We Invented the Weekend – Programme of events
Dates
10
More info
We Invented the Weekend is a bold and imaginative free festival for the North, this brand new festival, taking place on 10th and 11th September across Salford Quays and MediaCity, will celebrate the invention of the weekend, a world changing moment that took place in Greater Manchester in 1843.
Up until the 19th century, everyone in the UK worked a 6 day week. Then in 1843, right here in Greater Manchester, workers’ rights activists launched a campaign to finish early on Saturdays. They won, and in doing so, invented the weekend – a gift to workers the world over.
We’re marking this enormous achievement with a new and imaginative free festival from Salford. One massive, colourful, exciting weekend of music, theatre, sport, workshops, dancing, laughs, and more to celebrate the joy of free time.
We Perform:
The spectacular performance strand includes an open invitation to thousands of musicians and vocalists of all levels to perform as part of The Weekend Orchestra, a large-scale, joyful community performance of a brand new song, led by the BBC Philharmonic. The Lowry will bring a series of performances out of the theatre and into the festival including hugely popular, high energy circus performance Circus Flavours (Upswing) and upbeat, playful and energetic Indian dance production Jham! (Nina Rajarani MBE). Meanwhile, festival-goers can learn to ‘werk it’ on a runway and create picture perfect insta poses with Ghetto Fabulous.
We Listen to Music:
The main stage will span performances from neo soul six-piece Lovescene, through to legendary hip hop act The Mouse Outfit. Meanwhile, Twisted Time Machine will take audiences on an interactive journey through time and space landing in all the best musical decades. Get Your Docks Off has a genre to float everyone’s boat, with boat parties themes including House, Disco, Northern Soul and Lovers Rock. Celebrated Salford festival, Sounds From The Other City, will bring its true, sweat drenched, hands-on DIY spirit ethos out of Chapel Street and onto the Quays, whilst Unity Radio will present its own stage celebrating the city’s hip hop scene.
We Eat:
On Sunday, a collective of Manchester-based chefs that provide meals to people living in challenging circumstances, will celebrate the classic Roast with a communal feast for 100 festival-goers, curated and cooked by renowned chef Mary-Ellen McTague and members of the Eat Well MCR Collective. The same meal will also be delivered at no cost to people in our community that Eat Well regularly supports with meals. Food and drink throughout the weekend will come from Box on the Docks, and drinks partners Seven Bro7hers, who are creating a special festival beer for the event. There will also be 20 street food traders, bringing food from across the world to the festival – from South American arepas to Afro-Caribbean curries.
We Shop:
This is a creative retail offer with a sustainable twist, from an interactive retail space from Manchester Fashion Movement featuring responsibly sourced brands, fashion shows, styling challenges, workshops and exhibitions, through to a more traditional riverside makers market featuring independent crafts, vintage fashion and local produce. Also on offer is the Charity Super.Mkt, a sustainable retail super group taking charity fashion to the next level, featuring finds from a selection of six local stores and national brands.
We Get Green:
This is a creative retail offer with a sustainable twist, from an interactive retail space from Manchester Fashion Movement featuring responsibly sourced brands, fashion shows, styling challenges, workshops and exhibitions, through to a more traditional riverside makers market featuring independent crafts, vintage fashion and local produce. Also on offer is the Charity Super.Mkt, a sustainable retail super group taking charity fashion to the next level, featuring finds from a selection of six local stores and national brands.
We Think Big:
This will be a weekend of big thinking hosted by the University of Salford at their MediaCity campus, where we will discuss the history of the weekend, learning about the workers’ fight for the right to free time and the history-making impact of Robert Lowes with the University of Manchester and The Working Class Movement Library. We’ll hear the findings of the Ipsos MORI survey and discuss the ways in which free time is changing and evolving. We’ll also debate big topics, from how what we eat shapes who we are and the important role food plays in communities with Incredible Edible, HM Pasties and OOM, to looking at how we can continue to travel the world without costing the earth, hearing from experts from Flight Free UK and the Open University. Also on offer will be a series of workshops looking at ‘Re-Inventing the Weekend’, held by climate specialists.
We Get Creative:
From Lowry by Lowry workshops from Gogglebox star and Salfordian artist, Helena Worthington teaching you to paint a self-portrait, your pet or the Salford landscape, to the Manchester Street Poem inviting all to unleash their inner poet, to make your own merch workshops, there is something creative for everyone. MediaCity and Salford Quays will be filled with colour and art, from hundreds of fun, imaginative We Invented the Weekend themed flags and closing event, The Free Time Parade, offering a moment for everyone to come together to celebrate free time and work life balance and how this can mean different things to different people. A chance to hope, dream and make a pledge for what the weekend could look like in the future.
We Play:
From classic street games to workshops and learning through play, We Invented the Weekend will be filled with family activities for children of all ages and BBC Children’s will bring live activity, including CBeebies Bedtime Stories Live. Families who love to get creative, the Science and Industry Museum will bring Mega Makers, a large-scale, hands-on activity, where aspiring world builders can meet the people behind our urban environment and work with them to design the ideal future city and a playful new skyline using big blue blocks. The University of Salford will be throwing open its doors for young people (8+) to come into its ground floor event space and explore new fun and creative technologies, whilst HOST, the Home of Skills & Technology, will be holding Esports World, the first-ever immersive esports festival in the North West, and an AWS DeepRacer launch event and tournament for organisations and the community.
We Get Sporty:
The Manchester United Foundation, which uses football to engage and inspire young people and unite local communities will bring its hugely successful Street Reds programme to the festival, giving young people the chance to learn new skills and get active. Salford’s Colour Swim will return to Dock 9 with its unique fusion of urban swimming, music and dance both in and out of the water, all courtesy of USwim, Manchester School of Samba and Ghetto Fabulous. Other activities include a zen start to the day with Carly Tong’s Vinyasa Yoga session, tailored to everyone and every ability and Salford Boxing Club, a local fitness boxing centre, will be doing boxing taster sessions with professional boxing coaches. Salford Community Leisure (SCL) will be delivering a range of multi-sports taster sessions, a football tournament for a range of ages, cheerleading workshops, plus Watersports activities from Salford Watersports Centre.
We Give Back:
We Invented the Weekend’s volunteer programme will create a wide range of opportunities to get involved behind the scenes at the festival – from looking after artists to working with partners. The volunteer programme is managed by Salford CVS and in return we’ll be raising money for their community grant fund, which supports grassroots organisations to do incredible things. The festival will also support a donation drive for Salford Foodbank and our food and drink traders are all running a ‘pay it forward’ scheme.