Welcome to Bloomtown! Springtime celebration of blossom returns to Greater Manchester

The National Trust’s springtime celebration of blossom has returned to Greater Manchester with a programme of events and activities to enjoy.

Now in its fifth year, the Blossom campaign celebrates this annual natural feel-good spectacle in the spirit of the hanami festival, a popular Japanese tradition when people enjoy the transient beauty of cherry blossom

As part of the celebrations, Castlefield Viaduct has brought back its Bloomtown map featuring the best places to see blossom across Greater Manchester. Now in its second year, it features 39 blossom hotspots including new spots in Salford and Trafford.

Paper maps, printed on recycled paper and designed by illustrator Bek Cruddace are available from local parks, Central Library, NOMA, Castlefield Viaduct and other cultural centres across the city.

Thanks to a collaboration with TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester), links to the Bloomtown map will also appear on posters at tram stops throughout the Metrolink network.

The St Peter’s Square metrolink stop will become a blossom hotspot for two weeks, from Monday 8 April, right next to the Paulownias trees whose distinctive flowers have become much loved by locals. And there will be a blossom tram roaming the network.

Poetry

The National Trust’s celebration includes working with poet laureate, Simon Armitage and his band LYR with a new book of blossom-inspired poetry and EP called Blossomise. There’s also a series of concerts and Simon Armitage poetry readings, one of which will take place at Castlefield Viaduct on Friday 26 April with an audience  made up of community groups from across Greater Manchester.

Taking inspiration from the poetry Simon Armitage has written for Blossomise, NOMA have developed a website that helps people compose haikus. A haiku is a poem made up of three lines with five syllables in the first, seven in the second and five again in the third and they are traditionally written about nature.

With NOMA’s website, you can submit a poem for the chance for it to be displayed on a large board in Sadler’s Yard for a day. There will be a new haiku on display everyday throughout April, with the previous ones printed on posters and put in the windows of New Century House. The haikus will also feature on social media from both NOMA and Castlefield Viaduct.

On Saturday 13 April, local choirs from across Greater Manchester will be performing at Blossom hotspots where you can watch the performances, get closer to nature and take part in activities such as making origami flowers.

Blossoms and books

On Friday 19 April, there will be a Blossoms and Books guided walk and talk with one of the viaduct volunteers and local history expert, Anne Beswick. The tour will take in city centre blossom hotspots from the Bloomtown map and visit Central Library and Portico Library to explore their collections of botanical prints and nature related books. Tickets are £5 and will be available on the Castlefield Viaduct website soon.

Another event as part of the local Blossom/Bloomtown festival will be a performance by Bionic and the Wires, a Manchester-based collective that creates electronic music with plants. Their compositions combine botanical rhythms with atmospheric textures and soundscapes created by synthesizers. The music explores the interplay between plants and music and encourages new ways of thinking about the natural world.

They will play their unique form of live music at Castlefield Viaduct on 20 April. Tickets cost £10 and are available from the Castlefield Viaduct website here.

Special events

The celebrations will continue with more public special events during April.

“Finding new and exciting ways to connect people with the beauty of the seasons has always been at the heart of our Blossom programme,” said Annie Reilly, head of the National Trust’s Blossom Programme.

“As our hanami-inspired celebration blooms again for a fifth year, we hope it will encourage people to dive head-first into this annual feel-good spectacle using all of their senses, whether that is by reading poetry under the falling petals of a cherry tree, listening to the music in the middle of an orchard, smelling spring’s perfume in the gardens, attending a live performance, or simply taking in the sea of pink and white petals, wherever they are.”

As in previous years, the charity is encouraging members of the public to share snapshots of their blossom discoveries on social media, using the hashtag #BlossomWatch.

The Trust’s Blossom campaign is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, with the Manchester events supported by the BUPA Foundation, CJ Wildlife, the Granada Foundation, NOMA and TfGM.