Landlords Wanted
UK’s largest urban gardening festival returns to MCR this August
DIG THE CITY returns to Manchester city centre this summer from Saturday 2 to Sunday 10 August 2014.
For nine days the UK’s biggest urban gardening festival will be greening over the city streets from the Cathedral down to King Street with gardening ideas, flower markets, expert talks, masterclasses, arts, crafts, live music, food and booze, naturally – what’s gardening without the grog.
This year’s theme is ‘Grow Your Own’ (one for the stoners), featuring an edible Tudor garden, an interactive Japanese garden, floral show gardens from Tatton Park, a digital city garden from magnetic North and a special sound garden from The Bridgewater Hall. Not edible that last one.
Image: Rachel De Thame at Dig the City 2013.
There’ll be talks with TV gardeners Diarmuid Gavin (the curly Irish one) and Rachel de Thame (the green Nigella), an RSPCA dog show and the return of the Women’s Institute urban fete, with tea, baked goods and vegetables the size of Ronnie Corbett.
The WI will also be getting stuck into the Dig the City Disco, which had to be abandoned last year when Titchmarsh turned up and the ladies went rabid.
There’ll be good reason to drag the scallywags along too, with giant games, a petting farm and the return of the National Trust’s ’50 things to do before you’re 11¾’ campaign. An initiative to discourage kids from decapitating each other on Xbox and tackle the great outdoors, climb a tree, make a den and do Dad’s weeding so he can watch the game.
After last year’s Dig the City, Cllr Pat Karney, the council’s part-time scarecrow and spokesman for gardening, Christmas and the exclamation mark said: “Dig the City has brought together a number of organisations, partnerships, communities and like-minded people and the positive outcome and support that has blossomed from the festival is incredible, and shows just what can be achieved with a united approach.”