Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2022

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor
MFDF 2022
Ian Jones

22 September — 2 October 2022 Entrance is free — Visit now

Update: The 25th Manchester Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) will now start on Thursday 22nd September. Following guidance from Manchester City Council the Festival will be delayed by a week in order to fall in line with the national mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II and the council’s cessation of events and entertainment on public squares during this time.

The Festival Hub will now open on 22nd September and will run until 2nd October. The Festival Hub opening schedule is now as follows: Thursday 22nd September – Sunday 25th September; Thursday 29th September – Sunday 2nd October. The Hub will be closed Monday – Wednesday as usual. The MFDF Curry Club has been postponed and will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

The 25th Manchester Food and Drink Festival is back for a quarter-century blowout and this year will see an extra special celebration of Manchester’s thriving food and drink scene. There are enough events on offer for all tastes, and you can book your tickets at the MFDF website below.

As ever, Cathedral Gardens is at the heart of the action, hosting The Festival Hub which will be home to an array of street food traders, bars, and artisan producers, as well as masterclasses and takeovers.

It’s fair to say 2022’s festival looks set to be a major improvement on last year’s excellent instalment

Excitingly, the first ever Festival Fire Pit Takeover will be coming to the Hub for both long weekends.  Here’s where you’ll find the region’s best-loved chefs, cooking over fire for a first-time festival feast.  Caroline Martins, founder of the Sao Paolo project,  Robert Owen Brown and Francisco Martinez from Fazenda will all be bringing their own specialist BBQ flavours to the fire pit as part of Weber’s takeover.

The Hub will also host the Octopus Cookbook Confidential demo kitchen on Saturday 24th September in collaboration with Octopus Books. Top chefs and industry experts will be coming together to share their tips, ideas and knowledge in cookery demos, conversations and debate discussions.  A full day of foodie demos and panels will include:

  • Kate Humble & Lia Leendertz: The joy of the outdoors – Eating & Cooking with the Seasons
  • Edd Kimber: Pudding Love! – discussing our love of puddings from childhood to becoming professionals and everything in between
  • Pip Payne & Nicky Corbishley: Tips, ideas and hacks for putting dinner on the table every night without breaking the bank
  • Joe Woodhouse, Josh Katz & David Bez: From the swede to the courgette – why we should all be eating more veg and all the veggie inspiration you could hope for
  • Jeremy Pang: School of Wok Chinese Cooking Demo
  • Rahul Mandal: The Baking Surgery
  • Jaega Wise vs Joel Harrison in conversation with Neil Ridley: Beer vs Cocktails

Free spaces for the Octopus Cookbook Confidential are limited and can be booked here.

But wait, there’s more. Some of Manchester’s best-loved chefs will also be joining the Festival Hub to lead cooking masterclasses on the opening weekend of the Festival. Plus, the much-anticipated Artisan Food Market will take place across the duration of the Festival. This free-to-attend market will showcase some of Manchester’s finest food and drink producers, including New Market Dairy, The Flat Baker & Dghnt.

Away from the festival hub, an array of activities will be taking place across Manchester city centre:

MFDF will be the first event to take place at the iconic New Century in Manchester’s NOMA district, bringing the Wine and Fizz Festival to town. New Century is currently being restored with stunning original features creating an extraordinary new live music and events hall for Manchester. Opening in September, the Wine and Fizz Festival will be the first event to take place in this iconic space. A chance to see amazing retailers like Cork of the North, Prestwich’s Grape to Grain and UKiYO Republic (showcasing their wonderful range of Japanese sake) in an incredible setting. Tickets are available to buy here.

Across the city for the duration of the festival, MFDF is also curating a lineup of fantastic restaurants to take part in their £25 for 25 years menu collaboration. Northern Quarter favourite District will be creating an exclusive £25 drinks pairing menu to compliment their amazing Thai cuisine and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Manchester Food and Drink festival.  Embankment Kitchen are also creating an exclusive £25 menu to give diners a taste of the best of their offering at a reduced price. Other restaurants taking part include Mi and Pho with a Vietnamese take on the exclusive menu offer, as well as Three Little Words, Shoryu Ramen, Tast, Society and more.

From the lineup of events so far, it’s fair to say 2022’s festival is a major improvement on last year’s excellent instalment. Keep your eye on this page for more details as we get them. Until then, mine’s an Aperol Spritz.

22 September — 2 October 2022 Entrance is free Visit now

Where to go near Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2022

Carden Park
Cheshire
Hotel
Carden Park

Huge luxury estate, featuring high-end restaurant, beautiful rooms, a fully-packed spa and much more.

We sell comics, graphic novels, manga, role playing games, board games, collectible card games, merchandise, apparel and much more besides!
Leeds
Shop
Travelling Man Leeds

A quirky little shop for comics, graphic novels, role-playing and board games, with frequent in-store events.

Further North
Leeds
Bar or Pub
Further North

Kind of like your front room, but with better beers and no television, Further North was one of the first microbars to open in Leeds and remains a staple today.

Wax Bar
Leeds
Bar or Pub
Wax Bar and JukeJoint

The Wax Bar and JukeJoint is a trendy, funky new bar with an old school theme running right through the middle from the Americana jukebox, to the vinyl records and player, old-style radio, 1980s ghetto blasters acting, quite effectively, as bar shelves and the lampshades on the walls that have been made out of classic cassette tapes.

House of Fu Leeds
City Centre
Restaurant
House of Fu Leeds

A Japanese-inspired restaurant speciaising in ramen and handmade dumplings, with a karaoke cocktail bar and lounge upstairs.

GET BAKED Opening Day
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
GET BAKED

Newly opened cakery in Stevensons Square, Northern Quarter Manchester. Get Baked brings all the Yorkshire charm and sweetness one of the city’s most popular squares.

Discover Lotherton, a country estate, historic hall and Wildlife World zoo. Our Edwardian estate is truly a great place for a family day out, with plenty to keep children and grown ups entertained! The expansive grounds and gardens are lovely walking spots, with or without four-legged companions. Each season brings new surprises including wild garlic in the spring, a sea of colourful blooms in summer in the formal gardens and stunning autumnal colours later on in the year. We have two playgrounds which means there's plenty of space for running about and letting off steam, with zip wires for older children to enjoy. Our evolving zoo, Wildlife World, is a real highlight of any visit and we'd highly recommend popping by to see the Humboldt penguins splash and swim in their pool. Other colourful characters include Arthur the tapir, our resident porcupines and a flamboyance of pink flamingos. Stop in at the shop on your way to pick up your very own version of one of our Lotherton
Café or Coffee Shop
Lotherton Hall and Estate

A truly great place for a family day out, discover Lotherton, a country estate, historic hall and Wildlife World Zoo.

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