Liverpool ONE and around 200m from the Jacaranda.
• Liverpool Lime Street: around 800m from Arts Club.
• James Street: a few minutes' walk from the Liverpool ONE and Rough Trade area.
• Moorfields: under 10 minutes' walk from Liverpool ONE and city-centre sites.
• Road access: Seel Street, Hanover Street, Slater Street, Parr Street and The Strand serve the main venue and parking areas.
• Parking: limited city-centre parking via Q-Park Hanover Street, Liverpool ONE and the Parr Street multi-storey near Arts Club. Free parking is not available.