Festa Italiana at Cathedral Gardens

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

Visit now

Festa Italiana

Cathedral Gardens, Cathedral Quarter
22-24 August 2025

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

Festa Italia
Book now

Manchester’s most joyous summer celebration is back. From Friday 22 to Sunday 24 August 2025, Festa Italiana returns to Cathedral Gardens for its eighth edition.

Hosted – as ever – by Salvi’s, this free-entry, family-friendly festival transforms the city into a bustling Italian piazza packed with food, drink, music, and culture.

Now the UK’s biggest Italian festival, Festa Italiana welcomed over 40,000 visitors last year. For 2025, organisers promise an even more memorable lineup with star chefs, award-winning food, live music and more across three (hopefully) sun-soaked days.

Celebrity chefs including Gennaro Contaldo, Giuseppe Dell’Anno, Francesco Mattana, Carmela Sereno Hayes, and Sofia Gallo will deliver live cooking demos, offering tips, stories, and a taste of true Italian passion. Expect more from Salvi’s founder and Festa creator Maurizio Cecco, whose energy and heritage fuel the entire weekend.

Food is the heart of Festa Italiana. Expect a mouth-watering mix of Neapolitan pizza, handmade pasta, cannoli, gelato, spritz, and more from Italy’s best producers and UK-based Italian traders. The Piccolo Mercato Italiano is new for 2025 – a vibrant mini market showcasing the finest artisanal goods, ideal for discovering authentic flavours and craftsmanship.

The 2025 music lineup covers everything from traditional folk to modern party anthems – Cathedral Gardens will be home to Napoli-style partying all weekend long.

Weekend Highlights: 

Opening Parade: A spectacular musical procession kicks things off on Friday, tracing the festival’s roots back to the original Salvi’s in the Corn Exchange

Festa Italiana Della Donna: A celebration of Italy’s female culinary talent

Viva la Cucina: Saturday night cooking classes with celebrity chefs

Hands-On Experiences: Sip through the Aperitivo Bar, cool off in the Limoncello Garden, or roll pasta at a workshop

“Festa Italiana is so much more than a food festival,” says Cecco. “It’s everything I love about my culture – the passion, the flavour, the music, the chaos! And 2025 will be the best yet.”

Where to go near Festa Italiana at Cathedral Gardens

Manchester
Event venue
Festa Italiana

The 2022 Festa Italiana was a roaring success, with great food options and captivating live music performances throughout the weekend.

The National Football Museum Manchester
Manchester
Museum
National Football Museum

The National Football Museum is now open to the public, ready to show off its impressive array of football-related exhibits and activities.

Chetham’s Library in Long Millgate in Manchester
Manchester
Library
Chetham’s Library

Chetham’s Library is one of the must-sees of any visit to Manchester. The library was founded in 1653, and is the oldest public library in the world – but the building dates back even further, to 1421.

Cathedral Quarter
Restaurant
Mamucium

High-class restaurant next to Victoria Station in Manchester, and attached to Hotel Indigo. Famed for steaks.

Cathedral Quarter
Restaurant
Salvi’s Mozzarella Bar

Head to this tiny Italian eatery for an authentic slice of Naples. It majors in mozzarella and the stuff here is a revelation: light, flavoursome, with oily, oozing pesto.

Manchester
Restaurant
The Cosy Club

Elegant and welcoming restaurant and bar in the Corn Exchange, with an attractive domed ceiling and plenty of original features like the staircase and tiles.

What's on: Families

Topsy Turvy
Families
Topsy Turvy 25

Theatre Porto’s joyful outdoor celebration returns to Whitby Park this summer with another wonderfully topsy-turvy weekend of art, performance and playful surprises. Taking over the park from 7–10 August, Topsy

From £5.50
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

Culture Guides

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.

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...

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.