We’ve been treated to a bit of nice weather in recent weeks - and we’re also being rewarded with a second bank holiday weekend this month.
This weekend, there will be plenty of festivals going on in and around the city, focusing on everything from flowers to food, whilst there will also be key events for the city including the FA Cup final and the Great Manchester Run. For music lovers, there will show-stopping gigs from Girls Aloud, an ABBA-themed disco, and festival stages featuring the latest in upcoming psych-rock and punk acts.
On Sunday , there will be resident DJs from Haunted Dancehall offering a day-long feast of good vibes plus a pop-up record store to bag some bargains and new finds. If that’s not enough, the festival will also host ping pong contests and social games. Highlights include the ‘HERcienda: Women, Music and Manchester’ panel discussion between DJ Paulette and Factory International’s Head of Music Rivca Burns and Santana Guérout on May 25, and an In Conversation with Maxine Peake event on May 26 where the actress will discuss the future of the creative industries with award-winning theatre director and WOW Founder Jude Kelly.
Always a popular part of the festival, there will also be the Floral Trail featuring ten professionally designed displays to be discovered across the city centre. Each installation pays homage to a Manchester legend or institution, with the Hacienda, Girls Aloud, Caroline Aherne and Rowetta amongst those honoured this year - you can find a map of the trail here.
With that in mind, there will be various venues across the city that will be screening the match and plenty of others taking part in their own celebrations afterwards too. Those screening the match include Joshua Brooks, The Manchester Lounge, Black Cat Club and Footage, just to name a very small few.
East Lancashire Railway’s 1940's Vintage Weekend The East Lancashire Railway will serve up a throwback to the 1940's with a weekend of festivities featuring dancing, costumes, live music, vintage stalls, and of course, rides across the Irwell Valley on a steam-powered train.