Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2022

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

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Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2022

22 September-2 October 2022

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

MFDF 2022
Ian Jones
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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.

Where to go near Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2022

Chinatown
Restaurant
Pho Cue

Family-run Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. Prepare to queue for Pho Cue.

Come to Swithens Farm for a great family day out in Leeds. Our farm has plenty to offer whatever age you are!Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around. We now have a farm shop, café, playbarn and petting farm. When we first opened we only had the usual farm animals – cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and it was free entry. We now have llamas, alpacas, meerkats, rabbits, guinea pigs, donkeys and a pony.On the working farm, we breed our own cows, pigs and sheep and we sell the meat through the farm shop and the café. If you buy a sausage sandwich from the café the sausage will be from the butcher who has made the sausage by hand using our own pork. We also produce our own free-range eggs.
Leeds
Swithens Farm

Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around.

Peak District
Restaurant
The Chequers Inn

The Chequers Inn is a 16th century, family-run, traditional country inn with an impressive dining space. The Peak District at its best.

Testbed Main Space
Leeds
Event venue
TESTBED

TESTBED is a newly renovated 10,000 sq foot event venue in Leeds that offers endless possibilities for creating unique and inspiring experiences.

Manchester
Restaurant
Salt & Pepper

Chinese inspired British food in the centre of Manchester, backed up by plenty of well-deserved local hype.

Morning Glory - Coffee Cup
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Morning Glory

Morning Glory positions itself as a grab-and-go spot, with just 12 seats inside serving coffee, bagels and sweet treats.

The Warehouse In Holbeck
Leeds
Event venue
The Warehouse In Holbeck

Run by acclaimed theatre company Slung Low, The Warehouse in Holbeck is home to boundary-pushing performance and community projects.

Leeds
Event venue
The Attic

Tucked away above the bustle of Merrion Street, The Attic is one of Leeds’ most distinctive small venues – intimate, unpretentious, and steeped in DIY spirit.

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