Festa Italiana, the free-to-enter weekend-long festival celebrating Italian food, drink and culture is returning to Festival Piazza this August bank holiday weekend for its fifth year in the city.
Taking place from 26 to 28 August 2022 at Cathedral Gardens in Manchester city centre, it will bring together some of the city’s best Italian and Sicilian eateries alongside a host of live music, Italian bars and special chef masterclasses.
Featuring street food pop-ups from the likes of Pasta Factory, T’arricrii and Lucky Mama’s, to a dedicated Aperol Spritz bar and Airstream bar selling Italian craft lagers, and a special intimate chef’s dinner event, there is a lot for foodie fans to get excited about this year.
What is the street food line-up at Festa Italiana 2022?
Over the course of the weekend, foodie fans can enjoy sweet treats from Café Cannoli, wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas from I Knead Pizza and Proove, and ‘rasta pasta’ from Chorlton-via-Eccles favourites Lucky Mamas.
T’arricrii will bring along handbuilt arancini and fritto misto, whilst the Pasta Factory will be on hand with its authentic plates of fresh Puglian-style pasta dishes.
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Elsewhere, there’ll be sweet treats from festival founders Salvi’s, doughnuts from Destination Doughnut and grilled paninis, cakes, drinks and snacks from Kickback Coffee.
What bars are on offer at this year’s Festival Piazza?
The main festival bar will serve Italian favourites including fine Italian wine, Ponte prosecco, Luxardo, gin and tonics and other popular Italian spirits.
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An Airstream Bar from Birrificio Angelo Poretti will serve Italian craft beers, whilst an Aperol Spritz bar will be on hand serving up everyone’s favourite low-ABV aperitivo. Soft drinks and coffees will also be available on-site across the weekend.
Live music
This year, Compagnia Sole Luna will bring traditional folk music from Naples, revisited in a folk-rock style from southern Italy.
There will also be a full lineup of local artists and bands including the city’s best-loved opera singer The Manchester Tenor, while DJs will be spinning records each night.
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What events and masterclasses are taking place?
Festa Italiana Feaast – Dine with legendary Italian restaurateurs, authors, and UK TV favourites at the Festa Marquee
On Saturday 27 August an intimate chefs’ table dinner featuring top-class Italian TV celebrity chefs, Gennaro Contaldo, Giancarlo Caldesi, and Aldo Zilli, hosted and cooked by Salvis-owner Maurizio Cecco, with fresh pasta made from scratch by Carmela Serano Hayes. Guests and chefs will dine alongside one another, enjoying a four-course meal and drinks reception hosted by Gin Mare.
Carmela’s Kitchen – Carmela Sereno Hayes will be hosting ‘Carmela’s Kitchen’ across the entire weekend, with free drop-in sessions on the hour, every hour teaching pasta-loving adults and kids how to make the perfect pasta.
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Friday 26 August
1.30pm – Festival founder Maurizio Cecco hosts a cooking masterclass with his daughter Sienna.
2.30pm – The team from I Sapori di Corbara Tomatoes will be flying in from Naples and doing a talk showcasing the brand and their products
3.30pm – Giulia Martinelli of The Pasta Factory will be showyou how to be a pasta master
4.30pm – A drinks masterclass from the Luxardo Maraschino team, whose versatile cherries are used in desserts and drinks across the world.
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5.30pm – A drink making Campari masterclass.
Saturday 27 August
1.30pm – Maurizio Cecco hosts a pasta masterclass
2.30pm – Masterclasses and book signings from Gennaro Contaldo, UK brand ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano, (Saturday Kitchen, Two Greedy Italians, Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast)
3.30pm – Masterclasses and book signings from celebrity chef and award-winning restaurateur, Aldo Zilli (The One Show, This Morning, Celebrity Masterchef)
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4:30pm – A drinks masterclass from the Aperol team, showcasing the methods behind some of the most loved Italian drinks
Sunday 28 August
1:30pm – Masterclasses and book signings from Giancarlo Caldesi (Return to Tuscany, Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch
2:30pm – Gennaro Contaldo returns for a masterclass
3:30pm – A masterclass from Great British Bake Off 2021 winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno
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4:30pm – A very special pizza making masterclass by the team from Pizzeria Da Michele
When is Festa Italiana 2022 and what are the opening times?
Festa Italiana 2022 will take place from 26 to 28 August 2022 at Cathedral Gardens.
It will open across the weekend from 11am to 11pm, Friday to Sunday.
How do I get to the Festa Italiana festival hub?
Located opposite Manchester Victoria Station, the Festa Italiana festival hub sits in Cathedral Gardens. It can easily be accessed via tram, bus or train and is a short walk from Manchester Piccadilly.
Eats
The best Sunday roasts in Greater Manchester according to the Good Food Guide 2024
Daisy Jackson
The Good Food Guide has named the best Sunday roasts in the UK and there’ve been a few nods for Greater Manchester (naturally).
After 18,000 public nominations, the guide and its team of inspectors have pulled together a list of the very best roasts around the country.
While the overall top spot went to The Abbey Inn in North Yorkshire, there were plenty of shouts for roasts in the North West.
Shrub in Chester took home Best Vegan, with judges saying ‘You miss nothing and gain everything’ with its brilliant trimmings.
And although it’s one of the London branches that was technically listed, Blacklock nabbed the title of having the best Sunday roast for group dining.
Blacklock recently opened its first restaurant here in Manchester, serving traditional chop house food with a modern twist.
The Good Food Guide said: “Unrivalled if you’re with a group of friends, this Canary Wharf chophouse (part of a small London group, with a Manchester outpost), is considered a ‘Sunday wonderland’ by its many fans.
Blacklock has been listed in the Good Food Guide’s Best Sunday Roasts list. Credit: Supplied
“With ‘super-accommodating staff’ and roasts that are ‘almost as good as mum’s’ (their words), it’s a star turn. Order the ‘all in’ sharing feast, which comprises a trio of ‘succulent’ dry-aged beef rump, lamb and pork loin with gigantic yorkies, duck-fat roast potatoes and limitless gravy.”
Another cosy spot in Marple Bridge in Stockport also made the Good Food Guide’s Sunday roast list, hailed for its fire-roasting.
The guide said: “‘Sophisticated yet comforting’ is the verdict on the elevated Sunday deal at this bottle shop and bistro in one of Stockport’s more comely corners.
“Fire-roasting is Fold’s USP, and the flames lick around everything from aged beef bavettes with ‘Yorkie bits’ and smoked salt to porchetta with Manchester ale, fennel and Pink Lady apple. Each plate comes with a wagyu-fat potato slice, but it’s worth ordering some extras (perhaps roast sandy carrots in lamb fat). Great for kids.”
Outside the Pack Horse in HayfieldInside The Pack Horse Hayfield. Credit: The Manc Group
The Pack Horse in Hayfield – which recently caught our eye with its brilliant breakfasts – has rightly been praised for its post-hike atmosphere and its ‘stylishly rustic and warmly welcoming interior’.
The guide said: “All the Sunday roast trimmings come as standard, whether you’re ordering the melting beef sirloin, the braised lamb shoulder, the venison loin or even the veggie option (carrot, tenderstem broccoli and Tunworth tart, say).
“Everything is thoughtfully prepared, full of flavour and of the highest quality, and the kitchen runs proudly with the seasons.”
Hawksmoor has been listed in the Good Food Guide’s Best Sunday Roasts list. Credit: Supplied
And finally, to absolutely no one’s surprise, Hawksmoor also placed comfortably on the top 50 Sunday roasts list.
‘The quality of the meat is unrivalled,’ observed one fan, and there were also rave reviews for the crispy beef-dripping roasties and ‘bottomless’ bone-marrow gravy.
Where’s your favourite roast in Greater Manchester?
The Pack Horse – the Michelin-recommended Peak District pub serving the best pre-hike breakfast in the North
Daisy Jackson
There’s a pub in the Peak District that’s comfortably established itself as one of the very best in the UK, and this banging local isn’t just about pints and Sunday roasts.
The Pack Horse in the village of Hayfield is also a purveyor of an excellent breakfast, perfect to fuel you up before a big hike in the surrounding hills.
Want a little taste of this pub’s accolades? In the space of just one week, The Pack Horse placed in the Top 50 Gastropubs and then got added to the Michelin Guide – a stunning double header.
The restaurant in Hayfield was praised by Michelin inspectors for being ‘a true village local’.
Just this week, it was also added to the Good Food Guide’s list of the best Sunday roasts in the UK.
Headed up by chef and co-owner Luke Payne, The Pack Horse in the village of Hayfield is an outstanding establishment.
Here is a pub where you can have a world-class meal that shows off the best of British produce, while sipping an ale, with muddy boots on your feet.
Inside The Pack Horse Hayfield. Credit: The Manc GroupOutside the Pack Horse in Hayfield
It doesn’t really matter who you ask, The Pack Horse is readily and consistently named one of the best pubs in the entire UK and anyone stepping through its door would struggle to argue with that.
Because although the price point sits a little higher than your average boozer, it still has all the trappings of a proper country pub.
Yes, there are crisps behind the bar. Yes, there’s a pub quiz. Yes, there’s a resident pub dog (Lola the Labrador will sit and stare you out if there is anything edible in your immediate vicinity).
But what we haven’t seen anywhere near enough people harp on about is the breakfast at The Pack Horse.
The ingredients on their breakfast menu are all sourced so locally you could probably hike to any of them with a bit of grit and determination.
From Port of Lancaster smoked kippers to bacon cut thick and laced with maple, everything is of the highest quality.
You can’t go wrong with The Pack Horse signature breakfast, which has eggs, bacon, Manchester sausage, crispy hash browns, Doreen’s black pudding, wild mushrooms, confit tomato, trotter beans, AND sourdough.
A bacon and egg muffin at The Pack Horse HayfieldCoffee, juice and a breakfast menu at The Pack Horse. Credit: The Manc Group
You can have the full portion for £20 or just take one of each item for £10 and then immediately regret not having more.
The bulk of the menu beyond that centres around the pub’s homemade English muffins, toasted and buttered and filled with whatever breakfast item takes your fancy (scrambled egg and bacon for me, always).
It’s a breakfast worthy of the fanciest hotels and most popular of brunch spots.
Once you’re suitably fuelled and ready for a walk there are two hikes nearby that aren’t too strenuous and crucially don’t take too long (those daylight savings hours really mess with a big hike, eh).
The Sett Valley Trail starts just across the road and is a consistent and mostly flat out-and-back.
Kinder Reservoir in the Peak District. Credit: The Manc GroupKinder Reservoir in the Peak District. Credit: The Manc Group
You can follow it all the way to the Torrs Millennium Walkway in New Mills if you fancy, or just turn back when you’ve had enough.
Or you can head the other way through Hayfield out towards Kinder Reservoir – the loop will take you over streams and stepping stones and little wooden bridges, past the huge body of water, through woodland and fields, and place you within sight of Kinder Downfall waterfall.
This is the poster child of the Peak District and one of the National Park’s best, most comprehensive walks.
You’ll also be close to Kinder Scout, but this is a more challenging hike and at this time of year we’d really recommend setting off nice and early to get maximum daylight hours.
And that would mean no time for a Pack Horse breakfast, which just won’t do.
Georgina Pellant -
17th August 2022 
