Join musical pioneer Mike Pickering for an exclusive reading from Manchester Must Dance and a discussion on the music that shaped him

Legendary Haçienda DJs Mike Pickering and Graeme Park present an exclusive reading, discussion and Q&A as part of the BRIT Awards 2026 in Manchester.

Manchester Must Dance: A Life of Music, Madness and Moving On Up is a new memoir by Mike Pickering, cowritten by Paul Morley and featuring contributions from Calvin Harris, Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Martin Fry and more.

Mike Pickering began his career at Factory Records in the early ‘80s as an A&R man, where he signed Happy Mondays and James, and formed his own band Quando Quango. He managed bookings and DJed at the iconic Haçienda club from its opening, pioneering UK house music.

He co-founded one of the UK’s first ever mainstream dance labels, Deconstruction Records, which dominated the charts in the 90s with hits by Black Box, Guru Josh, K Klass, Felix and Kylie Minogue. Many of these groundbreaking tracks were first tested in the Haçienda DJ booth. Mike also formed his own group, M People, which went on to sell 14 million albums, tour the globe, win two Brits and the Mercury Prize.

Since then, Mike has signed Calvin Harris, Kasabian, Gossip and The Ting Tings as an A&R at Columbia Records, and performed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury as part of Haçienda Classical. He was honoured with the IMS Legends award and still DJs today.

Graeme Park began his career with a nine-year residency at the Haçienda, producing and remixing tracks for the likes of The Brand New Heavies, New Order, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and more. Today he performs alongside a host of legendary DJs and as part of the critically acclaimed Haçienda Classical shows.

Limited free tickets available from Factory International