It's that time of year, Dear Reader. As the nights draw in and jackets are pulled out of wardrobes ready to be dusted off for the winter months, it's also prime time for our favourite activity here at Dork HQ. Finding the most exciting new acts set to soundtrack the following year. We're excited.

We've got even more reason to be buzzing this year. Alongside the long-standing favourites of the new music discovery world of inner-city titans, there's a newcomer on the block focused squarely on the future. Beyond The Music is a brand new three-day festival and music conference in Manchester aimed solely at supporting the headliners of tomorrow.

In one of the greatest cities in the world that's birthed some absolute all-time greats, Beyond The Music celebrates that and more. Whether it's jumping from venue to venue to catch a glimpse of hotly tipped newcomers across a whole range of flavours and styles or catching a vast array of speakers and panels that sit squarely at the forefront of making change in the music industry - it's likely that all of that starts here.

With your friendly neighbourhood Dork, of course, along for the ride, here's the essential guide to what to see at Beyond The Music.

With a line-up stacked with Dork faves you will have read all about on our magazine pages, our online stories and audio-wave podcasts - Beyond The Music has assorted them all across three days. Whether it's the motion-picture power of returning leaders Walt Disco (just before they headline our Night Of The Living Dork Halloween Party in London on 26th October, FYI), our Dork's Home & Away crew of the unstoppable HotWax (pictured) and fizzing The Rills, the searing ambition of guitar-princes L'Objectif, swooning modern pop mover Tayo Sound, the genre-blending genius of Shamir, the disco-punk energy of Lip Filler, swooning psych-titans The Orielles and Viji, Lizzie Esau, Tommy Villiers and more - it's a Hall Of Fame of Dork-backed legends stamping their mark on what comes next. A hard recommend on all of those, btw…

Not only stacked with very exciting new music names you may already know as a follower of us lot, Beyond The Music is filled to the brim with names talked about at venues and passed between mates as essential new artists. Particular highlights from Dork HQ include indietronic party-starters The Itch, early Hype List Tour alumni Cucamaras, heavyweight riff-kickers cowboyy, the infectious Human Interest, takeover superstar Aziya, the soon-to-be-massive Jasmine Jethwa, the in-demand Borough Council, Moreish Idols, Automotion, Cathy Jain, Maurja and more. Get ahead in having your new favourite breakthrough bands for 2024 by getting yourself in and around Beyond The Music's many venues. You won't regret it.

Aside from your venue-hopping adventures, Beyond The Music's change-making global music conference is packed with names looking to bring the music world into 2024 in impactful ways. With representatives from record labels, artist management, streaming companies, independent music venue organisations, charity initiatives and more - they're all tackling some of the biggest questions the music industry is facing right now. Oh yeah, and the Mayor Of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, is going to be there, and so is Rita Ora. Did someone say a future duet in the pipeline??

Look. We don't want to brag, but missing out on our special takeover on Friday night at Aatma would be one of the biggest mistakes of your entire life. Kicking off at 4:30pm, we've packed the bill with something for everyone - complete with Dork favourites, thrilling live sensations and much more right in the heart of Manchester. You won't want to miss big-time takeovers from the surging Talk Show (who may just cause a riot, which we fully support) alongside Frozemode, junodream, Daytime TV, Cody Frost, Manta and Chalk. We may have some stickers, we may not. As long as we have this crew, we'll guarantee a good time right now.

With the launch of Independent Venue Week, late-night afterparties and more - you're in good hands for a very fun time (and we'll be there too… make of that what you will).