A brand new, totally free festival will spill into venues in Salford later this year.
The We Invented the Weekend festival will bring together class acts from the worlds of sports, music, comedy, theatre, dance, workshops, talks, food, charity, wellness, crafts and more.
There’ll be everything from water sports on the canal, to community feasts, to workshops, to vintage markets, to live music, right across MediaCity and Salford Quays.
The event has been created in partnership with some cultural heavyweights from the city, including the BBC, The Lowry, the University of Salford, the Royal Horticultural Society, Eat Well MCR, Science and Industry Museum, The Open University’s Business School, HOST, Salford Community Leisure, Salford CVS, Sounds from the Other City and hundreds of community organisations.
The inaugural festival is set to take place across the weekend of 10 and 11 September. It promises to be ‘a festival by the people, for the people’.
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We Invented the Weekend will take over Salford venues – and its waterways. Credit: Supplied
The inspiration for We Invented the Weekend goes all the way back to 1843, when the actual concept of a weekend was invented right here in Greater Manchester.
Robert Lowes (Salford Lyceum director, workers’ rights activist, and also Sir Ian McKellen’s great grandfather) campaigned to win workers the right to leisure time on Saturday afternoons.
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A full programme for We Invented the Weekend will be announced in the coming months, but already confirmed is CBeebies Live Bedtime Stories, the BBC Philharmonic, events at The Lowry, activities at the Science and Industry Museum, and gardening activity from RHS Bridgewater.
We Invented the Weekend will suit all ages. Credit: Supplied
Sounds from the Other city will also pull together a music partnership, expanding from their Chapel Street base to the Quays for the first time.
The Salford Weekend Orchestra with the BBC Philharmonic will invite people across the city to join a mass community performance, with all instruments and abilities welcome. The piece will be composed by Michael Betteridge (artistic director of The Sunday Boys – Manchester’s LBTQ+ low voice choir), and performed in the MediaCity Piazza during the festival.
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Hundreds of community organisations, including cheerleaders, bakers and disco dancers, have been invited to take part.
Key people and organisations involved in developing the festival are Wayne Hemingway MBE who is creative director; Salford’s City Mayor Paul Dennett; Tom Stannard, chief executive of Salford City Council; Julia Fawcett OBE, chief executive of The Lowry; Gwen Oakden, development director at The Lowry; Controller of BBC Radio 5 Live Heidi Dawson; Marketing Manchester’s international marketing director Victoria Braddock and MediaCity place director, Josie Cahill.
Wayne Hemingway MBE said: “The weekend is an intrinsic part of the rhythm of life. It’s hard to imagine life without the weekend, yet less than 180 years ago it didn’t exist. Happily, Sir Ian McKellen’s great grandad put an end to life without it.
“Greater Manchester can rightly claim to have invented the weekend and is a place that knows how to celebrate it. Whatever your bag, be it boxing or box sets, crafts or cricket, dancing or digging, reading or raving, swimming or samba, kicking back or letting loose, whatever free time means to you, MediaCity and Salford Quays is the place to be on September 10th and 11th for what has all the ingredients to become THE national celebration of free time.”
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Paul Dennett added: “The City of Salford’s motto and the name of our strategy for culture, creativity and the arts is ‘Suprema Lex’, which means ‘The Welfare of the People is the Highest Law’. The welfare of the people of Salford is paramount, and as the cost of living rises, We Invented the Weekend is set to deliver a programme of essential free cultural and creative activity that is open to every community across our city.
“We Invented the Weekend will be a great spectacle, reflecting our proud social history, whilst also animating the fantastic public realm at Salford Quays in true Spirit of Salford style.”
Salford City sign EFL veteran and former Manchester United academy player James Chester
Danny Jones
Salford City FC have announced another new signing ahead of the 2024/25 season, as former Wales international and EFL veteran James Chester joins the League Two side on a free transfer.
With nearly 500 appearances to his name over the course of 17 years at a dozen different clubs, James Chester is a real journeyman of English football, having first come through the Manchester United academy before enjoying his longest spells at the likes of Hull City and Aston Villa.
The Warrington-born defender, who also had 35 caps for Wales and played his part in them reaching the quarter-finals at Euro 2016, was most recently playing at Barrow AFC but is now set to join fellow third-division side Salford as they look to finally mount a more promising promotion campaign.
Signing a one-year deal with the Ammies on Wednesday, 17 July, Chester is their seventh signing of the summer transfer window thus far. They’re not messing about.
Salford City announces the signing of ex-Wales centre-back James Chester on a one-year deal! 🤝
Having spent time in the Premier League at both West Bromwich and Aston Villa, the lattermost he helped gain promotion back to the top flight back in the 2019 Championship playoff final, the centre-back brings real experience to the Greater Manchester team.
The local club, co-owned by the Class of ’92, have plateaued in recent years after climbing out of the National League and somewhat losing their momentum following an albeit impressive three promotions in four years. They finished 23/24 in 20th place after flirting with relegation for much of the season.
With that in mind, even at 35, shoring up the defence with a player of his ilk who helped the Cumbrians to 12 clean sheets last season could prove big for the local outfit.
Commenting on the move, Chester told club media: “I look back on the games that I have played in, and I think that if you had told me before I started my career, I would never have believed you and I would have snapped your hands off there and then.
You can watch James Chester in his first full interview as a Salford City player down here.
“There is a lot to choose from, but I think the Euros on the whole for Wales was a huge highlight, to be involved in that was very very special. But I think to have played for, and to represent the clubs that I have done, and to have had the career that I have, I find myself very fortunate and very proud it is continuing.”
Chester went on to add: “I still have a desire to play and win, so hopefully the supporters will see that from me. I was out in Dublin with the squad last week and it is a really good group to be around, and there are a lot of young players here too, so hopefully I can help them and bring them along as well…
“I still have the desire to carry it on and take it further, and all the Salford fans will see that.”
Given the local connection to CEO Nicky Butt and the rest of the Man United legends that still remain influential around Peninsula Stadium, he’s sure to be a valuable senior presence in and around the dressing room.
Featured Images — Steindy (via Wikimedia Commons)/Salford City
Salford
Coronation Street reveals lineup of famous faces you could meet on ‘Stars Tours’ this summer
Emily Sergeant
Coronation Street has revealed the lineup of cast members you’ll be able to meet if you go on one its famous ‘Stars Tours’ this summer.
Unfamiliar with what ITV‘s ‘Stars Tours’ are all about?
Well, they’re basically everything you know and love about the original Coronation Street set tours, but only this time with a more famous flare, as the unique concept sees mystery cast members from the iconic show join selected afternoon visits every weekend.
The famous Corrie faces add an extra layer of star quality to the already-popular guided tours of the UK’s most recognisable TV set.
Thousands of visitors to Greater Manchester have already been on ‘Star Tours’ this year, and Corrie royalty like Maureen Lipman, Colson Smith, Andy Whyment, and Samia Longchambon have joined in on the fun, and have posed for photos, signed autographs, and even spent time chatting to loyal fans.
Coronation Street has revealed its lineup of famous faces you could meet on ‘Stars Tours’ this summer / Credit: Coronation Street Experience
While it’s not to say that those famous faces won’t be reappearing on an upcoming tour over the next couple of weeks, so keep your fingers crossed if you’re a big Kirk or Maria fan, but the Coronation Street Experience has now revealed that absolute Corrie legend Sue Cleaver will definitely be among the mystery guests to appear this summer.
Fans will get to take a guided 90-minute journey around iconic Coronation Street locations on these exciting star-studded tours.
The Rovers Return, The Kabin, and Roy’s Rolls are just some of the locations you’ll get to see the outside of with your own eyes, while you can actually go inside interior sets like Prima Doner too, and even walk along the entire length of Coronation Street, as well as adjacent streets that are featured in the show.
Fans get to meet legends as they take a guided 90-minute journey around iconic Coronation Street locations / Credit: Continuum Attractions (via ITV)
“We know our guests want to get as close to the show as possible, and our Star Tours are the ultimate way to do just that,” explained Kristian Johnson, who is the General Manager of the Coronation Street Experience.
“Coronation Street has incredibly loyal fans, and we are so fortunate that the stars of the show want to repay their loyalty.
“They love spending time with our guests to fulfil their bucket list wishes and give them a day to remember. Seeing their excitement when they come face-to-face with their favourite cast members like Sue, Maureen, or Colson is undoubtedly one of the best parts of my job.”