Need to knowThere are big celebrations of Thai, Italian and Indian food, as well as everything in-between
Festa Italiana, which is one of the biggest Italian festivals in the UK, returns to Manchester this weekend(Image: Festa Italiana)
Five things to do in Greater Manchester this weekend (August 22-23)
- Over the weekend, Platt Fields Park will host the Magic of Thailand festival which has been described as a celebration of Thai culture and cuisine. Of course, there will be lots of street food, and Thai beer to enjoy, but there will also be traditional music and dancing, eating competitions and Muay Thai boxing matches. Not only that but there will be a Buddhist monk blessing and a children’s play area. Information and tickets (from £6 for adults) here.
- If Thai food isn’t your thing, then how about some Italian? Neapolitan institution Salvi’s will once again host a weekend of fun with the return of their Festa Italiana celebration at Cathedral Gardens. It will feature street food stalls, cooking demonstrations, live music, and pasta-making workshops. What more could you want? Details here.
- On Sunday (August 23), Bundobust will be hosting an annual appreciation day for Vada Pav, the deep-fried potato dumpling street food snack served inside a bread bun. The event will see them served at Indian street food market prices of just 30p. For the day only, they’ll also feature popular Indian cheese Amul inside them – just how they do in Mumbai. Will be available all day at their Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road stores.
- There’s a whole host of TV and film screenings taking place across the weekend as part of Manchester’s SCENE festival – including some pretty big premieres and panels too. On Saturday, there will be a special Ab Fab-a-thon featuring iconic episodes alongside drag parodies, whilst there will also be special screenings of RuPaul’s new movie Stop! That! Train! and iconic 90s flick Clueless. On Sunday, there’s a special Heartstopper event with Alice Oseman, and a special full series screening and panel discussion of It’s A Sin. Full details and line-up can be found right here.
- And keeping up with the clear foodie theme of this weekend, Stockport will host the Northern Heats of the British Street Food Awards on Sunday (August 23) and the public also get a say in who makes it through. Over 25 traders will be in attendance as part of the event run by Foodie Friday at Stockport Market. It’ll feature some familiar faces, as well as other northern favourites, as well as plenty of live entertainment, family-friendly fun and more. Arrive with an empty palette. READ THE FULL STORY: The popular Stockport food festival now being ‘taken to the next level’
As some additional suggestions of things to do, there’s Lewis Capaldi playing Wythenshawe Park on Saturday (August 22), whilst a special Harry Potter drone show – featuring iconic moments from the movies lit up in the skies by 1,200 drones – taking place at Haydock Park, which isn’t a long drive away from town.