The Manchester Flower Festival is back and it’s going to bloom ICONICLY

Manchester’s most popular event, The Manchester Flower Festival, returns this May Bank Holiday weekend and visitors can expect an iconic celebration.

Taking place from Friday 24 – Monday 27 May, the free-to-attend festival will bring a floral fiesta to the city centre, featuring an iconic floral trail of stunning installations, plus loads of outdoor dining, live music, entertainment, workshops and more others. .

Now in its seventh year, the Manchester Flower Festival, organized annually by the Manchester City Center Business Improvement District on behalf of the city centre’s shops, restaurants and businesses, attracts thousands of visitors to the city centre.

The popular Floral Trail is back in 2024 and this year will celebrate Manchester icons. Weaving its way through the city’s popular shopping streets, the route will feature 10 professionally designed pop-up gardens and exhibitions, including a floral art piece honoring the memory of the Manchester legend. Caroline Ahernea tribute to Loud girls who play at the city’s iconic AO Arena during the festival, where fans can take the ultimate selfie, Emmeline’s town hall featuring a Manchester Town Hall wooden planter, alongside a wicker statue of Emmeline and a fabulous floral mannequin rendition of the Manchester icon, Rowettbest known for her work with The Happy Mondays.

Plus exhibitions celebrating Manchester’s second Summer of Love rave scene, the legendary Hacienda and Boddingtons Brewery.

Festival-goers can expect surprises in every corner of the city, as additional floral and green displays will be displayed in windows, doors, planters and shops, including a tribute to Sir Ian McKellen and his best-loved character Gandalf, a quirky series of smaller community Ginnel Gardens inspired by snickets and Mancunian back alleys and A simple man – a pop-up garden dedicated to working people from the works of LS Lowry.

Head to the Floral Marquee on New Cathedral Street to find a selection of beautiful backdrops and displays from local Manchester florists including wonder wall, a colorful display of roses, hydrangeas, lemons and roses to celebrate the popular hit Oasis, cottonopolis, an installation that nods to Victorian industrial Manchester and the mill industry and textile trade and Manchester Rain, a floral rain display made from pressed flowers.

Garden giants, The RHS, will be on hand with a dedicated flower stand where visitors can learn about RHS Garden Bridgewater and the benefits of becoming an RHS member, while local businesses, Smart Floral Art will be hosting a flower framing workshop pressed, Stockport Fungi. will show visitors how to grow their own oyster mushrooms, and Søstrene Grene will teach flower craft skills, including crochet basics and a way to create crepe paper flowers.

A unique workshop will also take place at Gail’s on King Street, where the Alternative Florist will bring a relaxing and sensual experience of sunflowers and foliage to the festival.

Selfridges will take over Exchange Square with live DJs, outdoor food and drink and the chance to meet Gordon the Gnome, while foodies should head to St Ann’s Square for delicious pop-ups with Catalan taste and El Gato Negro. For those fancying a drink, The Manchester Flower Festival Cocktail Trail returns with floral and summery creations from some of Manchester’s favorite bars and restaurants including Franco Manca, Gran Café (San Carlo, Selfridges), Urban Playground, Grand Pacific and The farm.

Pick up a floral souvenir from the Flower, Arts and Crafts Market in St Anne’s Square, with stalls from; Christopher Walster, Pangea, Cactus Parlour, LUSH, Sam’s Bake House, Olive Can Fly, Girafe Flowers and Alternative Flowers.

Families are encouraged to make their way across the city on a bee hunt and are invited to take part in the unforgettable Manchester Bee Parade. Starting at The Royal Exchange at 12pm on Sunday 26th In May, visitors can follow Manchester’s Queen Bee from garden to garden as they take part in the bees’ special dance, ‘The Waggledance’.

There’s plenty more for families throughout the festival, including a mud kitchen and sensory garden in St Anne’s Square and workshops with the Plant Co-operative, which will be hosting a full day of activities on Friday 24 May, including bomb making with wildflower seeds, sunflower planting and a rock painting competition.

For full listings and workshop booking information, please visit here.

Venture outside the festival grounds to find more installations and workshops, as plenty of popular venues, public spaces and businesses are supporting the festival with their own gardens and newly commissioned exhibitions. Highlights include a floral terrace at Holiday Inn Manchester’s Roby 1844, the Science and Industry Museum’s Planting Story Garden, floating flower clouds at Bridgewater Hall, an urban street art flower garden by Fred Aldous X The Hammo from Stevenson Square, the Sky Garden at Castlefield Viaduct and a Clocktower Beehive at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel.

Manchester Printing House will be buzzing with excitement over the festival weekend with a free floral arrangement workshop with renowned local florist David Wayman on Saturday 25th May from 12pm – 3pm, along with free bouquet giveaways from the Printworks Flower Cart and a scavenger hunt of treasures to find hidden bouquets around the complex. .

Visitors can also discover amazing outdoor spaces and take part Manchester Green Spaces Route: a brand new walking route commissioned by Manchester Accommodation BID, celebrating the best green, blue and open spaces in the city centre. For more information visit https://www.visitmanchester.com/event/trees-flowers-and-manchester-city-centre-green-spaces-tour/87883101/.