Families celebrate Manchester spirit
A FREE family festival celebrating Mancunian culture is coming to the city this weekend.
The Festival of Manchester is happening for the first time and aims to celebrate all the different communities that help make our city such a vibrant place.
The event is at Platt Fields Park on Saturday with a packed programme that has something for everyone – including food, music, dance, crafts, culture and sport.
The festival stage will feature performances from ska covers band Baked a la Ska, the Manchester International Roots Orchestra and the Manchester Gay and Lesbian Choir, as well as the festival’s own fashion show.
There will be a whole host of acts at the dance and music arena, including Colibri Mexican folk dance, traditional dance from the Indian state of Kerala and Bangladeshi folk tunes on flute.
Visitors can also get involved in performance workshops such as Chinese classical dance and the Manchester Samba band.
One of the many community groups taking part is Mostonbased Amani Creative, who use arts and culture to bring positive changes in communities.
They will be showcasing arts and culture from local African communities, as well as hosting traditional dance and drumming workshops.
There’s plenty for sporting types to get involved with including BMX with the Great Britain team, American football, skateboarding.
The Bazaar will host craft workshops including brooch making, block printing, fabric collage and hat making.
Walk The Plank, an arts collective famous for creating magnificent and unique spectacles, have created a musical performance especially for Festival of Manchester, called a brief encounter on the lake between a swan and a peacock.
Throughout the day, families can work with the expert ‘peacock maker’ to create fantastic tail feathers for the peacock – workshops are available from noon to 6pm at the arts and crafts tent. yoga, and
Return to the lake at 8.15pm as the sun sets for the live performance with the peacock and illuminated swan on the lake in Platt Fields Park, complete with music and fire.
Street food vendors will be offering a wide range of multicultural cuisine and a ‘souk’ of traders will be selling goods from across the world, including produce, arts and crafts, clothing and more.
The festival runs from noon until 9pm on Saturday.
The event is free to enter and there is on-site parking available which costs £5 all day.
For more information, visit: festivalofmanchester.uk