It’s time to save the date! We Invented the Weekend, the bold and imaginative free festival for the UK held in Salford, will be returning to Greater Manchester on 15th and 16th June. The full programme for the 2024 festival will be announced in the coming months but revealed today is an unmissable Sunday afternoon set from Manchester’s favourite DJ Paulette. After a hugely successful launch year in June 2023, which saw 60,000 visitors descend onto MediaCity and its neighbouring areas, We Invented the Weekend will once again transform Salford Quays with a programme of completely FREE performances and activities to celebrate what people get up to over the weekend*. Wayne Hemingway, co-founder of We Invented the Weekend, said: “The concept of We Invented the Weekend is like none-other and based off the tens of thousands of people who visited on that wonderfully sunny, uplifting weekend last year, it is clear people are understanding the ethos and meaning of the festival. It is incredibly impactful to be able to put on We Invented the Weekend as a free large-scale event in the place where the weekend was created in 1843. The event doesn’t just celebrate what we all get up to at the weekend, but is a moment to also recognise the culture, heritage and legacy of Salford and Greater Manchester.” Revellers will be able to expect a specially curated programme of over 200 events and activities which will resonate with people of all ages and backgrounds, with unmissable headline moments scattered throughout the weekend celebrations. DJ Paulette said: “I am so excited to play at We Invented The Weekend – one of the ‘all are welcome’ high points in the Greater Manchester outdoor events diary. The ethos of this weekend is universally understood, it’s beautiful and it feels very special to know that it came from a Greater Manchester campaigning action. I can’t wait to come together with the community in June and celebrate all the amazing things people can get up to at the weekend!” 2023’s programme saw household names such as BBC, RHS, The Lowry and Science and Industry Museum, plus a host of local creatives and community-run organisations present over 200 free performances and activities which helped MediaCity achieve its highest footfall moment in its history. The festival also brought in over £3.2m to the local economy. About We Invented the Weekend *Up until the 19th century, everyone in the UK worked a 6-day week. In 1843, workers’ rights activists launched a campaign to finish early on Saturdays in Greater Manchester. They won, and in doing so, invented the weekend – a gift to workers the world over. We Invented the Weekend is marking this enormous achievement with a new and imaginative free festival from Salford. One massive, colourful, exciting weekend of music, theatre, sport, workshops, dancing, laughs, and more to celebrate the joy of free time. We Invented the Weekend is funded by Salford City Council, MediaCity (a Peel Media Ltd and Landsec partnership), GMCA Culture Fund, Bupa and supported by Salford’s Culture & Place Partnership, a cross-city collective delivering Suprema Lex, Salford’s strategy for culture, creativity and place which is led by The Lowry, Arts Council England, Salford City Council, Peel Media Ltd and the University of Salford. The event delivery partner is HemingwayDesign who hold an impressive track record of delivering large-scale public engagement events across the country. We Invented the Weekend is a true partnership project with generous contribution to the festival content from several key partners including the BBC, The Lowry, and the University of Salford as well as many other arts and community organisations across the city.
