WE INVENTED THE WEEKEND IS BACK! THE UK’S ONLY FESTIVAL OF FREE TIME ANNOUNCES FULL PROGRAMME

WE INVENTED THE WEEKEND IS BACK!
THE UK’S ONLY FESTIVAL OF FREE TIME ANNOUNCES FULL PROGRAMME

– Experience Perfect Pitch, an epic World-Cup inspired performance by English National Opera and Walk the Plank with hundreds of singers from local choirs and football clubs

• Explore Play Street – an interactive children’s zone that celebrates the history of the play street in Salford in collaboration with Play England and supported by Quayside
• Storytelling and talks: From CBeebies Bedtime Stories to thought-provoking talks including Salford legend

Peter Hook in conversation with Mark Radcliffe

– Star of musical SIX performs in Lowry’s (North) West End Live on the Plaza

• Club Culture: brand new for this year, dedicated to electronic dance music of all

– Sports and wellbeing focus from street sports, BMX to yoga and movement, open swimming, football for all ages and abilities, cycling, running, Taekwondo and more

– Main stage headliners including Radio 6 Music DJ Afrodeutsche and live performance by Afriquoi

– Organizers anticipate 80,000 visitors will join in the celebrations

Across Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2026, Salford Quays and MediaCity will be buzzing with over 200 free activities in the UKs most ambitious, creative, original and fun-filled festival celebrating the most precious of commodities – our free time! This will be the 3rd iteration of the much-loved FREE festival that invites communities from across Greater Manchester, the North West and beyond to celebrate the amazing variety of ways in which we love to spend our weekends.

Putting together the perfect weekend is a collective effort and the festival is working with dozens of partners ranging from BBC, Lowry, University of Salford, RHS, English National Opera, Imperial War Museum North and Play England as well as community and grassroots organisations. The two-day festival in June will celebrate summer, throwing open the doors of MediaCity and Salford Quays with a jam-packed programme including live music, action-packed sports, family fun, theatre, DJ sets, exclusive tours, art workshops, thought-provoking talks, street food, boat trips, wellbeing sessions and much, much more.

Most activities will be drop-in and un-ticketed and all will be FREE!

Music and performance for all ages at Lowry

From exclusive backstage and gallery tours, creative stations to breathtaking aerial performances, Salford’s Lowry will be at the heart of the festival action. From morning to evening, areas inside and outside Lowry will deliver a vibrant programme of family-friendly content: bringing the excitement of CBeebies to life, with loveable pup Bluey, some familiar BBC faces and magical storytelling. A weekend showstopper will be a (North) West End Live showcase featuring hits from SIX, Les Miserables and your favourite Disney musicals.

Lowry will also present the dynamic aerial circus show – Pirates of the Carabina – Pirate Taxi live in the Plaza. As ever, alongside its free exhibitions and the immersive Lowry 360 experience, Lowry will host a series of free activities for all to enjoy including backstage tours, fun workshops and drop in sessions where everyone can get involved and be creative together.

Perfect Pitch – opera meets football

A project co-created by English National Opera and Walk the Plank, Perfect Pitch promises a euphoric moment of mass participation as football and opera converge on the pitch. Bringing together community choirs, football fans and ENO artists, including tenor Luis Gomes, the performance celebrates the unexpected connections between football and opera. The finale will feature over 400 singers, including Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’, famously associated with the 1990 World Cup. More details will be revealed as the big day approaches – be there for 2.15pm, Saturday 6 June.

Play Street

Play Streets began in Salford in the 1920s. Now in 2026, We Invented the Weekend festival is working with Play England, to bring them back! Picture the Plaza with one huge area of play and activity where all ages can join in. Starting small with play and creative workshops for the younger generations, as you move along it grows with games, music, movement, skate zones and spaces for teens. With fun creative workshops and activities including double dutch skipping, creative chalk drawing and skateboarding, Play Street reimagines the street as a place for connection and imagination.

Club Culture

Brand new for this year, Club Culture, is an area dedicated to recognising Manchester’s rich contribution, past and present, to electronic dance music. Enjoy wide-ranging sounds from outstanding local DJ’s with a female and non-binary identifying line-up on Saturday plus Living Room Dance Club, Semi Peppered and Aficionado on Sunday. Alongside the DJ sets on the dancefloor, festival-goers can join curated DJ workshops and lively panel talks that will give dance music lovers across generations an opportunity to learn, get inspired and hone their DJ-skills.

Sports for all

For many people, weekends are all about sports, so We Invented the Weekend has put together a gold-medal winning line up of activities whatever your passion. The MediaCity Piazza will host sports, games and activities of every kind including BMX free-styling and workshops with British Cycling, running clubs, a climbing wall, guided bike rides, Taekwondo demos, Boxing, RnB Yoga and much more. Whilst in the waters of Dock 9, U-Swim gives festival-goers the chance to cool off with open water swimming taster sessions.

Activities will be available throughout both days and will be drop-in. Saturday will have a football focus with activities on offer including ManUFoundation Street Reds and the National Football Museum. On Sunday, Salford Community Leisure will provide the chance to try Multi Sports – Archery, Netball, Mini Hockey, Kwik Cricket, Tag Rugby & more.

Music

No festival is complete without music and We Invented the Weekend will feature music of every kind – from opera to musical theatre to DJs from BBC’s Radio 6 Music, Sing-a-long-choirs to Acid Brass Bands and tunes for baby ravers. On Sunday afternoon, the irrepressible Mr Wilson’s Second Liners will accompany the People’s Free-time Parade – a mass participation moment of joy and community.

For two decades Sounds From The Other City has been championing new music, local promoters and the off-kilter beauty of Salford, the oft-overlooked ‘other city’ to Manchester. This year will see SFTOC take over the main stage on Sunday with an incredible live music programme that will have you dancing all over the Piazza.

And the party won’t just be on land as a line-up of free boat parties will run through the whole weekend, featuring sails from: Crop Radio, Sounds From the Other, Tree House, Northern Grooves, Me Gusta Collective and Semi Peppered.

Eat, drink and shop!

GRUB is Manchester’s OG street food curator, an independent, family run collective bringing people together through food, drink and culture. For We Invented The Weekend, GRUB will be curating a hand picked line-up of top street food operators and emerging talent, serving up everything from festival favourites to new discoveries. Alongside GRUB’s line-up, MediaCity favourites including Nells Pizza and The Alchemist will be at the heart of the action, keeping festival goers well fed all weekend long.

From art sales to sustainable fashion there will be plenty on offer for those in search of some weekend retail therapy. Judge on BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant is joining again in 2026 and bringing a pop-up Community Clothing shop. Charity Super.Mkt will also return to the festival with a curated collection of fashion, accessories and homewares from some of the UK’s best local and national charity retailers.

Go green with the RHS

For gardening lovers, the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) will return for 2026 with a programme inspired by its Bringing Nature Home initiative, encouraging people to connect with nature through walks, workshops, and hands-on participation. Visitors can get their hands dirty with something for all ages with expert advice, gardening demos and practical sessions designed to help people bring nature into their everyday lives.

Art, Making and Creative Workshops

The Hot House building at MediaCity will be transformed into a creative, making space for adults, young people and kids, hosting workshops and quieter areas for more for activities including:

• The Department for Perfect Weekend with local artists MikeSian
• Free Time Parade Workshop
• The Kitchen Table with Altogether Otherwise (4 different workshops)
• Craft workshop with Nots and Coyle Studio
• Art Sale and Exhibition with Grit Studios, Islington Mill, Salford Loading and

Storytelling and Talks:

For quieter moments there’s storytelling as well as in-depth talks for those who love discussing big ideas. From CBeebies bedtime stories to reading for pleasure with the National Literacy Trust, the festival celebrates the power of stories, words and imagination. The Talks programme will include a very local Salford legend, Peter Hook (who grew up in Ordsall) in conversation with Mark Radcliffe. The full Talks programme will be announced in May.

A celebration that could only happen in Salford

We Invented the Weekend 2026 embraces all that is happening across Salford this year, from the huge centenary celebrations of Salford 100 to the role that Salford and MediaCity will play during the FIFA World Cup 2026 when the BBC’s coverage is beamed across the world from the MediaCity studios. Bringing arts, culture and sport together in one energetic weekend there are sure to be some surprises in store as music and sport collide to offer something extra special for all festival goers.

Right back where it all started…

The weekend was invented in Greater Manchester in 1843 when Salford Lyceum Director and workers’ rights activist Robert Lowes (Sir Ian McKellen’s Great Grandfather) campaigned to win mill workers the right to leisure time on Saturday afternoons. In this triumph, Greater Manchester gave an enormous gift to the world, and We Invented the Weekend honours this, in true style, in Salford, celebrating leisure time, free time, quality time and me-time.

We Invented The Weekend will take place on 6 & 7 June at MediaCity and Salford Quays. www.weinventedtheweekend.com/