You might have heard that next year, Sounds will be celebrating its 20th birthday. Two whole decades of bringing new discoveries in music and art to Salford’s doorstep to expand our palettes, like a sonic sommelier… It’s been a blur! But crucially, it’s never been Blur.

To kick off our celebrations, we wanted to create a super special bundle – a party bag of sorts. Not only can you secure your one way ticket to SFTOC 2025, you can also get your hands on a wealth of goodies. Let me explain…

First up, let’s talk t-shirts. Every year, our festival designer creates a shirt for the volunteers to wear during the festival to make them stand out from the crowd. Last year, Amrit Randhawa of Taxi Cab Industries came up with this:

The creation (L), the Creator (R)

A playful poke at the ol’ saying from across the Irwell. And well, it kicked up a bit of a fuss.

Who are we to ignore the vox populi? We wanted to give you a chance to finally bag your own. We’ve created two new colourways – one signature Sounds pop of colour, and one for the goths. The shirts are 100% organic cotton, and screen printed by the brilliant local Apparel Studio. Plus, we’re printing to order to make sure waste is minimised, so everyone’s a winner, baby.

Another hallmark design from last year was our ‘Almost time for Sounds’ beermat. Populating pubs up and down the streets of Salford, you may well have rested your weary pint glass on one. Maybe you turned it over and perused last year’s line-up like a gripping romystery novel. Maybe you used it as a small plate for your crisp tapas selection. Maybe you flipped and caught it tableside to impress a first date, or a long-suffering mate. Any which way, the perfectly round design (another Taxi Cab special) has been immortalised on a wee vinyl sticker for you to enjoy year round, both in and out of your local watering hole.

And finally, a physical manifestation of a ticket, because we couldn’t figure out how to pack the concept of a digital one. Printed up with this coming year’s fresh identity on a trusty, muscular card stock – you can bung it in a box of keepsakes or frame it high above your headboard, and dream of what memories you might make at SFTOC 2025.

And that’s your bundle! A ticket and trio of touchables to ease you back into the Big Sounds Mindset, while we wait for May to roll around on that late Spring breeze. But be on your toes – there are only 100 available. Proceed with haste.

See it for yourself by clicking the button below.

Just make sure you let us know what colour t-shirt you choose so we can be matching.