The Manchester Flower Festival
Manchester city centre
Saturday 23 – Monday 25 May 2026
www.mcrflowerfest.com
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THE MANCHESTER FLOWER FESTIVAL RETURNS FOR 2026 CELEBRATING ‘GREEN MANCHESTER’
Returning this May, the festival brings immersive gardens, floral installations and a city-wide celebration of urban nature to Manchester city centre.
Manchester will burst into life this May as The Manchester Flower Festival returns from Saturday 23 to Monday 25 May, transforming the city centre into a vibrant celebration of flowers, green spaces and urban nature.
Celebrating its ninth year as Manchester’s most Instagrammable event, The Manchester Flower Festival is set to ‘take root’ on St Ann’s Square and King Street over the late May Bank Holiday weekend, inviting visitors to explore a greener side to the city through spectacular displays, outdoor dining and a bloomin’ brilliant programme of events.
This year’s theme, Green Manchester highlights Manchester’s expanding green spaces and vision for a more sustainable city, while providing a vibrant, free festival for citygoers to celebrate the Bank Holiday weekend in full bloom.
At the heart of this year’s festival will be five large-scale headline floral and horticultural displays, each inspired by green initiatives including the Piccadilly Gardens development, Castlefield Viaduct, Manchester’s urban green spaces and the beehives of The Royal Exchange Manchester.
Organised by Manchester City Centre BID on behalf of city centre businesses, the festival has become a firm favourite in Manchester’s cultural calendar, filled with exciting events and activities that draw tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Alongside the striking floral trail, visitors can dig a little deeper with a packed programme of talks, tours and workshops, as well as family-friendly fun with the Conker Crew. King Street will also be blooming with outdoor dining, with venues including Gail’s Bakery, El Gato Negro and Franco Manca serving up the perfect spots to sit back and soak up the sunshine.
This year’s Floral Trail features five key displays:
FUTURE GREEN MANCHESTER
Inspired by: Piccadilly Gardens Redevelopment
Designer: Groundwork Greater Manchester
Location: Exchange Street
This innovative display, created by Groundwork, has been thoughtfully designed with climate and nature at its heart. Bursting with native plants that support pollinators, alongside species selected for their resilience to climate change, the garden shows how urban spaces can adapt and thrive in a changing environment. It showcases how spaces such as Piccadilly Gardens can bring nature, greening, community and colour to the city centre.
EXCHANGE IN BLOOM
Inspired by: The Beehives of The Royal Exchange
Designer: Adi Thomas, Verdure Floral Design
In Partnership with: The Royal Exchange Manchester
Location: St Ann’s Square
Exchange in Bloom celebrates the essential work of bees and their often-overlooked connection to urban life. Inspired by The Royal Exchange’s own rooftop hive, this installation features fragrant, bee-friendly planting designed to attract and support these vital pollinators. Shaped by the history of The Royal Exchange Manchester as a hub of trade, exchange and community, the fountain installation draws a parallel between human systems and the intricate, collaborative world of the beehive.
THE URBAN POLLINATOR GARDEN
Inspired by: People, Place and Nature
Designer: PLANT CIC
Location: St Ann’s Square
Public green spaces play a vital role in supporting urban wildlife – and nature is often closer than you think. Step into PLANT CIC’s Urban Pollinator Garden, a vibrant showcase inspired by projects across Manchester city centre. Bursting with colour and practical ideas, this immersive garden celebrates the role of pollinators in our urban landscape, through nectar-rich planting, native wildflowers, trees, butterfly basking areas and creative habitat features.
SKY GARDEN
Inspired by: National Trust’s Sky Gardening Challenge
Designer: Jason Williams, Cloud Gardener UK
Location: King Street
The Sky Garden brings the magic of tiny urban gardens to life. Created by award-winning designer Jason Williams, Cloud Gardener UK, this installation celebrates how creativity can flourish even in the smallest of spaces. Inspired by National Trust’s Sky Gardening Challenge, it showcases a fully planted replica balcony, demonstrating how city dwellers can transform their flats, backyards, or ginnels into thriving green oases.
NATURE UNLOCKED
Inspired by: Castlefield Viaduct
Designer: David Jayet-Laraffe, Frog Flowers
Location: King Street
Nature Unlocked is a small urban garden inspired by Manchester’s industrial heritage and the transformation of structures like Castlefield Viaduct into thriving green spaces. Set within a compact 3m-wide walkway, the installation invites visitors to step inside and experience a gradual shift from control to freedom. Designed to be explored from all sides, the garden encourages you to wander through, pause, and take in the contrast between structure and nature – a moment of calm in the heart of the city.
With more activities and events yet to be announced, find out more on The Manchester Flower Festival 2026 by visiting www.mcrflowerfest.com
ENDS
For more media information, please contact Anoushka or Hannah at ECHO anoushka@echo-pr.co.uk / hannah@echo-pr.co.uk
Notes to Editors
The Manchester Flower Festival Producers
The Manchester Flower Festival is organised by Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District (BID) as part of its annual calendar of public events in Manchester’s central shopping district. The BID previously delivered the popular urban gardening festival ‘Dig the City’, which took place in Manchester’s retail heart from 2011-2015, and attracted national attention, event and RHS ‘In Bloom’ awards.
Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District (Manchester City Centre BID)
Manchester City Centre BID is managed by CityCo, The City Centre Management Company. It is a consortium of 600 leading retailers, hospitality operators and offices. The BID stages major events to help drive footfall and customers into the city and attract positive PR. CityCo is also a delivery partner for Manchester Accommodation BID and the annual programme now also includes The Super Duper Family Festival and SCENE: Manchester’s LGBTQ+ Film & TV Festival.
For more information visit cityco.com and follow on LinkedIn: CityCo Manchester
