COULROPHOBIA – a morbid fear of clowns shared by the likes of Johnny Depp and P. Diddy – isn’t the reason ToM will be shunning Exchange Square’s Clownfest section of this weekend’s One Big Summer Weekend (July 28-30), which comes courtesy of Manchester’s Business Improvement District.
No, weather willing, picnicking will be our priority as we head for St Ann’s Square and the seventh annual Manchester Picnic, offering a cornucopia of tastings, demos and street foods daily from 10am-6pm. There’ll be wood-fired pizza from I Knead Pizza, fusion tacos at No Tacos, gourmet burgers from What’s Your Beef?, northern soul food from Beehive plus Spanish specialities at Lunya, while the sweet-toothed need look no further than Ginger’s Comfort Emporium’s gourmet ice creams or The Waffle Shack.
Biking brand Rapha, based just around the corner, will be selling cake and their excellent coffee from their camionette and, if jazz gets your toes tapping, you’ll enjoy the concurrent Manchester Jazz Festival in the Square.
Little ones are catered for with Z Arts putting on a child-friendly welcoming picnic, July 29-30 in St Ann’s Square from noon-4pm. Families will be greeted by quirky characters, plus a treasure trail and crafts – all for free.