By Ben Thompson
Photography: Natalie Carragher
The city celebrated its 10th Manchester Day this weekend with a stunning parade and street performances.
Thousands lined the streets to watch the parade featuring extravagant artwork and costumes designed by artists and local community groups volunteers from countries such as India, Indonesia and China who have now made Manchester their home.
The parade is the “greenest in the country”, as it features a single vehicle on the route: a fire truck representing Greater Manchester Fire Service and Rescue. All of the other “creative makes” were operated by participants and either pushed, pulled, worn or walked along the streets.
aAh! magazine was there to report on the event and spoke Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, Councillor for Harpurhey and Collyhurst Pat Karney, and the creative team of artists who have been working tirelessly to bring the parade to life.
Pat Karney told aAh! magazine that Manchester Day symbolised a city coming together. “This is Manchester’s special day – it puts the city on display for the rest of the world. We do loads of parades, but this for all Mancunians.”
Andy Burnham shared similar sentiments, telling aAh! magazine that, to him, Manchester Day represented the city “coming together and celebrating their diversity, and the amazing city that it is, so it’s a really important day on the calendar. This year’s seems to be bigger and brighter than ever”.
https://twitter.com/dobsonMEN/status/1142766100838526977
Our @MMUJournalism students busy on #ManchesterDay interviewing Manc City councillor @patkarney More reporting from @NorthenQuota during the day pic.twitter.com/KfxlAauDzv
— Peter Murray (@Peter__Murray) June 23, 2019
After the parade festivities continued, spread out across St Anne’s Square and Cathedral Gardens, where performances from various dance troupes and bands dazzled the crowds of visitors.
Chris Greenhalgh, Founder of @ILoveMCR, tweeted: ‘Happy #ManchesterDay people! A city which welcomes everyone with open arms; where culture, civic pride and unity is unrivalled.’
Featured image and gallery: Hoang Phan Notebooks were carried from one workshop to another. Writers from different generations sat around tables, sharing manuscripts and listening to each other. Outdoors, small groups strolled along Oxford Road, pausing before buildings steeped in literary history. This was the scene during the Manchester Writing School Summer Festival 2026, held…
Featured image: Katja Ogrin With many sore heads and limbs this morning after the most hardcore day of the festival taking place yesterday, many are recovering from the moshing and pit brutality of the previous day’s antics. As the tradition of a morning movie in the Serpents Lair prevails, the crowd sprawls out onto the plush,…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After an electrifying start to the weekend, with temperatures slowly climbing, many lather themselves in suncream, shed their band shirts and rise from their tents to trek towards the arena. Saturday has big things incoming for the humans of Bloodstock 2026. Some pace themselves for the day and hide from the early…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After a memorable Thursday opener, Bloodstock 2026 opens its gates once again onto the Hallowed Grounds of Catton Park, kicking off day two of its 25th-anniversary celebration of metal. As the sun rises on Catton Park, festivalgoers emerge from their tents to prepare for another day of mayhem. The morning brings…
Leave a reply