Manchester will become one of the most picturesque places in the country this month as the city gets dressed up in celebration of the annual Flower Show.
The nine-day festival – dubbed the ‘most Instagrammable event of the year’ – will see Manchester draped from head to toe in magnificent floral tributes; with plants and flowers covering landmark buildings, shop windows, doorways, balconies, statues and fountains.
Huge topiary beasts, light sculptures and tributes to the NHS and key workers are also being arranged for the occasion.
Additionally, an array of alfresco drink and dining options – including The Manchester Flower Show Cocktail Trail – will be in place, with a number of venues getting involved including 20 Stories, ATOMECA, Canto, Cloud 23, Dakota Hotel Manchester, El Gato, Peru Perdu, Qbic Manchester Hotel, Tast Catala, The Graduate Bar at Hyatt Hotels Manchester and The Lowry Hotel.
Manchester Flower ShowManchester Flower Show
Organised by CityCo and Manchester BID, Manchester Flower Show will come into bloom on Saturday 29 May and run until Sunday 6 June.
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Displays will be visible right the way across the city – including Exchange Square, First Street, Manchester Arndale, Selfridges, Corn Exchange, Spinningfields, Science and Industry Museum, The Whitworth, Circle Square, Manchester Craft & Design Centre, Ducie Street Warehouse, Deansgate Square, Spinningfields and Great Northern Warehouse.
Some highlights of the Manchester Flower Show include:
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The Secret Garden, St Ann’s Square and Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – A rusting, disused electricity sub-station becomes a delightful secret garden with a 10-foot blossom tree at St Anne’s Square; with a second garden at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel.
Knitted Trees, Market Street: Stunning ‘yarn bombed trees’ outside Marks and Spencer.
Flower Power at New Cathedral Street – A floral display inspired by the swinging sixties and the psychedelic art movement.
50 years of St Ann’s Hospice on King Street: Celebrating its 50th birthday, St Ann’s Hospice’s installation of 50 Forget-me-nots blowing in the wind conjures up a sense of the care, love, peace and support provided by the hospice to those with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
Seed of Change on King Street: A floral light sculpture created by Studiotech and Sutton Creative showcasing artwork by Venture Arts.
Bee Here and Celebrate at Manchester Cathedral: A beautiful volunteer-created display of pollen-rich perennials which could feed bees and butterflies for years – all in celebration of the 600th anniversary of Manchester Cathedral.
Live the Wild Life at Meadowside at Angel Meadow Park: A life-sized giraffe and baby elephant take over Angel Meadow! A must for families.
Floral Takeover at Stevenson Square: Blossoming doorways and floral displays at NOHO, Dusk till Pawn, Foundation Coffee and Fred Aldous transform Stevenson Square.
Whispering Wisteria at Circle Square, Oxford Road: A romantic tree sculpture draped with 500 pieces of wisteria; featuring tiny speakers enmeshed in the branches emitting sounds of the community in Bruntwood SciTech’s Circle Square.
Manchester Flower Show
Find out more about the bars and restaurants participating in The Manchester Flower Show Cocktail Trail online.
Visit the event page here for a full guide to what’s on at each venue throughout the festival.
Manchester
All the free things you can get with a Great Manchester Run finisher’s medal this year
Danny Jones
What’s the best part about doing the Great Manchester Run, we hear you ask? All the freebies, of course. You’ll be glad to hear there are more free things than ever for finishers this year.
More than 35,000 runners are set to take on the challenge, be it the half marathon or the 10k, and we firmly believe every single one of these legends should be entitled to as much free stuff as possible.
If it were up to us, they wouldn’t pay for anything all day, but hey, we make don’t make the rules.
So yeah, without further ado, here are all the freebies you can get for taking part in the Great Manchester 2025.
Free stuff and offers for Great Manchester Runners to cop in 2025
Without further ado, here are a tonne of freebies, discounts and deals you can grab by simply flashing your finisher’s medals:
Credit: The Manc/Supplied
Dishoom –Complimentary 330ml Kingfisher/Kingfisher Zero (0.0%) for anyone with anyone dining with a finisher’s medal.
Blacklock –Free glass of fizz on us with your medal.
Maray – Free glass of fizz/pint (or non-alcoholic beer/soft) for anyone with a medal who is dining on Sunday
Electric Shuffle – Free house wine, prosecco or pint for anyone with a 2025 medal.
Salon Madre – 2-4-1 margaritas all day Sunday for anyone with a race medal.
Suki Suki – Free bao bun for anyone with a medal.
Refuge/Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – 100 free pints of Manchester Union Beer (first come, first served)
Hello Oriental – Discounted soft serve ice cream, plus a free beer or soft drink with any meal for all finishers
The Shack – Flash your medal to claim a free glass of Prosecco or beer, plus parties with medals get 20% off their food bill.
Dough Religion (House of Social) – half price slice at Manchester Jazz Festival on Sunday
The purpose of this happy hour spotting app has definitely been a topic of discussion between friends while over a few drinks on a night out, and now this idea has been brought to life.
Titled ‘Hoppy’, the all-new app shows you all the best happy hours in Manchester, even going as far as planning nights out for you and telling you what times each venue is hosting their exclusive offers.
Crazy Pedro’s are just one of the bars featured on this Happy Hour app.Trof is another venue that has a happy hour offering and has made its way onto the app.
Whether you’re after £6 margs at Ramona, two for one cocktails at Rewind or £4 draught pints and cider over at Arcane Bar, this app spells everything out for you plain and simple.
They even go as far as using their social media accounts to plan nights out in Manchester to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.
In a post on their Instagram, they plan out the ultimate Tuesday night in the Northern Quarter, making the most of the various happy hours in the neighbourhood.
The happy hour app stops off at multiple pubs and bars, including frequently visited watering holes like Wolf at the Door, Trof, Bay Horse Tavern and Smithfield Social, before ending the night at Crazy Pedro’s.
Sounds like all the ingredients for the perfect crawl, if you ask us.
Revolución de Cuba, has a huge marg menu, is another drinks spot on Hoppy.Mother Mary’s serves some seriously good Guinness alongside some savvy savings too.
Go on, tell us looking at those hasn’t made you thirsty…
Next time you go out for drinks, why not download this happy hour spotting app along for the ride with you, and you won’t only thank yourself but your bank account will too.
‘Hoppy’ is available on the App Store now for everyone to make the most of their next night out and make finding the best happy hours in Manchester even easier HERE.
See you at the pub – provided happy hour is still on, of course.