All roads lead to Alexandra Park this summer, as one of the biggest events in the city’s cultural calendar gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Promising a star-studded musical line-up, tasty street food vendors and a host of family-friendly activities, it will return to Moss Side in full this August to celebrate50 years of parades in the city and 60 years of Jamaican Independence.
Last year, organisers were only granted permission to hold a mini event in the park, but this summer there will be no barriers to the celebrations as both the parade and musical activities return in full with a special headline set from dancehall star Serani.
The two-day free event will take place this year on 13 and 14 August 2022, taking over the park from 12pm – 8pm.
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An early morning J’ouvert at 7am will kick off the festivities in style, followed by the main parade which will kick off at midday.
Image: Supplied
The parade will be an array of music colour dance and heritage in tribute to the years of carnival history and all are welcome to join the procession that will begin its journey from the park.
Elsewhere, live dance shows and musical performances will fill the park and routes from one stage to the next will be dotted with local clothes stalls and other stands
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Whilst most people in the country are familiar with Notting Hill Carnival, Manchester’s rich Caribbean and African history in the Moss Side community makes this event a true standout in the city’s cultural calendar.
The original Manchester Carnival started as an impromptu parade set up by locals, mostly of Trinidadian and St Kitts & Nevis origin.
Since the early 1970s generations of communities from the Caribbean islands came together in central Moss Side to unite the people of Manchester with culture music and heritage and solidarity.
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From humble beginnings of a few trucks and a small number of participants. the carnival has grown from strength to strength.
Nowadays, tens and thousands of people attend and take part in the weekend and celebrate Caribbean and African culture through music, traditional mas bands, dance troupes and an array of food vendors.
Julia Burke, Chair and Project Manager for the Manchester Carnival Together Committee (CIC) said: “We’re really excited to be able to bring our first full-scale Carnival event as a committee back to the heart of the Afro-Caribbean community of Manchester in August this year.
“We’re looking forward to the return of the parade and want to encourage as many people as possible to take part.” Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure, said: “I’m thrilled to be welcoming back the Caribbean Carnival to our streets for the 50th year! The Caribbean Carnival is a brilliant celebration of the diversity of Manchester and Manchester’s Afro Caribbean community.
“This year’s celebrations will be bigger and better than ever so, I’d encourage everyone in the city to join us in celebrating the momentous 50th anniversary of the carnival.”
From live dance shows and pulsating musical performances to exquisite food and colourful clothes stores, this celebration of Caribbean culture is always one of Manchester’s summer highlights.
Richard Nickson, programme director, Cycling and Walking at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “The cycle hire scheme has really taken off in Greater Manchester since it was first introduced, and we are seeing significant numbers of riders and distances travelled by on the bikes- which is fantastic, particularly as we are still in the early days of the scheme’s roll out.
“The next phase of the roll-out has now started in Manchester city centre, with new stations installed at key locations including Manchester Central Library, Manchester Central Convention Centre and St Peter’s Square.
“More stations are due to be installed in Manchester city centre over the coming weeks, before the scheme continues to expand its footprint to new locations in Salford and Trafford.
“Once complete the scheme will see bike numbers increase to 1,500 – including 300 e-bikes – and over 150 new stations in operation.”
Manchester is OFFICIALLY in the running to host Eurovision
Daisy Jackson
The potential host cities for Eurovision 2023 have been announced this morning – and Manchester is officially in with a chance.
The UK has stepped in to host the global singing contest in place of this year’s winners, Ukraine.
As our nation was runner-up this year with Sam Ryder’s Spaceman giving us our biggest success in years, it’s over to the UK to welcome all the countries taking part.
Cities have been announcing their bids for several weeks, with 20 expressions of interest to host sent in.
Sam Ryder came second in last year’s Eurovision. Credit: BBC
But it’s a complicated event, so those who wish to host need to actually have a suitable venue and the financial contribution too, and demonstrate that they will celebrate and honour Ukrainian culture and artists.
The shortlist of seven cities has just been announced live on BBC Radio Two, on Zoe Ball’s breakfast show.
“We have a large and proud Ukrainian community in Manchester. It would be our privilege to host this iconic celebration on their behalf and we will do everything we can to honour them throughout.”
“We’re exceptionally grateful that the BBC has accepted to stage the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK in 2023,” said Martin Österdahl, the Eurovision Song Contest’s Executive Supervisor.
“The BBC has taken on hosting duties for other winning countries on four previous occasions. Continuing in this tradition of solidarity, we know that next year’s Contest will showcase the creativity and skill of one of Europe’s most experienced public broadcasters whilst ensuring this year’s winners, Ukraine, are celebrated and represented throughout the event.”
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The final decision will be based on scoring criteria from the BBC and the EBU.
It’s expected that the host city will officially be announced in the autumn.
Georgina Pellant -
26th July 2022 
