Summer in the Park

Inaugural festival situated on the main section of Platt Fields in Rusholme. The folk from the Manchester Food and Drink Festival are behind this events which was promoted to marry food and drink with music under one festival. The food and drinks were supplied by local businesses, be that restaurants or farmers markets or local bars and family run breweries.
Music was provided by local artists such as I am Kloot, Mr Scruff, Liz Green, Stephen Fretwell, Liam Frost, the Earlies and many more.
With a compare such as Frank Sidebottom (in his usual fine form), you know you’re in for a bumpy ride.
We went down on the Saturday when the weather tried it’s hardest to be nice to us all, but it’s grim face just wouldn’t subside, at least until later in the day.
This festival was billed as a family event although aside from the ‘Baby loves Disco’ tent (which also included a couple of kids activities) and the obligatory bouncy castles this fell somewhat short of the mark.
I’m guessing the price on the day put many people off. If you consider the bands that were performing then it could be seen as value for money, but aside from the two stages (one of which drowned the other out) and the food & drink stalls, there was little else to do. Due to the fewer numbers (certainly on the Saturday) and the inclement weather, you often felt you merely wandering around a half empty field (all the activities were spread around the circumference rather than dotted around the huge space). I think for next year (if they indeed plan to continue this event) then they need to address some of the concerns raised above. It certainly promises to one day be a highlight on the Manchester calender: the food and drinks were remarkable. Most of the ales (dozens of real ale for one to imbibe happily on) were set around the £2 mark, which for a a festival is fantastic. It will take a lot for this festival to match the magical event held next door by the lakeside (picnic in the park) but I hope it takes the criticisms (of which there have been many) on board and comes back stronger next year.