The Uk’s largest Italian food festival is coming back to Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens for its sixth year in the city, it has been confirmed.
The free-to-attend Festa Italiana will return to Manchester city centre on the August bank holiday weekend, with its main festival hub located at Cathedral Gardens opposite Victoria train station.
Taking place from 25 to 27 August 2023, the weekend will champion the very best in authentic Italian food, drink, music, and performance, with a host of different street food traders, an artisan market village, chef-led cooking demonstrations and loads more coming down for the weekend.
Promising a varied programme for 2023, this year’s festival will feature workshops, demonstrations, signings and banquets from celebrity chefs and award-winning authors as it continues to evolve.
Image: Festa Italiana
Image: Festa Italiana
A passion project dreamt up by Salvi’s owner Maurizio Cecco with the intention of bringing the Italian community of Manchester together as one, Festa Italiana takes in the very best in authentic food, drink, music, and performance.
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The Festa is steeped in tradition, drawing massive inspiration from the incredible festivals in Italy, but also slinging a whole lotta Manc charm into the mix to create a cultural concoction that sets it apart from any other event of its type, anywhere in the world.
The Salvi’s team will be joined at the Festa by some of Manchester’s best Italian street-food vendors and restaurateurs, as well as live musicians and performers on party supply duties.
Chefs confirmed to appear at the festival so far include Gennaro Contaldo, UK brand ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano, (Saturday Kitchen, Two Greedy Italians, Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast), Giancarlo Caldesi (Return to Tuscany, Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch), Great British Bake Off 2021 winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno, Masterchef UK 2021 quarter-finalist and ICG Cooking Competition Award winner Sofia Gallo, and Salvi’s owner Maurizio Cecco.
The festival will also introduce a new element this year, as it welcomes Birrificio Angelo Poretti to Manchester to host the ‘ultimate ticketed dining experience’ at its Poretti Grande Tavola.
Festival goers can pull up a chair and enjoy classic Italian food from Salvi’s and enjoy an authentic Italian lager from Poretti’s Piazza.
Poretti will also have its own dining area at this year’s Festa Italiana where guests can enjoy a delicious sit-down meal with a menu that has been curated to pair perfectly with Poretti.
With more details set to be announced closer to the time, for now, if you’d like to find out more about Manchester’s Festa Italian visit its website here.
Featured image – Festa Italiana
Eats
The Greater Manchester book café serving literary afternoon teas and build-your-own bouquets
Daisy Jackson
If you like your afternoon tea with a side of good books, there’s a Greater Manchester café where you can quite literally have your cake and read it too.
Tucked inside this charming bookish spot, afternoon tea arrives with an unexpected twist. Rather than being presented with the usual three-tiered stand, you’re handed a stack of heavy hardback books.
But don’t start worrying that you’ve accidentally wandered into a very niche library club. The books are hiding something.
Lift the covers in Peony & Parchment – or, more accurately, open the book-shaped boxes – and you’ll discover a full afternoon tea concealed inside.
There are dainty sandwiches to get stuck into, including tiny egg mayo, herby chicken salad, ham and mustard, and cheese and tomato focaccia, alongside a little quiche.
Then comes the scone – classic, fluffy and ready for the obligatory dollop of clotted cream and jam. And, because no afternoon tea should leave you feeling like you’ve been short-changed in the cake department, there are five miniature slices to work through.
Afternoon tea concealed in a stack of booksSome of the other bakes on display
There’s a Victoria sponge with a dreamy vanilla cream, lemon drizzle, rich chocolate cake, a Bakewell slice and a pecan pie, all sourced from a local bakery just across the alleyway.
It’s all served with a pot of tea or coffee, with the option to add a glass of prosecco.
And the bookish theme doesn’t stop at the afternoon tea.
Downstairs you’ll find shelves packed with books, including the intriguing ‘blind books’. Instead of judging a book by its cover, you’ll be given clues and a short summary of what lies inside before taking a gamble on your mystery read.
Downstairs in Peony & Parchment‘Blind books’A role playing village for kids
There’s also plenty here to keep younger visitors entertained, thanks to a children’s area complete with a mini role-playing village.
And if books and cake weren’t enough, there’s another string to this café’s bow.
The Bloom Bar lets you build your own bouquet. Choose the size you want, then wander around selecting your own stems and foliage to create something that’s uniquely yours.
You can build your own bouquetThe Bloom Bar at Peony & Parchment
Of course, you don’t have to be visiting specifically for the afternoon tea. The wider menu includes tapas, full breakfasts and sandwiches, making it just as suitable for a leisurely brunch, lunch or coffee-and-cake stop.
So whether you’re there to discover your next favourite novel, assemble a bouquet, entertain the kids or simply eat your way through five different miniature cakes, this is one café where there are plenty of chapters to explore.
Major pop star crowns humble rice and three cafe as ‘Jewel of Manchester’ ahead of sold-out gig
Thomas Melia
A beloved city centre takeaway has been given the title of ‘Jewel of Manchester’ by chart-topping UK singer Sam Smith.
Known for hits like ‘Stay With Me’, ‘I’m Not The Only One’ and more recently ‘Unholy’, UK pop-ballad act Sam Smith also likes to drop a food review every once in a while.
Currently on the road with a run of shows in Manchester and London for their ‘To Be Free’ live shows, Sam Smith is stopping off at some of our city’s much-loved spots.
On their food-reviewing account titled ‘Sam Served’, where they adopt the aptly-fitting nickname ‘Ham Smith’, Sam has visited restaurants across the globe – and most recently turned their attention to Manchester’s own This & That.
Smith decided to pop in and grab a cheeky rice and three from long-standing backstreet food business This & That, and it certainly went down a treat.
After sampling their amazing selection of meat, vegetable and vegan curries, the musician crowned this family-run Indian takeaway a ‘Jewel of Manchester’.
The hitmaker described this Northern Quarter Indian eatery as ‘Everything food should be’ and definitely enjoyed all the curries on offer ‘leaving belly and heart full’.
This & That prides itself on affordable and comforting food with its ‘Rice and Three Curries’ starting from just £6 – not bad for a city centre foodie spot.
Sam has racked up an impressive 490k followers via their ‘Sam Served’ profile, with famous faces like Lily Allen, Denise Welch and CMAT all wanting to know the superstar’s foodie thoughts.
After enjoying a curry or three, Sam Smith also made sure to feed their soul to by venturing down to Afflecks and getting lost in the music at Mars Tapes.
Recognised as one of the UK’s only cassette and tape shops, Mars Tapes lets you flick through their crates of physical media and even preview tracks before you buy with its dedicated listening areas.
It’s safe to say that Smith has ‘Latched’ onto Manchester’s independent business scene and we’re here for it.
The London-born artist has just released their latest album Hazel Eyes and is currently amid a UK residency tour with two dates in Manchester’s Albert Hall and eight shows set for London Coliseum.
Georgina Pellant -
16th May 2023 
