A bold and imaginative free festival for the UK on 3rd & 4th June 2023
The festival is announcing the programme of free performances and activities being hosted over the weekend with highlights including CBeebies, Junior Art Battle, Community Clothing and We Get Creative Workshops.
On top of this, Disco boats, DJs, saunas, street food and street sports will also descend onto MediaCity and Salford Quays. The festival will include a main stage on MediaCity’s main piazza, satellite stages and a dedicated BBC stage across the site.
We Invented the Weekend will also be hosting the first ever Junior Art Battle Manchester, where young artists will compete in live painting competitions to be named champion. In a world-first, the event will take place in The Lowry theatre and gallery complex, which sits in the heart of Salford Quays, named after the early 20th century-painter L.S. Lowry. Young artists will take part in the Junior Art Battle Manchester in the Compass Room, which sits adjacent to the historic L.S. Lowry collection.
Community Clothing, an ethical clothing brand based in the North, will be leading a swap shop over the two day weekend, whilst their founder and presenter of BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant will join Wayne Hemingway MBE to discuss sustainable fashion and the history of the local textile industry, paying tribute to the Greater Manchester workers who fought for our right to have Saturday’s off.
Tapping into the ethos of the festival, there will also be ‘Try Out’ sessions in the Weekend Arena for festivalgoers to get a taste of activities and sports put on by Manchester United Youth Foundation, Northern Rolling, Salford Community Leisure, Lancashire Cricket Foundation and many more.
The 2023 programme will also see the introduction of We Think Big talks in collaboration with the University of Salford, where industry leading activists, campaigners, mayors and entrepreneurs will discuss big societal issues including the future of work, sustainable travel and ethical fashion in front of a live audience. Also being announced today are activities from festival partners, The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and Lowry by The Lowry.
Find out more about We Invented The Weekend
