The popular festival is returning for 2020.
Making a comeback for 2020 with COVID-safe measures in place, the Manchester Food and Drink Festival is set to return to its usual spot at Cathedral Gardens, providing us Mancs with a new pop-up space to enjoy some proper grub this Autumn.
After being given the green light from the council, the festival will go ahead as normal, with dates now confirmed as from September 24 – October 5.
The festival brings an array of traders for visitors to try out, alongside live acoustic music, pop-up bars and areas for socialising. As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, however, the festival will feature a number of increased health and safety measures to protect guests from the virus, including table service with digital ordering, decreased capacity and, of course, sanitisation throughout.
This year’s festival will also see a huge change to its layout, with the festival now taking place undercover and completely seated at both the Feasting Quarter and the Festival Market.
Here’s a peep at what to expect…
Festival Hub: Guests can expect a number of street food vendors, music, pop-up bars and more at the heart of the event at Cathedral Gardens. Vendors include:
- The Spinn
- Grandad’s Sausages
- Ginger’s Comfort Emporium
- Bundobust
- What’s Your Beef
- I Knead Pizza
- Hanoi 75
- Parmogeddon
- Patty and Press
- Halloumination
- Spoons Desserts
Manchester’s Best Bites, by Just Eat: Four of Just Eat’s favourite restaurants will have their own pop-ups at the festival, with 10% of all money spent at the chosen vendors being donated to the charity FoodCycle. Expect grub from Yard & Coop, Ply2, Zouk Tea Bar & Grill and Vertigo Plant Based Eatery.
Eat Well MCR, the new charity born out of lockdown, will be running their own kitchen takeover, too, with the likes of Tampopo, Erst x The Creameries and more hosting their own days. The initiative aims to raise money for charity, with different restaurant partners taking over the pop-up each day.
Alexa Stratton-Powell, director of the festival, said: “We’re thrilled to be planning a 2020 Festival, particularly at such an incredibly challenging time for our hospitality industry. It’s great to be staging a positive event for the city’s food and drink lovers too – we all need something to celebrate and look forward to right now.
“We’d like to extend a huge thank you to our headline sponsors, Just Eat. Without their support, and that of Manchester City Council, we simply wouldn’t be able to do this. It has been, and continues to be, a difficult and distressing time. We know that COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere fast – and neither is our city’s love for good food and drink.
“Our Festival this year will provide a safe setting in which to indulge in the pure joy of great gastro experiences. Watch this space for more announcements and we can’t wait to see everyone in September”
The festival will be free to attend, however, for those looking to pre-book, a reservation fee of £5 will be taken.
[Featured image: Manchester Food and Drink Festival]