Hosted by Manchester’s ultimate dining and leisure destination, Great Northern Warehouse, the free-to-attend Deansgate Mews street festival offers live music, family-friendly activities, independent market traders and plenty of space for al fresco dining and sunshine sippin’! Much to the relief of regulars, the festival returns this weekend, Friday 24th– Sunday 26th May – plus new for 2024 ‘Mini Mews Festival’ for the younger ones.
Expect an outdoor pop-up stage at popular neighbourhood bar Lions Den, which will host 30+ live local acts across the three days including four-piece indie pop band, Foxglove, and Stockport-based bands, The Maddocks, and The Wears. Along Deansgate Mews, local restaurants and bars such as The Mews Bar, Another Hand and Acai & the Tribe will have outdoor seating for visitors to enjoy al fresco drinking and dining all weekend.
Outdoor market stalls will feature a whole host of goodies to purchase, including art, flowers and plants, and more. Deansgate Mews Festival will also be raising money for local charity Forever Manchester, which raises money to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester.
An additional stage at Low Four will host a range of collaborations over the weekend including psych-rock and garage label, Sour Grapes on Friday with Hull post-punk four-piece Lumer and support from Manchester buzz band, The Talking Shop. Melbourne indie-folk artist, Rowena Wise headlines the Saturday with support from The Punchies, Dee Rae and more. Sunday changes gear again, resident DJs from Manchester’s newest record store, Haunted Dancehall, hosting a full day of left-field electronic beats and vibes, plus a pop-up record shop. A third stage, Manchester One Media, will also host DJ sets from Cal Walsh and David Foran across the weekend amongst a variety of live musicians.
Creative art studio, GRIT, will be taking over the Village Hall throughout the full weekend with creative doodle tables for all ages. Plus, there will be live art demonstrations from Manchester-based illustrator John Cooper, who will be creating his world famous ‘speedy portraits’, whilst artist Sarah Wilde will be hosting a drop-in craft table between 12pm and 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.
And for those with a competitive streak, Great Northern Ping Hub, the new free-to-enjoy ping pong space will be open from 09am to 9pm all weekend, with ‘Beat the Robot’ running from 11am to 2pm on Friday 24 May – with prizes up for grabs! There will also be a Little Northerners Silent Disco at Great Northern Warehouse, which you can reserve places for here.
Mark Schofield, Centre Director for Great Northern Warehouse, said: “Following on from the continued success of previous years, we are delighted to once again be hosting Deansgate Mews Festival. We hope to welcome locals to enjoy a free weekend of music and socialising, alongside the best of outdoor dining, drinks and shopping that Great Northern Warehouse has to offer.
“Deansgate Mews Festival will continue our culinary celebrations and provide a fun day out for the whole family this May Bank Holiday. We are still inviting local businesses to take a stall at the festival, so if you are an independent brand in Manchester and would like to showcase your products to festival goers across the three days, please do get in touch with emma.james@thegreatnorthern.com.”
The festival will run from Friday 24th – Sunday 26th May on Deansgate Mews, and is free to attend.
Deansgate Mews, Great Northern Warehouse, 235 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4EN.