Be part of DIG THE CITY
Manchester’s Urban
Gardening Festival
digthecity.co.uk @digthecitymcr
This summer, Manchester becomes a
garden city.
Dig the City is an ambitious and large-scale event that
comes hot on the heels of Manchester International Festival
and a strong summer of arts, music and public events across
the city. It will be high quality, with horticultural displays and
markets, international public art, performances, appearances
by celebrity gardeners and interesting food and drink.
This is gardening and horticulture with an urban twist.
It is the first event to be delivered by the city’s new
Business Improvement District - Heart of Manchester
BID - and brings together key public and private sector
organisations including the city’s major retailers, CityCo,
Manchester City Council, Manchester Cathedral, Manchester
Museums Partnership and National Trust.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Aims of the event
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Deliver an ambitious new summer visitor attraction to Manchester city centre
Increase visits, dwell time and spend – particularly retail spend
Position Manchester as a retail, leisure and cultural destination with edge
Entertain visitors, shoppers, tourists and residents with a contemporary programme
Showcase Manchester as an innovator in the burgeoning urban greening movement
Reach out to new audiences, attracted to Manchester by the high quality activities
Engage with local businesses (specifically the Heart of Manchester BID retailers)
Engage with and champion local community and greening groups to foster positive and
productive relationships.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Audience
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Families; culturally savvy families looking for things to do with the kids over the holiday
Foodies; tapping into the current public appetite for food and drink experiences
Urbanites; building on the trend for urban gardening, with a ‘stay late’ message
Horticulturalist; loyal to RHS/Tatton and National Trust, gardeners to entice into the city
Tourist; Incidental visitors, residents rediscovering their city or city breakers.
Festival Site
Greengate, Victoria Street, Cathedral Yard, Exchange Square, New Cathedral Street, St Ann’s
Square, King Street
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Event
The festival will provide nine days of something unexpected
to enjoy in the city; after work, at the weekend, in the school
holidays.
It is unusual and creates debate around urban greening, guerrilla
gardening and sustainable food; and it all comes with a splash of
green, courtesy of the country’s finest purveyors of outdoor and
garden experiences.
The focal point will be the Festival Hub, a tent and garden in
Exchange Square which will host a bar and area for talks and
events.
Activities will include:
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Stunning art installations spanning Exchange Square
and New Cathedral Street curated and produced by US
artist Jason Hackenwerth
A forest of trees in Exchange Square
A Fine Food Market featuring some of the UK”s best food
and drink producers on Exchange Square, on the last
weekend of the event (9 – 11 August)
The Festival Hub will host a series of talks and
demonstrations; featuring Monty Don from BBC
Gardener’s World, Rachel de Thame and Mat James The
City Gardener
Dig the City Disco; dance among the plants
Dig the City Fete; a twist on the traditional country fete,
city dwellers are invited to a Plant Swop, to use a Plant
Cloakroom to leave purchased plants whilst shopping, and
invited to show their prize-winning marrows, home-made
jams and floral displays to win a coveted Dig the City
Rosette - judged by some of Manchester’s more famous
faces
Interactive children’s activities with the National Trust
including mud-pie making, snail racing and more from their
‘50 things to do before you are 11 and ¾’ campaign
Learn more about Nature’s Library with Manchester
Museum
Kid’s can meet Peppa Pig and enjoy other family-friendly
activities and workshops
New Cathedral Street will be transformed into Meadow
Street with 3 show gardens, a bandstand to host classical
and acoustic sounds, colourful planting, seating and street
food
King Street will host a horticultural and flower market
Neighbourhood gardens along Cathedral Yard will
showcase the best in community gardening.
Promotional Campaign
The local, regional and national marketing and PR campaign will position Manchester as a retail,
leisure and cultural destination with edge, broad appeal and offering much more than its retail and
cultural competitors. The campaign will include:
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Representation as a key event in Visit Manchester’s Summer Campaign; supported by Visit
England. Media includes 100K printed leaflet door-drop and insert, online features, emails
and campaign via www.visitmanchester.com, regional outdoor poster advertising and radio
Festival website at www.digthecity.co.uk, supported through Facebook/digthecitymcr and
Twitter @digthecitymcr
Email campaign via partner databases
Festival leaflet distributed through partners, shops, bars, events, libraries, attractions, hotels
Local outdoor media including 6 & 48 sheet posters and digital screen advertising
Local, regional and national PR campaign, supported by press advertising.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Be Part of It
Our vision is for a world-class event, filled with exciting and innovative content. We want the
entire city to turn green and be touched by the Dig the City festival.
We are looking to businesses to get involved by staging in-store activities and events, transforming
your stores with plants and flowers. Retailers who confirm their involvement will be promoted
through the promotional campaign.
Our aim is to actively drive event visitors into stores, increasing customers and spend.
How to get involved - ideas
Take a leaf out of the retailer’s book surrounding The Chelsea Flower Show - plan and create
inspiring Dig the City Garden Windows
Transform your stores inside, with spectacular floral displays
Add some window boxes or planters to your building
Create special menus, drinks lists and themed entertainment
Host special in-store events, signings, demonstrations, sampling events or tastings
Use flowers and plants as your inspiration to deliver in-store fashion and beauty events
If you have contacts with well-known celebrities or brand supporters, designers or chefs, we can
provide you with an opportunity to use the Festival Hub in Exchange Square for a special event
Encourage your staff to get involved in the Dig the City Fete; we are looking for urban gardening
enthusiasts to show their prize-winning veg, flowers and baking
Promote Dig The City in your newsletters, mailshots and campaigns
Provide plants, flowers or garden furniture for use in Exchange Square or New Cathedral Street.
In return, your brand will be promoted through on-site signage and through marketing materials.
We will then provide retail partners with promotional toolkits, for windows, in store and
online, to help brand your activities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Get in Touch
We’d love to know what you are planning - please contact Rowan Jamieson who’ll be happy to help
you maximize the impact of your involvement, and provide additional assistance where required.
Rowan Jamieson
Dig the City Event Manager
Don’t Panic Projects
01706 828855
rowan@dontpanicprojects.com