Manchester Day parade returns for 2022 following two-year hiatus
The huge celebration of the city will return this summer, bringing the vibrant Manchester Day parade back to the city's streets following a two year absence
After a two-year absence, Manchester Day is back for 2022 and promises to be bigger and better than ever before.
The countdown is officially on for the celebration of Manchester, its people, and of all things Mancunian.
It will take place this year on Sunday 19 June, heralding the return of the vibrant Manchester Day Parade, which will return to weave its way through the city’s streets once again.
Back for its first outing since 2019, the spotlight for this year’s big return of the city’s much-loved free event will be dedicated to Manchester’s children and young people, who Councillor Pat Karney said: “have missed out on so much during the pandemic.”
“It’s been a really tough couple of years for them, and we’re determined to help them smile again and have some fun.”
Manchester Day will celebrate the re-opening of the city in 2022
As the celebration of the city returns for 2022, revellers will delight in a kaleidoscope of colour, sound and culture as youth and community groups from across the city join the famous parade, which has become the highlight of the day.
As always, music and dance will also spill over into the city centre squares for an afternoon of family entertainment, food and drink – with more details revealed in the coming weeks.
Anyone can be part of Manchester Day, and the callout is now on for youth groups, community groups, volunteers, and anyone else who wants to take part to reach out to organisers.
There are lots of different ways people can get involved – be that working with a professional artist to turn their creative idea into a creation for the parade or bringing their own colourful costumes or traditional cultural dress to dance, strut or style their way along the streets as part of the parade.
Manchester Day 2022 will focus on the city’s children and young people
People can also join a pop-up workshop and work with others to make something spectacular, or get involved in volunteering opportunities, both on the day and in the lead up to the event.
Councillor Pat Karney, Chair of Manchester Day, said: “What a long three years it has been! We never dreamt as the sun set on Manchester Day in 2019 that it would be another three years before we would be able to get together and celebrate our wonderful city again.
“Absence really does make the heart grow fonder though and we’ve already had a fantastic response to our call-out for community and youth groups to get involved.
“The return of Manchester Day is a chance for everyone to show the world what Manchester is made of and celebrate kicking Covid good-bye in true Mancunian style.
“I cannot wait!”
The huge task of creating all the amazing artworks, costumes, and props for what promises to be a spectacular return to the streets for the Manchester Day Parade begins now, and will once again be overseen by the award-winning local arts organisation, Walk the Plank.
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The Manchester Day parade has become one of the big highlights of the day.
Hundreds of participants and volunteers from local communities will spend the next few months working with local artists to help bring Manchester Day to life.
Liz Pugh, Creative Producer of Walk the Plank, said: “We’re particularly excited to see how children and young people want to shape the future of the city, and how that might be reflected in the sections of the Parade.
“We know the impact of climate change is a big issue for them, and that will feature in some of the floats. And there’s always great dance from some of the street crews, along with some of Manchester’s best loved music.”
Manchester Day also strives to limit its carbon footprint and impact on the planet. Sustainability is key to the event, which aims to be as green as it can by recycling materials as much as possible, limiting waste and training participating teams in an awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and impacts of everyday activities.
The 10th annual Manchester Day parade – Leedah and daughter Shanae Caraang.
Fossil-fuelled vehicles are banned from the parade, which instead harnesses people power and embraces structures that can be pushed, pulled, wheeled, or walked.
Councillor Pat Karney said: “It’s fantastic to be bringing Manchester Day back to the city’s streets again and this year we’re determined to make sure the event is greener than ever as the city works hard towards becoming zero carbon by 2038.
“We’re going to be pulling out all the stops to make sure the day plays its part in this and to help ensure generations of children and young people will still be able to celebrate Manchester Day many years from now.”
The callout for any youth or community groups who want to take part in the parade and workshops closes on 11 February.
To express an interest in taking part or for more information on how to get involved in MTo express an interest in taking part or for more information on how to get involved in Manchester Day this year, visit the Manchester Day website here.
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
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Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Georgina Pellant -
25th January 2022 
