Alfie Castley revealed as Northampton Music Festival Main Stage headliner

Mawsley native Alfie Castley will top the bill on the festival’s Main Stage in the Market Square in September with dozens of other musicians set to perform on eight further stages across the town centre.

Talking about her decision to pick Castley as this year’s headliner, BBC Introducing presenter and Main Stage curator Kerrie Cosh, said: “Alfie’s done some huge gigs, supporting Take That on their European tour a few years ago, plus opening for Callum Scott this year.

“His star potential has just continued to rise since his first big hit ‘Teenage Mona Lisa’ broke the internet in a similar way to his classmate and 2024 headliner Mae Stephens’ ‘if we ever broke up’.

“He's young, but don’t let that fool you into thinking his music isn’t incredibly mature, he writes from the heart and has a genuine connection with his fans.”

Castley has nearly one million monthly listeners on Spotify. His latest single ‘In My Head’ was released in May and follows ‘Cold’ and ‘Forget About Us’ which were released last year.

The Northampton Music Festival will return on Sunday, September 6.

Organisers have recently announced which stages will return and their location.

Aside from the Main Stage in the Market Place, there will also be a further eight stages.

The Rock Stage will be at the King Billy in Commercial Street, the Beats Lyric & Poetry Stage will be at Encore Complex in Bridge Street, the Student Showcase Stage at the Performing Room in Guildhall Road, the Jazz Stage at All Saints Church, the Acoustic Stage at V&B in St Giles’ Square, the Hushed Stage at George’s Tea Room in George’s Row, the Classical & World Fusion Stage at Northampton Museum and Musical Theatre stage at Royal & Derngate - both in Guildhall Road.

The full line-up is expected to be revealed by organisers in the coming weeks.

Miss Cosh said: “We've always wanted NMF to be an inclusive day where everyone feels welcome and can stand shoulder to shoulder with other people enjoying the music and feeling part of the day.

“Over the years we've been proud to give a platform to artists who have gone on to perform at other much-loved county events, such as Northampton Pride and Northamptonshire Day.

“Events that help bring people together, celebrate our diverse community and all the good within it, while giving people something to smile about, are more important than ever.”

In recent years, the festival has been headlined by Billy Lockett, Mae Stephens, unpeople and Sarpa Salpa.

It has also seen performances by the likes of Northants Sings Out, Maddox Jones, The Blockheads, Wierdoe, The Vandervalls, Greg Coulson, Jazz Colossus and Great Adamz.

Last year’s headliners, unpeople, recently announced details of their debut album and this summer played on the main stage at the Download Festival.

Miss Cosh said: “To watch unpeople continue to grow and open huge festival stages since last year’s NMF isn’t a surprise to me at all, they created one of the most memorable moments that the Market Square has ever seen last year, heavy music fan or not, they’re a band that are so easy to get behind.

“We always try and bring a variety of different acts to the Main Stage and we can appreciate there is so much to see on the day.

“So hopefully people will take the time to visit all of the stages throughout the course of the day because there is so much talent on display and there has been so much work going into making the festival happen from the wider team so we really hope for a good turnout this year again.

“My favourite thing is taking a short break between changeovers and nipping over to other stages and seeing the atmosphere and vibe there.”

Admission into all venues and to all stages is free.

For more information about the Northampton Music Festival, visit https://www.instagram.com/nnmusicfestival