Festa Italiana Manchester, the country’s biggest and best festival celebrating Italian food, drink and culture has announced the dates for its third annual event. Manchester city centre’s Cathedral Gardens will be transformed into Little Italy once again from the 26th – 28th July.
In two short years, Festa Italiana has established itself as one of Manchester’s most popular events with nearly 30,000 visitors flocking to the city centre ‘Italian oasis’ created on Cathedral Gardens in 2018.
In 2019 the event will be expanding to take in a bigger area around the city’s ‘Medieval Quarter’ with even more Italian producers, chefs, food, drink and music scheduled to descend on Manchester for the weekend.
Open from 11 am – 11 pm the daily programme will include live cookery demonstrations; an artisan Italian food market; a much bigger and more extensive kids’ fest for children of all ages; Italian banquets, and bespoke bars serving everything from Negroni to Meloncello.
From morning through to sundown there’ll be live music from Italian bands and musicians flown over especially from Italy, alongside some of Manchester’s best DJs keeping the party going into the night.
A key theme for this year will be the importance of cooking at home together as a family, and its impact on health and well-being – something that is a huge part of Italian culture. This will be celebrated and showcased throughout the Festa with family style events and special guests – details to be announced.
The Festa has also pledged to bring together Manchester’s Italian food community on the biggest scale yet. The ambition is to collaborate with even more of the city’s best Italian restaurants and food heroes, as well as more Italian brands from across the UK and Italy, than ever before.
The event was founded by the Salvi’s Restaurant Group – Manchester’s authentic Italian food specialists – experts in artisan Campanian produce and cuisine.
Maurizio Cecco, owner of Salvi’s, and a Naples native has successfully brought his vision to life over the past two years in creating a truly authentic celebration inspired by the traditional festivals he attends back home over the summer in Italy.
Festa Italiana is a chance to experience that slice of the Italian life here in Manchester – so as ever, customers should expect lashings of pizza, pasta, Prosecco, cured meats, cheese, family fun, gelato and all the other fabulous things that the Italians have bestowed upon us.
Maurizio commented:
“Manchester has a rich Italian heritage and I’m proud to call this wonderful city home. Festa Italiana is all about bringing the traditions from my other home in Naples right here to Manchester – it’ a cultural exchange. We have been stunned by the popularity of the event – last year was amazing, the place was packed with visitors enjoying all things Italian.
“It was a beautiful thing! This year we’re building on that success, ensuring that even more of the Italian businesses get involved and celebrating a new theme around Italian family food values. It will truly be an Italian feast for all the senses – we can’t wait!”
More announcements will be made soon- so watch this space! Full information and updates can be found on the festival website www.festaitalianauk.com.
……………………..
Festa Italiana
Venue: Cathedral Gardens
Date: 26th-28th July
Time: 11am – 11pm every day
FREE ENTRY
…………………..
