Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2022

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

Book now

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
Book 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.

Where to go near Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2022

Manchester
Gallery
Black Redstart Gallery

Black Redstart Gallery is located in the Northern Quarter and runs a busy programme of exhibitions from emerging and established artists.

RJC Dance Xmas Show
Leeds
RJC Dance

RJC Dance, based in Chapeltown, Leeds, champions youth and education, leading inclusive Black dance in the North through national partnerships.

texture logo
Manchester
Gallery
texture mcr

Possibly one of the city’s most mysterious art galleries, texture is a small and perfectly-formed independent space in Ardwick.

The Beacon at Cliffe Castle Park
Bradford
Park
Cliffe Castle Park

Cliffe Castle Park hosts the Beacon, a stunning performance space that will be touring the district throughout Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

Hern Food
Leeds
Restaurant
Hern

This produce-driven bistro in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, prides itself on cooking with the only finest ingredients and his headed up by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rab Adams.

Indie Makers
Leeds
Shop
Indie Makers

Indie Makers, located in Leads’ corn exchange, trades in art and gifts from independent makers across the UK.

Plant Point
Leeds
Shop
Plant Point

Plant Point is designed to help you bring the jungle into your urban or suburban space. The home of beautiful plants in Leeds.

Leeds
Restaurant
Eat Your Greens

Eat Your Greens is a vibrant, organic restaurant bringing a hint of European flair to the city’s plant-based dining scene.

What's on: Festivals

NightGarden Festival
Festivals
NightGarden Festival

Somewhere in Trafford, behind an unmarked gate, a former garden centre hosts one of Greater Manchester’s most original festivals.

From £20
Star Nhà Ease
Until
CinemaManchester
Star Nhà Ease at Cultplex

Following its acclaimed debut in 2024, Star Nhà Ease, the UK’s only curated season celebrating Vietnamese cinema, arrives at Manchester’s Cultplex.

From £7.50
Africana and Caribbean Food Fest
FestivalsLeeds
African & Caribbean Food Fest 2025

Calling people of Leeds and beyond! The city’s favourite African and Caribbean Food Fest is back, and this year it’s turning up the heat with Harmony of Colours, a celebration…

Free entry
Grease outdoor cinema
Cinema
Outdoor Cinema at Tatton Park

There’s movies under the stars again at Tatton Park this summer as the open air cinema returns for the August Bank Holiday Weekend.

From £14.99

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North.
Theatre in the North

From outdoor shows to drama in the dark, our theatre guide celebrates genre-pushing work, new writing and contemporary performance.

Author portrait
Literature Events in the North

Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

Two women stand next to an orange car.
Cinema in the North

August brings a huge LGBTQ+ film festival, plus a reggae classic and a spotlight on Japanese animation.

Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
Music in the North

From Lyra Pramuk’s sacred synths to the sugar rush of YAANG, our latest music picks bring ritual, rebellion and ridiculous levels of fun.