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Spring Markets: blazing a trail
Take a walk with food, flowers and gifts from King Street to Exchange Square
Here's a charming trail for you: a short promenade of fun and shopaholic delight through the city streets.
The city centre sheds off its winter slumber with plants, flowers, food and crafts galore
Manchester's Spring Markets are back in the city centre adding life, colour, movement and gift buying opportunities. They take place from Thursday 20 May to Sunday 6 June.
At Confidential we love these celebrations of the trader's art. They make our streets buzz whilst also giving people sweet things to buy.
Let's start at the surprise location this time around: King Street.
The pedestrianised shopping mecca has had it's problems in the last few years. The development of New Cathedral Street and redevelopment of Manchester Arndale, together with the recession has hit what was once Manchester's retail jewel in the crown.
The Spring Market will give the place a real boost and complement the still wide range of attractive shops and pretty buildings here. In a charming act of whimsy, Manchester Markets are bringing an English Garden fete complete with bunting, flowers and old fashioned lemonade.
There'll be all kinds of countrified foods and drinks to buy, including a traditional Ploughman's with Mrs Kirkham's cheese and homemade pickles, plus afternoon tea, cakes and Pimms. Cocktails and coffee are some of the more urban offerings that will be available there.
The best route to the next part of the markets is under Old Exchange Buildings and the passageway bordered by Hermes. This brings you out at the three hundred year old St Ann's Church, with it's lovely warm sandstone facade. Walk round the church and you get to St Ann's Square.
This will be where you find the main slice of the Spring Markets action.
St Ann's Square was the place that got Manchester it's charter 800 years ago when there was an annual livestock market. Appropriately in the next couple of weeks there'll be al fresco food and drink including real ale and hog roast from Porky's of Yarm, curries, summer cocktails and speciality teas from Mango Rays, and paella, chorizo and other Spanish delicacies from I Love Spanish Food. There'll also be lots of crafts and gifts shops as well including Twixie-Pixie with is hand felt animal puppets and mobiles, Dontbitchstitch for hats, bags and clothes, Priya Trading for Nepalese woollen jumpers, jackets, coats, scarves and hats and the mysterious Good Bag Co - wonder what that will selling? From St Ann's Square we follow Exchange Street, with the Royal Exchange Theatre on our right. out of the square. Of course no city centre market would be complete without the return of Manchester's favourite Dutch man, Dirk The Dutch Flower Man. He'll be carpeting Exchange Street with a large appendage of hundreds of plants and flowers at bargain prices. After Exchange Street cross Market Street to Manchester's newest shopping throughfare, New Cathedral Street. This opened for business around a decade ago, following the IRA 1996 bomb, and the rebuilding of this area of Manchester. On New Cathedral Street you'll find food and drink such as Pancho's Burritos for burritos, fajitas, tacos, quesilladas, nachos and chilli con carne, the Ostrich Burger Company for exotic burgers such as Ostrich, Kangaroo and Wild Boar burgers and sausages. Sweet-toothed delights come via, amongst others, Bleasdales Homemade Ice Cream and Cupcake Palace. For gifts stroll the street eyeing up Ian Chadwick Glass Art for glass jewellery and homeware, Heart of Stones for natural resin jewellery, Pearlescence for pearl jewellery, Winbridge for hand-crafted collapsible baskets, Mara Crafts for wooden African carvings, Babylicious for baby items such as bibs, hair slides, hair bands, t-shirts, door plaques or even All Aspects GB Ltd for garden furniture. This is just a selection of stalls in what is the second biggest market of the year – topped only by the mega Christmas markets. All those food and drink stalls make it a great place to meet up with friends who've been in hibernation over the winter. And with loads of independent artisans and traders selling their wares. Here's a final suggestion. Now you've completed the trail, why not retrace your steps. See if you missed out on anything. The Spring Markets run for just over two weeks from Thursday 20 May until Sunday 6 June, from 10am until 6pm. Click here for more information on Manchester Markets
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