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Coronation Street legend Hilda Ogden has been recreated from flowers at The Royal Exchange in Manchester

It’s part of the Manchester Flower Festival this weekend.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 26th May 2023

A floral tribute to Coronation Street great Hilda Ogden has appeared in the heart of Manchester this week. 

The iconic soap character has been recreated from flowers, grasses and other plant life, down to her ever-present hair curlers. 

The floral Hilda is in position at The Royal Exchange this week, ready for the Manchester Flower Festival. 

The beautiful building will also be hosting a Bee Trail treasure hunt for the occasion on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 May. 

Friends, families, couples and any other fun-seekers are invited down to solve the clues and find the bees, with prizes up for grabs like a £100 voucher to spend at French Connection, Afternoon Tea for Two at Annies, a £50 floral bouquet from Royal Exchange Flowers, a meal for two at Pastan, vouchers from TGI Fridays and Michaels coffeehouse, and gifts from Hotel Chocolat, L’Occitane, The Body Shop and Sostrene Grene.

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All you need to do is come along, pick up an entry form from one of the above-mentioned participating stores and get stuck in.

The floral Hilda Ogden at the Royal Exchange. Credit: The Manc Group
The Royal Exchange is taking part in the Manchester Flower Festival
The Royal Exchange is taking part in the Manchester Flower Festival. Credit: The Manc Group

The entire city will burst into colour with blooms installed all over our shops and streets for the late May bank holiday weekend. 

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You can find the floral Hilda in the Royal Exchange Arcade from today.  

The Coronation Street sculpture has been created by Royal Exchange Flowers, the stunning little florist that opened in the building earlier this year. 

She stands in a garden of late spring flowers, alongside an armchair where people can capture a selfie, with hair fashioned from various grasses wrapped around curlers underneath her head scarf and her tabard recreated from a mosaic of fresh flowers including orchids, craspedia, thistles, Limonium and chrysanthemums. 

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Anyone who snaps a selfie with Hilda, then posts it on Instagram tagging @royalexchangemanchester (you need to follow the page too), could win a £50 voucher to spend at The Royal Exchange. 

How to take part in the Bee Trail for the Manchester Flower Festival

  1. Grab an entry form on the day from any of the participating outlets*
  2. Each of the clues will, when solved, direct you to a specific outlet. 
  3. Once there, locate the hidden Bee picture and note its unique number down on the entry form next to the store or eatery’s name.
  4. Once you’ve completed the Trail, fill in your contact details and hand your entry form back in to one of the participating stores so that you will be entered in to the draw.
  5. Keep your fingers crossed that you’ve won a prize! 
  6. Winners will be drawn and notified within two weeks of the closing date. 

Participating outlets: French Connection, Annies restaurant, Pastan, Royal Exchange Flowers, L’Occitane, TGI Fridays, Michaels coffeehouse, Hotel Chocolat, The Body Shop and Sostrene Grene.

The Royal Exchange Manchester Bee Trail runs all day on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 May. 

And don’t forget your Hilda selfie for an extra chance to win! #HildaSelfie

Featured image: The Manc Group

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Rochdale’s incredible fire festival will bring blazing sculptures and fiery displays to town this month

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Ignite Fire Festival is back in Rochdale this month. Credit: Supplied

Rochdale will be filled with dazzling pyrotechnic displays later this month when the Ignite Fire Festival returns to town. 

The spectacular free event will see the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town Hall – which reopened to the public earlier this year – transformed with fiery displays, blazing sculptures and illuminated installations. 

The smash hit event debuted last year, attracting more than 10,500 people, and this year’s will be even bigger with three nights of magical family entertainment. 

And the festival will culminate on the Sunday with the Rochdale Christmas lights switch-on. 

Ignite Fire Festival comes from Walk the Plank, the outdoor arts specialists behind some of the UK’s biggest and best outdoor arts events, who have called upon artists and pyro technicians to create the many installations on show. 

Between 5pm and 8pm each night, visitors will be able to walk past fire-based sculptures like goblets of fire, a daisy chain of flaming flowers, a fire bird with blazing eyes, and smaller birds circling a flaming nest – to name just a few.

There’ll also be sculptures that twist, flap and erupt with balls of fire, and ‘In The Balance’ will be a festival highlight, where rotating globes of flame seemingly defy the laws of physics. 

Ignite Fire Festival is back in Rochdale this month. Credit: Supplied
Ignite Fire Festival is back in Rochdale this month. Credit: Supplied

Each evening, a fire drawing designed and made by local residents will be ignited alongside flaming hot performances from some of the UK’s top talent including Flame Oz – a thrilling fire dancing and juggling show. 

There’ll also be performances from Liverpool’s Bring the Fire Project, local favourites Skylight Circus Arts, and street theatre and interactive arts group Travelling Light Circus. 

Visitors should look out for Drum Machine, a 20-strong drumming collective, The Fire Man Dave performing a live fire show with fire eating and juggling, and Astro Aliens, a trio of cosmic beings that will entertain all ages. 

The incredible event, sponsored by car supermarket The Trade Centre UK, is set to take place between Friday 22 and Sunday 24 November. 

Ignite Fire Festival takes place in the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town Hall
Ignite Fire Festival takes place in the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town Hall
There'll be performers as well as pyrotechnic sculptures. Credit; Supplied
There’ll be performers as well as pyrotechnic sculptures. Credit; Supplied
Ignite Fire Festival is back for a second year. Credit: Supplied
Ignite Fire Festival is back for a second year. Credit: Supplied

After exploring the gardens, you’ll be able to pick up hot food, mulled wine and other seasonal drinks served each night.

On Sunday, Father Christmas will be in town to switch on the Christmas lights at 5.30pm in front of the town hall.  

Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council said: “Last year’s Ignite Fire Festival and Christmas Light’s Switch On was a fantastic event and an instant hit with audiences from across Greater Manchester. 

“It’s an exciting and unique event and the perfect addition to our big switch-on, providing family entertainment across the weekend.”

Mark Bailey, founder and owner of sponsor Trade Centre UK added: “Our partnership with Ignite Fire Festival and the Rochdale Christmas Lights Switch On is a fantastic opportunity to give back to a community that has welcomed us so warmly. 

“At Trade Centre UK, we believe in more than just selling cars; we believe in being part of the fabric of the local area. Supporting events like this, which bring people together to celebrate in the heart of Rochdale, aligns perfectly with our core values of community and connection.”

The event is free, and no tickets are required. Ignite is organised by Rochdale Borough Council in partnership with Walk the Plank and Culture Co-op, a ‘Creative People and Places’ programme, funded by Arts Council England.  

Find out more and plan your visit to Ignite Fire Festival HERE. 

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Featured image: Supplied

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Science and Industry Museum to transform into immersive ‘Light Lab’ as part of 2024 festive events programme

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

One of Manchester’s most popular museums will be transformed into an immersive ‘Light Lab’ for the festive season.

As the temperatures begin to drop and Christmas creeps closer, this is your chance to escape the cold and brighten up the winter holidays with an adventure though light and colour, as the Science and Industry Museum has now unveiled its upcoming festive events programme.

You can also explore a gaming extravaganza, and be engrossed by festive-themed science shows at the city centre-based museum this December.

Back by popular demand, after enchanting visitors of all ages in previous years, the museum’s free Light Lab will be making a return for 2024 – with everyone invited to discover the secrets of light through illuminating activities, special shows, and immersive experiences. 

The Science and Industry Museum will transform into immersive ‘Light Lab’ this winter / Credit: Jason Lock (via Science Museum Group)

As Greater Manchester is known for its grey winter days, a series of illuminating experiments will bring colour to your lives in the interactive Light Lab, where you can explore a hall of mirrors, discover how to bend light, and even take a dance break in the rave room, before taking a journey from the Sun back to the Earth during special science shows led by the museum’s team of expert Explainers.

You’ll be able to discover how light travels through our atmosphere, explore the science of solar flares, and even marvel at a mesmerising display of the Northern Lights – with real NASA footage of the Aurora Borealis.

If all that exploring has got you tired out, then you can slow things down in the Recharge Retreat and get comfortable with a picture book, or explore the relationship between colour and mood and why nature is so important to our health.  

You can escape from the cold, and learn a thing or two while you’re at it / Credit: Science Museum Group

But if you’re looking for a change of pace, you can also enjoy the museum‘s ultimate gaming experience, Power Up, to immerse yourself in a whole host of different digital worlds by working your way through five decades of video games, or learn about how what we eat can have a huge effect on our brains and bodies at the Operation Ouch! exhibition.

Then, for something a little different all together this festive season, you can grab a ticket for the first of the 2024 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures being screened live at the museum on Tuesday 10 December, ahead of the broadcast on the BBC. 

The Winter Holiday Programme at the Science and Industry Museum runs from 14 December 2024 through to 5 January 2025.

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Find out more about everything happening on the museum’s website here.

Featured Image – Science Museum Group

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