Last Updated on 30 August 2026 by Colette
Personally, I’m a big fan of a food festival – wandering around the stalls of an artisan food market and choosing some treats to either eat straight away or take home, watching cookery demonstrations from celebrity chefs or enjoying some live music.
Manchester is known for its vibrant food scene and hosts several food festivals throughout the year – I’ve listed them in chronological order to make it easier to find events.
[I am steadily updating this post with information about Manchester food and drink festivals in 2026 as it becomes available – if you know something I don’t, please let me know and I’ll add it in!]
The best food and drink festivals taking place in Greater Manchester and the North West this year:
- Fields to Fork Festival, Whitebottom Farm, Etherow Park – Saturday 2nd / Sunday 3rd May 2026
- The Great British Food Festival, Arley Hall, Cheshire – Saturday 9th / Sunday 10th May 2026
- South Manchester Food and Drink Festival, Wythenshawe Park – Saturday 16th / Sunday 17th May 2026
- Manchester Rum Festival, New Century Hall – Saturday 4th July 2026
- Foodies Festival, Tatton Park – Friday 10th / Saturday 11th / Sunday 12th July 2026
- The Gin & Rum Festival, Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street Manchester M3 1SX – Saturday 12th September 2026
- Manchester Whisky Festival 2026, Manchester Cathedral Victoria Street Manchester M3 1SX – Friday 16th October 2026
Fields to Fork Festival, Whitebottom Farm, Etherow Park – Saturday 2nd / Sunday 3rd May 2026
Returning for 2026 for a “second course”, Fields to Fork Festival will take place at Whitebottom Farm in Stockport over the early May bank holiday.
This new food and drink festival is set to feature live music, appearances from award-winning chefs and plenty of food and drink to sample.
Book tickets for Fields to Fork Festival priced from £10 per person. Camping options and weekend passes are available. Under 4s go free.
The Great British Food Festival, Arley Hall, Cheshire – Saturday 9th / Sunday 10th May 2026
The Great British Food festivals tours multiple locations throughout the UK including Trentham Gardens and Harewood House which are both within reasonable driving distance of Manchester but the closest is Arley Hall in Cheshire which is held in mid May this year.
Book tickets for The Great British Food Festival
South Manchester Food and Drink Festival, Wythenshawe Park – Saturday 16th / Sunday 17th May 2026
This May sees the South Manchester Food and Drink Festival return for the second time – brought to you by the same people who host the Heaton Park Food Festival each summer.
South Manchester Food and Drink Festival in Wythenshawe Park will host a large artisan market featuring local traders and small businesses as well as a street food arena.
There will of course be live chef demonstrations too with the full line up yet to be announced.
Book tickets for the South Manchester Food and Drink Festival
Street Eat – Rochdale Food and Drink Festival – Saturday 30th May 2026
Celebrate the start of summer with a free food and drink festival in Rochdale. Expect tasty street food, live music and family entertainment.
Street Eat is free to attend with no booking required – just turn up and enjoy yourself!
Manchester Rum Festival, New Century Hall – Saturday 4th July 2026
This year’s Manchester Rum Festival returns to New Century Hall (I’ve been to a couple of gigs here now and absolutely love it as a venue!)
Your Manchester Rum Festival ticket price includes festival entry and rum tasting master distillers, experts and brands from around the world. There will also be cocktails and food available to purchase and live DJs to get you in the mood!
Book tickets for Manchester Rum Festival
Foodies Festival, Tatton Park – Friday 10th / Saturday 11th / Sunday 12th July 2026
Foodies Festival comes to Tatton Park this July bringing Garath Gates, Boyzlife and Scouting For Girls to headline the three day event.
Widely regarded as the UK’s biggest touring celebrity food and music festival series. It’s a star-studded cooking show meets a concert, with celeb chefs dishing out their best recipes and tips. Visitors to Tatton Park will be able to enjoy live music, cookery demonstrations, eating competitions, a silent disco and of course a shopping village
Book tickets for Foodies Festival – you can buy day tickets or full weekend tickets for this event.
Heaton Park Food Festival, Manchester – Saturday 1st / Sunday 2nd August 2026
Taking place in Heaton Park each summer, Heaton Park Food Festival is a family friendly celebration of “international influence and local talent” – expect artisan markets, live chef demos, live family entertainment and tasty street food!
Book tickets for Heaton Park Food Festival
Bolton Food and Drink Festival, Bolton Market – Friday 28th / Saturday 29th / Sunday 30th / Monday 31st August 2026
Celebrating it’s 20th year, Bolton Food and Drink Festival returns to Bolton Market this August Bank Holiday bringing leading local and regional chefs, cooking demos from culinary experts, artisanal market traders, live music and family entertainment.
The UK’s biggest food and drink festival, now in its 21st year, takes over Bolton from Friday 28th to Monday 31st August and is completely FREE to attend.
There are over 200 food and drink vendors serving cuisine from around the world, two live music stages featuring the likes of Liberty X and headline chef demos from fan favourite James Martin, with further names to be announced.
Bolton Food and Drink Festival is free to visit (though you’re going to want to make sure you’ve got a bit of money on hand as you won’t be able to resit all the delicious stalls and street food vendors)
The Gin & Rum Festival, Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street Manchester M3 1SX – Saturday 12th September 2026
If you’re thirsty for knowledge or just want to party the night away, the Gin & Rum Festival is for you! Discover new favourites with samples from a range of hand-picked guest distillers, treat yourself at the themed Gin and Rum bars, and let your hair down with friends whilst enjoying music from award-winning DJ and live entertainment.
You will be spoilt for choice with over 120 of the best Gins and Rums on the market, including the best of British, spirits from around the world and a huge range of flavoured products.
Book tickets for the Manchester Gin & Rum Festival
Manchester Whisky Festival 2026, Manchester Cathedral Victoria Street Manchester M3 1SX – Friday 16th October 2026
If whisky is you thing then you need to check out the Manchester Whisky Festival where you’ll get to sample the best home-grown whiskies from Scotland, as well as all corners of the globe. The Manchester Whisky Festival attracts the finest distillers from as far afield as India, Japan, the USA and even England!
Simply approach any of the exhibitors stands, ask politely for a dram and you shall receive a tasty glass of whisky (it really is that simple!). Every exhibitor knows their whiskies inside out and it’s well worth taking advantage of this knowledge.
Book tickets for the Manchester Whisky Festival.
Didsbury Beer Festival – Thursday 29th / Friday 30th / Saturday 31st October 2026
Didsbury Beer Festival at St Catherine’s Community Centre, School Lane, Didsbury runs across three days at the end of October.
Tickets haven’t been released yet, but organisers say an announcement is coming soon. This year’s festival will support Love Withington Baths and The Well Project.
Manchester Christmas Markets – November to December 2026, exact dates TBC
I’m not sure that the Manchester Christmas Markets strictly count as a food festival however with hundreds of stalls sprawled across the city centre with many selling festive food and drink, it seems only right to include them!
The Manchester Christmas Markets are expected to return for 2026, although the official opening dates haven’t yet been confirmed. Last year’s markets featured a whopping 274 stalls across ten city-centre locations, with everything from bratwurst, Yorkshire pudding wraps and international street food to pancakes, waffles, hot chocolate, mulled wine and festive cocktails. Albert Square also made its long-awaited return to the Christmas Markets in 2025 with the new A Taste of Christmas area.
The Manchester Christmas Markets are free to attend – though by all accounts expensive to eat at!
Below you’ll find events which took places last year which have not yet been confirmed for 2027 but I’m working on keeping this post as up to date as possible so do keep checking back!
Manchester Food and Drink Festivals that won’t be taking place in 2026 for whatever reason:
Festa Italiana, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester – No event for August 2026
The information below relates to last year’s event and will be updated as soon as details become available.
Festa Italiana is a free-to-enter weekend-long festival celebrating Italian food, drink and culture hosted in Cathedral Gardens, Manchester city centre from 12pm to 11pm over the August bank holiday weekend.
The Festa draws inspiration from the traditional festivals in Italy and features food and drink, mega movies, amazing art and a stellar selection of authentic live music as well as things for the kids to do too!
You can find out more about this free event here or follow Festa Italiana on instagram.
Find out more about Festa Italiana here:
Festa Italiana – What you need to know
- International Brewing & Cider Festival, Depot Mayfield Manchester – This was a one time event held in 2024 and by all accounts was a bit of a mess. The website has now gone so I’m going to assume they’ve cut their losses!
- Manchester Food and Drink Festival, Manchester – Manchester Food and Drink Festival started in 1998 but was cancelled in 2023 and is now simply the MFDF awards presented on Monday 26th January 2025.
- Peppersoup Festival Manchester, Six Trees, Manchester – Last held in 2024 with no further updates
- Smithills Hall Beer and Gin Fest with Northern Monkey – Last held in 2025 with no further updates
- The Craft Spirit Show Manchester, Manchester Cathedral – On 25 September 2025, The Gin To My Tonic Retail Limited went into liquidation.
What food festivals are on in and around Manchester?
I’ll be updating this post regularly so if you know of a food festival that I’ve missed – give me a shout and I’ll add it in!
Don’t forget to check out our guide to festivals for all the festival listings, reviews and tips we’ve written to date!
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If you have enjoyed this post and found it helpful, here are a few ways you can say thanks and support We’re going on an adventure:
Click here to buy me a virtual coffee – it’s like a little tip jar but with caffeine!
I’d love for you to tag me in any photos of your adventures on Social Media if one of my posts has inspired you to visit
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