Manchester Day promises to transform the city into the ‘biggest ever playground’ this weekend

Plans for Manchester Day 2024 have been unveiled, with organisers promising to transform the city into a mass playground for one day only.

Falling on Sat 27 Jul, this year’s event will be inspired by the international summer of sport, with the city’s streets and squares set to be filled with music, dancing and interactive activities ‘designed to bring out the inner athlete in visitors young and old.’

Manchester Council is working with outdoor arts specialists, Walk the Plank, to deliver the programme, which features everything from a giant snail race and a Hip-Hop wrestling ring for breakdancing to a vintage fairground and a dash of drag.

Award-winning dance company Motionhouse bring their hit outdoor show, Wild, to the festivities, which sees performers fly through the city on a forest of poles in a daring dance-circus production. No Fit State Circus will also be defying the laws of gravity as they bend, flex and build a towering series of bamboo structures as part of a jaw-dropping performance that relies solely on human strength, trust, and harmony with nature.

Live music from Jubacana, a youth-led fusion and dance project, will transport visitors to Copacabana beach, while the Bridgewater Hall Choir take a whistlestop tour around the world with a Global Grooves procession, before a huge finale featuring one of the UK’s most celebrated soul bands, the Detroit Soul Collective.

Along with all that, the city has partnered with some of the UK’s leading sports bodies to deliver a day of active taster sessions. British Taekwondo will be offering lessons in how to break a board with your hands, GLL will be hosting a pop-up athletic track and cricket stars from the Manchester Originals will be helping participants learn how to bat, bowl and catch.

Elsewhere, England Netball will be running training sessions and helping people find their local club, and the Manchester United Foundation’s Panna Cage, in partnership with Manchester FA, invites anyone to take on the target goals challenge or take part in a small-sided game.

You can find more information about all of the day’s activities and entertainment here.