Signalling the start of summer in the city – The Manchester Flower Festival – returns this month and will be celebrating all things ‘Manchester’ across the city centre. Taking place over the late May Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 26th – Monday 29th May 2023
The free festival, organised annually by Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District, will be a fabulous floral spectacle, featuring a ‘Manchester in Flowers’ floral trail plus lots of al fresco dining, live music and family entertainment. Now in its fifth year, the event attracts tens of thousands of visitors, bringing fun, floral frivolity, and lots of Instagrammable moments to the city centre.
Celebrating the rich culture and history of the city, the ‘Manchester in Flowers’ Floral Trail will wind its way through the city’s shopping streets, featuring 10 professionally designed pop-up gardens including The Grassienda – a version of the city’s iconic nightclub but made out of grasses, a Rain Garden inspired by the city’s weather reputation, a Town Hall Clock planter, a wildflower takeover of the Cotton Bud Fountain on St Ann’s Square and a giant bee hive as well as gardens in homage to the city’s LGBTQIA+ history, the Suffragettes, Manchester inventions and even Coronation Street icon, Hilda Ogden. Visitors can also expect to see lots of other installations and green displays across the city including a Vimto mini garden and wheelbarrow gardens taking inspiration from Roman Manchester and the city’s football teams, as well as floral displays blooming from shop windows and doorways.
Gardening greats, The RHS and National Trust will both feature at the festival with an opportunity to pose with the RHS floral green wall, whilst visitors can also find out about RHS Garden Bridgewater and the new RHS Grow App. The National Trust team will also be on hand to chat about the first year of their new ‘Sky Park’ for the city – Castlefield Viaduct – whose new community garden will be open for visitors during the festival.
New Cathedral Street will be home to the Floral Marquee which is new for 2023. The marquee will be a gallery of beautiful floral displays from local florists including Smart Floral Art, IndieBloom, Flowers from the Farm and Treehouse Manchester, plus visitors will also be able to take part in a host of workshops.
including Ikebana Japanese flower arranging and making macrame plant hangers.
Inspiring a new generation of urban gardeners, Manchester’s The Cloud Gardener will be taking to the Main Stage in Exchange Square from 11am on Sunday as one of the daily garden talks, whilst the Main Stage will also feature live music and a line-up of Manchester’s top DJs,
Hosting the world’s smallest spritz bar, Harvey Nichols will be teaming up with Grey Goose at this year’s event, with a camionette on New Cathedral Street offering intimate complimentary cocktail masterclasses.
Twelve slots for two people will be available each day and can be booked via Eventbrite. Make sure to keep an eye out for their outdoor bar too, which will be serving floral inspired cocktails as well as a ‘living menu’, providing customers with items to take away and plant in their own gardens.
After the success of last year, Selfridges Exchange Square and The Manchester Flower Festival are teaming up to host ‘Flower Festival on The Square’, which will feature the event’s main stage, outdoor bar, and street food, with a percentage of profit going to local charities.
A delicious Cocktail Trail will also take place across the city, incorporating a selection of the city’s best bars and restaurants, including Grand Pacific, Franco Manca and Urban Playground.
Foodies can head to St Ann’s Square over the weekend and find pop-up restaurants from multi-award-winning chef and restaurateur Simon Shaw, showcasing food and drink from the city’s much loved El Gato Negro, Habas, and Canto restaurants, alongside a pop-up flower, art, and craft market.
Families will be ‘buzzing’ at this year’s celebrations as children (and parents!) are invited to come along to the festival dressed as a bee, bug, or pollinator for the brand new, Manchester Bee Parade. Starting at The Royal Exchange at 1pm on Sunday 28th May, participants will be able to follow Manchester’s Queen Bee from garden to garden, whilst taking part in the special bee dance, ‘The Waggledance’ in an unforgettable, family parade around the festivities.
There’s plenty more for families with a bee spotting trail across the festival as well as a mud kitchen and sensory garden on St Ann’s Square.
Venture outside the festival zone where, once again, the city’s venues, public spaces and businesses are supporting the festival with their own newly commissioned gardens and displays, making up the Manchester Flower Festival Fringe. Visit a floating garden at The Bridgewater Hall, a nature trail at Great Northern Warehouse and new displays at Sadler’s Yard NOMA, First Street, Science and Industry Museum, Lincoln Square, One Piccadilly, Exhibition, Affleck’s, Printworks and more.
