Manchester Day 2017

Commissioned by Manchester City Council, and created by Walk the Plank with the people of Manchester.  Elevate programme of artist development supported by Arts Council England.

 

Manchester Day 2017

100,000 people took to the streets of Manchester, for Manchester Day 2017, to celebrate its vibrant City full of colour, culture and communities. This annual Event saw its biggest crowd to date! The Manchester Day Parade itself incorporated 80 Communities, 22,000 people in total and over 2,000 performers. The Communities varied from the Manchester Chinese Centre to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and had to Parade a one mile stretch around the City of Manchester. Abracadabra was the magical theme for Manchester Day 2017!

 

Abracadabra!

In addition to the spectacular hour long procession, Exchange Square, St Ann’s Square & Cathedral Gardens each hosted magic Performances, one of the acts being Bollywood Dancing, drinks and food stalls, as well as face painting and pasta making stalls for the children.

 

Choreographer for Manchester Day

Director of Ri Ri’s Dance Academy, Ria Meera Munshi, was a Choreographer for Manchester Day and worked with a number of different Communities including The Manchester Chinese Centre, Indian Association Manchester, Europia, Turkish Association, British Pakistani Cultural Committee, Malayalee Group and various Schools across Greater Manchester.

Ria was part of an Elevate Learning Programme, with Walk The Plank and during this Programme worked alongside various Choreographers, including renowned Mass Movement Director, Jeanefer Jean-Charles, who has previously worked on the Queen’s Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace. Each Workshop with the Community had a focus of team spirit, audience interaction and movement Choreography, sometimes including incredible props which were made by the Communities themselves.

It was incredible for Ria to be involved in such a prestigious Event which celebrates Manchester and its creativity and diversity.

 

Media Coverage

Manchester Day had an extensive amount of Media coverage including the Guardian, BBC and the Manchester Evening News.