We’re delighted to announce details of our Street Party on Sun 24 May, a family-friendly day of art, music, food and theatre, as part of our HOMEwarming weekend, to celebrate Manchester’s newest neighbourhood, First Street.
If you’re looking for something to do on the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend, the First Street Party will fit the bill perfectly. We can’t guarantee the weather, but we can guarantee a fabulous day of fun free events for all the family!
The event takes place in Tony Wilson Place at First Street from 11.00 – 20:00, with a whole host of activities and entertainment lined up to introduce local residents and families to the vibrant new city centre neighbourhood. Tony Wilson Place will be transformed into a contemporary street party complete with communal tables and a bandstand, and featuring a line-up of not to be missed performances, alongside a rooftop garden party with sets from some of Manchester’s finest DJs on the roof of Q-Park First Street.
Roaming performers and games including giant jenga and giant chess will keep older children entertained, while younger party goers will be fascinated by The World’s Tallest Bubbleologist’s magical bubble shows.
From 11am-1pm, and 2pm-4pm, families can enjoy a free three-minute performance of Talking Birds’ The Whale, a gleaming silver whale-on-wheels that holds a witty, charming and child-friendly show, with spectators entering the jaws of the gentle giant to witness an unforgettable performance. The Whale will be in situ in Tony Wilson Place for all those who dare to board her! HOME itself will also be hosting a variety of family-friendly activities including storytellers, fun workshops, and family-focused building tours, and there’s a chance to meet Meggie, the heroine from Inkheart, HOME’s 2015 family Christmas show.
A playful and immersive screening of Tom Hanks’ 80s comedy Big from performance trio Eggs Collective will take over Cinema 1, followed by a creative workshop for families. Bootworks Theatre present The Incredible Book Eating Boy, and invite you in pairs to watch the show unfold.
There will be music from the Pantonic All Stars Steel Orchestra, the Besses o’ th’ Barn Brass Band, and Mr Wilson’s Second Liners – a quirky band in celebration of Tony Wilson, fusing New Orleans travelling band music with ’90s club classics.
To feed your hungry stomachs, you can either bring along a picnic or sample a variety of street food including hot dogs from Fat Annie’s, Cantonese dim sum from DimSumsu, Vietnamese street food from Viet Shack and Bunny Chow – a South African dish which fills a sourdough loaf with goulash, pulled pork or curry – from Matilda’s. First Street’s hotel, INNSIDE by Melia, will be open all day serving up a variety of complimentary Spanish fayre from its Gazpacho station, along with drinks from the Tweed Brewing Company. We’ll also be serving beer alongside pizza straight from our outdoor pizza oven! There will also be a Rooftop Garden Party at the Q-Park car park.
Produced by HOME, CityCo and Ask Developments and supported by Q-Park and INNSIDE, the First Street Party is part of the HOMEwarming weekend, a five-day bank holiday weekend celebration packed full of parties, films, visual art, events, tours and music to launch our new home.
Why not download the full HOMEwarming brochure or take a look at the weekend’s activities at a glance in this guide? You can also find out about all the BSL events we are offering in this downloadable PDF.