Manchester Day
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Manchester Day is an annual parade and celebration of Greater Manchester held in Manchester city centre, United Kingdom. The event has been held each June since 2010 and commissioned by Manchester City Council and created by Walk the Plank.
The event is inspired by the New York Thanksgiving parade.[1]
History
[edit]Manchester Day started in 2010, being organized by the Manchester City Council with help from Walk the Plank and sporting organizations.[2] The event brought an estamated 4 million pounds to the economy.[3]
After the first Manchester Day was a success, the Manchester City Council voted to repeat the event with £250,000 of funding. This result was met with push back from Liberal Democrat's on the Council. The Liberal Democrat leader on the Council stated, "If they said it was £100,000 and we'd get the money back from people like Tesco and Starbucks and other sponsors, then we'd be happy to go along. But we think the subsidy is too much when they are making cuts to frontline services like gating schemes and playing parks."[3]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a two year period between Manchester Day 2019 and 2022 where no Manchester Day festival was held.[4]
In 2023, the Manchester City Council ended the parade format to change it into an all day and night festival. The Council stated the new format is, "better than a parade that's all over in an hour."[5]
Events
[edit]In 2011, an estamated 80,000 people attended the Manchester Day Parade. The theme of the parade was voyage of discovery, with a Lancaster bomber and a giant Gulliver figure being the prime attractions of the parade.[6]
In 2012, Manchester Day was attended by 80,000 people. The event was primarily a parade, which featured a 150-piece band and giant puppets.[7]
In 2017, Manchester Day was attended by 100,000 people and 22,000 people took part in the parade. The parade commemorated the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.[8]
In 2022, Manchester Day Parade was attended by 20,000 people. The parade's prime attractions were a queen bee and the Little Amal puppet.[9]
In 2024, Manchester Day was attended by 50,000 people and had 300 performers. The city centre was also turned into sports themed playground; tennis, rugby, and taekwondo events happened.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "Manchester Day - News, views, pictures, video". Manchester Evening News. 27 July 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Manchester Day draws 50,000 to celebration of sport". BBC. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Council backs 2011 Manchester Day parade". BBC News. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ "Manchester Day: Parade returns after two-year absence". BBC. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ Bourne, Dianne (27 March 2023). "The huge Manchester Day parade is SCRAPPED - for day and night event". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ "Manchester Day Parade: Crowds 'surpass expectations'". BBC News. 19 June 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ "Thousands turn out for Manchester Day Parade". BBC News. 10 June 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ Perraudin, Frances; reporter, Frances Perraudin North of England (18 June 2017). "Manchester Day: 100,000 gather in city centre for parade". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "Manchester Day parade 2022 photos: 18 great pictures from the event". ManchesterWorld. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2025.