The organisers of MediaCity’s first major festival, We Invented the Weekend, have decided to postpone the event.
Tens of thousands of people were expected to attend this weekend, with 270 activities organised by 25 partners, including the BBC and University of Salford alongside local artists, makers and community groups.
This afternoon they issued a statement:
“After careful consideration and conversations with key partners and funders, due to the very sad news of the Queen’s death, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the inaugural ‘We Invented the Weekend’ festival this weekend.
“We are so grateful to the passion and commitment of the partners, community groups and everyone that has worked so hard to put on this incredibly special event and we look forward to announcing a date for the postponed festival very soon.”
A performance by The Weekend Orchestra with the BBC Philharmonic on Saturday and Sunday will take place and open with The National Anthem followed by a minute’s silence.
A book of condolences will be available for those visiting MediaCity and The Quays over the weekend.
According to organisers, the weekend was invented in Greater Manchester in 1843 and the event was to be a “celebration of Salford.”
Agencies including Carbon Creative at MediaCity, Manchester-based Sundae, Source Creative in Lancashire and HemingwayDesign have been working on promoting the event.
“This large-scale event will mark a shift in the perception of MediaCity as not only a creative, tech and digital hub but as the leading cultural waterfront destination not only in Greater Manchester but in the North of England,” said Wayne Hemingway MBE before yesterday’s news.
