The opening night for Louder than Words

When I first heard about louder than words, I didn’t expect the event to be quite as big. Created by Dr Jill Adam, the festival has hit Manchester for its 4th consecutive year.

In the past, the festival has seen the likes of Wilko Johnson and other artists attend the event, not only to play, but to have an intermit conversation with those in attendance.

As somebody from the outside looking in, you don’t really appreciate how much work goes into to making the three days happen. Dr Jill Adam talked to me about the preparations: “It’s our launch night tonight and we’ve already been working on 2017, it’s a nonstop merry-go-round of merriments.”

The non-stop schedule for Dr Adam only seems to fuel her. She explained the development of the festival since it began: “We’ve doubled the number of contributors, we’ve more than doubled the number of audience members, and I think the other thing that’s developed is the sense of rhythm and vibe.

“We work really hard on making sure people come and have a great time, we want them to come to louder than words and leave thinking ‘blimey, I now know something different that I didn’t know when I came and I’ve had a really great time.”

The large team working with Dr Adam at louder than words range from volunteers to sponsors, she continues: “We’ve got fantastic volunteer’s and we’re really privileged to have strong, top notch contributors, right from being students to the internationally famous, we’re not bothered where they sit on that spectrum, we’re just proud to have them as part of our event.”

The festival, which ends this Sunday, was opened with an intimate conversation with former guitarist of renowned Manchester post-punk band The Fall, Mark Smith.

The 3-day festival sees a diverse selection of artists that range from poets to musicians, and for the first time, louder than words will be hosting its first Wilko Johnson writing award.