Manchester's Finest Group

THE MANCHESTER FLOWER FESTIVAL RETURNS WITH A FREE WEEKEND OF FLORAL DISPLAYS IN THE SUN The Manchester Flower Festival IS BACK, bringing a weekend of incredible flora to the city centre this bank holiday weekend - with plenty of sunshine to accompany it. Open from 23 to 25 May, the annual festival is filling the city centre with fabulous floral displays, outdoor dining, talks, tours, workshops and family fun. This year’s theme is ‘Green Manchester’, spotlighting initiatives across the city, including the Piccadilly Gardens redevelopment and Castlefield Viaduct, as well as Manchester’s green spaces and urban wildlife. The free festival has taken over Exchange Street, St Ann’s Square and King Street, with plenty for the whole family to enjoy. .... 📍 Manchester city centre ⏰ Saturday 23 – Monday 25 May 💰 Free

THE STARS OF MANC ROM-COM ‘FINDING EMILY’ SHARE THEIR LOCAL FOOD & DRINK FAVOURITES Finding Emily is a new rom com with a distinctly nostalgic feel. The story of a would-be campus meet cute that goes wildly wrong, it also happens to be set here in Manchester. We sat down with its stars Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn at El Gato Negro Tapas to talk about filming in some iconic local locations, the importance of music in getting into character, and viral tiramisu, obviously… You can watch Finding Emily at Home from 22 May 2026.

We’re hiring 👇 We’re looking for a dynamic, detail-oriented and self-motivated Junior Writer to join Manchester’s Finest on a part-time basis. This role is central to our operations, focusing on keeping our website updated and maintaining our event listings. With your finger on the pulse of Manchester's arts, culture, music and food and drink scenes, you will source and file relevant content for publishing on both the Manchester’s Finest website and social platforms. If you are passionate about Manchester's cultural scene and have the technical and creative skills to bring it to life on our platform, we’d love to hear from you. 📍 Northern Quarter, Manchester 📩 careers@manchestersfinest.com 🗓 Deadline: Monday 25 May 👉 Apply: https://lnkd.in/eXd2GuKi

Announcing our 3rd annual LIVE FROM THE GRILL FESTIVAL, bigger than ever for 2026. Set to be Manchester’s biggest rooftop cookout, Live From The Grill is our modern cultural festival shaped by BBQ and open-fire cooking, turning food, music, fashion and brand collaboration into a live experience. Live From The Grill is an evolution of the traditional food festival, a hybrid format that treats: • Chefs and restaurants as cultural contributors • Brands as creative enablers • Merch as cultural output • Audience participation as the engine At its core, Live From The Grill operates on these simple beliefs: Food is culture; Style and creativity is part of the experience; Brands are integrated. Created by our in-house team the festival is backed by a large, engaged audience, promoted with a trusted editorial voice and elevated by our strong relationships with chefs, venues and brands - giving cultural weight before a single ticket is sold. Taking over the rooftop of Depot Mayfield on the August bank holiday weekend, Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August 2026, it will bring together Michelin-starred chefs, leading pitmasters, and some of the most respected, fire obsessed kitchens from Manchester and beyond. Live From The Grill is programmed across multiple sessions and will attract 6,500 culturally curious foodies. For partnership or sponsorship opportunities contact scott.forrest@manchestersfinest.com

Congratulations to Gooey for opening their biggest cafe yet this week - an amazing local success story 👏 The homegrown team, whose flagship NQ site has had a queue outside since it opened in 2022, will be serving up their trademark cookies, doorstop sandwiches, monolithic French toast and, yes, hash browns from its new home at Circle Square, with a few new bits and pieces on the menu too - including a lunchtime meal deal. Taking on the spot that was formerly Doug’s Hamburgers, expect similar mania breaking out on the Oxford Road corridor.

HOPE BLOSSOMS IN MANCHESTER WITH THE NATIONAL TRUST AND WILD RUMPUS With spring in the air, The National Trust arrived in Manchester to spread messages of hope as part of its Let Hope Blossom series of activations with Wild Rumpus. Members of the public were asked to leave voice notes about what brings them hope, which were then incorporated into a blossoming installation featuring enchanting 'blossom collectors', artists and speakers at its Pavillion of Hope at Tony Wilson Place. It was a magical, fun, mischievous and inspiring afternoon. If you have your own message of hope, you can still send them in up to 31 May. Just send a blossom emoji 🌸 to 0800 222 9322 on WhatsApp.

This is huge for the city, well done Oxford Road Corridor 👏

We loved working on this for The Rex - formerly Hotel Gotham Manchester, following its rebrand - marking a fresh chapter for one of the city’s most iconic buildings on King Street. The 60-room hotel officially reopened under its new name last week, following a rebrand designed to reposition the venue as a destination for both overnight stays and private members’ experiences. All the best to Jenny Oh MIH and the team, we can't wait to follow The Rex's journey 👏

CyanLines has launched a survey to find out more about how people use green and blue space across Greater Manchester - have your say below 👇 🍃

PLANS REVEALED FOR THE NEW DESTINATION RESTAURANT AND BAR; ZADIE'S Introducing Zadie’s - the new destination restaurant under construction at Medlock Square, the new development between the Etihad and Co-op Live. It’s not even served a cocktail yet, but the pedigree behind the project says it all. We chatted to Laura Montana, who developed Sexy Fish alongside Richard Caring and ran the iconic Monkey Bar alongside Jeremy King and Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter in the famous Elysee Hotel in Manhattan, at one time one of the hottest places to get a martini in the world. For the pan-Asian-inspired Zadie's, she’ll be inviting chef Paolo Bianchi, of Zuma and Alain Ducasse fame, and homegrown cocktail goddess Cressida Lawlor on the journey with her. It’s set to open later this year, and we can’t wait. LINK IN COMMENTS to join the mailing list and be first in line for updates.