One of Manchester’s most historic industrial spaces is set to play host to the RHS’s first-ever indoor gardening show next year.
Depot Mayfield has lived countless lives throughout the decades, but for four days next year, it’s set to be transformed into “an urban grower’s paradise”, as the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced plans to hold a brand-new ‘Urban Show’ for the first time ever.
Manchester‘s former railway station will be filled with small-space gardening inspirationto “encourage and inspire” city residents to grow plants for both indoor and outside areas.
Expected to be ‘very different’ to the RHS’s current roster of Flower Shows that are hosted annually all across the UK, the RHS Urban Show in Manchester will take inspiration from its industrial indoor city centre location by showcasing a range of ‘immersive experiences’ designed for those who live in cities with limited or no outdoor growing space.
The RHS is hosting its first indoor ‘urban’ flower show in Manchester city centre / Credit: RHS
While urban growing will be at the heart of the show, according to the RHS, the influence that horticulture has on interior design, art, wellness, and sustainability is also set to be explored over the four-day event.
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Innovative design inspiration for small city spaces will be accompanied by immersive plant installations, a host of talks, advice and practical workshops, and a carefully-curated selection of plant nurseries that will be selling a huge variety of houseplants and small-space friendly plants.
The RHS says it chose Manchester as the home of its first-ever Urban Show because of the city’s industrial landscape, but also as there’s been so much work done to make the city greener in recent years.
Mayfield Park, and Castlefield Viaduct in Manchester city centre / Credit: Studio Egret West | National Trust
“In recent years, there’s been a real gardening boom,” explained the RHS’s Director of Gardens & Shows, Helena Pettit.
“We believe more young people living in cities are now growing plants, and so we are so excited to be bringing a new RHS Show dedicated to urban gardening to the centre of Manchester next year.
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“The RHS Urban Show aims to bring gardening to a new audience and demonstrate that if you have plants you are a gardener. There is so much great work already happening across Manchester to make it greener, and we are excited to help support this growing movement.
📢 Introducing the brand new RHS Urban Show!
From 18 to 21 April 2024, we will transform Manchester's Depot Mayfield into a botanical paradise brimming with gardening inspiration for city dwellers 🌱
“We want to get even more people living in the UK’s second largest city inspired to grow plants and connect to the natural world.
“With over 80% of the UK population living in towns and cities, the new show will enable more urban dwellers to garden, especially where access to green spaces can be limited.”
The first RHS Urban Show in Manchester will take place from 18 – 21 April 2024.
Tickets for all 2024 RHS Shows go on sale to RHS members first on Monday 21 September, before being available to the general public on Monday 28 September, and you can grab yours here.
Featured Image – RHS
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Elbow teams up with Co-op Live to donate equipment to Manchester grassroots venues
Thomas Melia
Bury band Elbow have joined forces with Manchester’s biggest indoor arena, Co-op Live, in aid of supporting local grassroots venues.
The funds will help improve the already incredible music scene in Manchester, benefitting staples likes Night and Day Café, Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club, SOUP and more.
All of the donations will be distributed across six independent music venues and will be used for various instruments, PA equipment, backline technology and other necessities depending on the requirements of each site.
Elbow have teamed up with Co-op Live in aid of supporting Manchester grassroots venues.Credit: Supplied
This initiative has been keeping Manchester’s Northern Quarter in the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to live music as well as the impressive Co-op Live.
Alongside providing vital resources for these local institutions, Elbow teaming up with Co-op Live also helps cement the North West as one of the main powerhouses in relation to live music.
The latest efforts from the largest indoor arena in Manchester fall in line with celebrating one year of bringing some of the best live music to the city, being officially open for 12 months in May.
Co-op Live have made a commitment to the people and the planet, promising to donate £1 million annually to the Co-op Foundation.
The stunning Co-op Live venue, Manchester’s largest indoor arena.Elbow performing at Co-op Live, marking history as the first act to grace the venue.Credit: Audio North/Supplied
Manchester’s latest live music venue also contributed significantly to selected charities, including Happy Doggo – chosen by Liam Gallagher and Eric Clapton’s addiction recovery centre, Crossroads.
As Elbow teams up with Co-op Live, even more money is making its way to necessary resources, this time in the likes of crucial live music establishments.
Elbow front-person Guy Garvey says: “Playing Co-op Live’s opening night will stay with us for a lifetime, not least because of how incredible the room sounded.”
“When the venue donated funds in our name to support the city we love, it made complete sense to carry that through to the Northern Quarter and to venues that have meant so much to my bandmates and I throughout our career.”
Guy Dunstan, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Co-op Live, adds: “In the past year, I have been proud to see Co-op Live become an integral part of such an incredible city.”
“Teaming up with Elbow to directly support the venues that first put Manchester on the map, and to share something so intrinsic to us as venues – proper sound – is something truly special.”
Award-winning The Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon to kick off UK tour in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Multi award-winning musical Sunny Afternoon is set to kick off its UK tour here in Manchester later this year.
Following a sell-out run at Hampstead Theatre, the musical production featuring all the hit songs by legendary rock band The Kinks opened to critical acclaim at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End, where it ran for two years ahead of its sensational UK and Ireland tour throughout 2016/17.
It also collected four Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music for Ray Davies, along the way.
Award-winning The Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon is kicking off its UK tour in Manchester / Credit: ATG Tickets
Set against the backdrop of Britain on the cusp of the rebellious 60s,Sunny Afternoon is described as being an ‘exhilarating and moving’ celebration of the music, life, and the band that changed it all, The Kinks.
Sunny Afternoon celebrates The Kinks’ raw energy, passion, and timeless sound.
Charting the ‘euphoric highs’ and ‘agonising lows’, the smash-hit production tells the band’s story through an incredible back catalogue of chart-toppers – including ‘You Really Got Me’, ‘Lola’, ‘All Day and All of the Night’, and of course, ‘Sunny Afternoon’ itself.
Tickets are on sale now from just £15 each / Credit: Kevin Cummins
Producers Sonia Friedman Productions and ATG Productions announced last week that the show would be returning for another UK tour later this year, and it’ll be opening right here on one of Manchester‘s most iconic stages.
The hit musical will open at Manchester’s Palace Theatre on 10 October 2025 and it will run right through until 18 October.
Sunny Afternoon has music and lyrics, and an original story, all by the band’s frontman Ray Davies, along with a book by Joe Penhall, direction by Edward Hall, design by Miriam Buether, and choreography by Adam Cooper.
Emily Sergeant -
25th August 2023 
