MANCHESTER DAY TO REMEMBER
MORE THAN 60 GROUPS COME TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE OUR CITY AT ANNUAL STREET PARTY
A CARNIVAL of colour and music filled the streets as the Manchester Day parade brought the city centre to life.
A giant flying bee, a polar bear atop an ice cap and a tiger roaring steam were among the spectacular floats in this year’s procession.
Now in its ninth year, the event organised by Manchester council together with outdoor arts specialist Walk The Plank - celebrates the city’s rich history and multi-cultural communities with around 1,500 people taking part from more than 60 groups.
This year’s theme was The Word On The Street, celebrating Manchester’s pioneering voice in history – from the industrial revolution to the Suffragette movement.
Among the groups taking part was the Pankhurst Trust, celebrating 100 years since the legislation that allowed the first women to vote, proudly holding a banner declaring ‘first in the fight.’
Leading the parade was the Simply Cycling group with a flock of albatross and a polar bear on top of a melting ice cap, highlighting the dangers of global warming. Not far behind was the tiger, representing the Anamika Cultural Group.
Spokeswoman Ferdousi Hoque said: “We’re the first Bangladeshi group to participate in Manchester Day, and we’ve chosen the tiger because it’s the national animal of Bangladesh, and we have lots of letters because our country had to fight for its mother tongue.
“We’ve got some lovely dancers and we’ll be performing some traditional songs. “We are really looking forward to it.” One of the highlights of the parade was the Manchester bee, made by artist Julian Taylor.
He said: “For me as a fine artist, I like things that have the poetry of the animal they are supposed to be. The bee had to be flying.
“From the moment I started the design, it was about having an aerial artist in there who could fly the wings and do the waggle dance.
“It took about three to four weeks from making a really strong frame to all the lightweight materials and putting the whole structure together.”
Julian, who also pedalled the bee float in the parade, said he felt a big responsibility to get such an important Manchester symbol right.
“That was why I really wanted to make sure it really looked like a bee rather than a caricature of one,” he said.
“I try to make things look realistic. It helps with the poetry and the movement of the piece.” Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to watch as the parade wound its way from Liverpool Road along Deansgate and Peter Street into Albert Square and then on to Cathedral Gardens.
Victor and Veronica Cheetwood, from Flixton, were among those in the crowds and brought their camping chairs to stake out their spot. The couple’s son Kevin had come all the way from Marbella, Spain, to join them for the spectacle.
Victor said: “We missed it last year for the first time but we come every year.
“We always sit here. It’s fascinating watching the people and the bands it’s a great day out.”