This weekend, Manchester’s Finest’s food and music festival ‘Live From The Grill’ returned for its second year.
And just like the first one, we elevated the food line-up so that it shared equal spotlight with the musical roster, and with some of our good mates in the Manchester food and music scenes, we reckon we nailed it.
We were pretty overwhelmed with the turnout. Accompanied by some glorious sunshine, 5,000 people pitched up at Deansgate Square for an unforgettable day of beats, rhymes and BBQ life.
On the grills, Knights BBQ served up some blazing island flavours; handling immense queues admirably alongside Ancoats heroes Elnecot, who elevated the classic British BBQ far beyond its backyard roots.
Food Sorcery’s Malaysian grill stunned all with their melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, and Italian icons Salvi’s Neapolitan festival pasta dish proved that BBQ transcends cultures.
For pudding, Gooey’s ice cream cart was the perfect full-stop to a feast for the senses.
The sonic landscape was equally compelling. Saturday’s stage was dominated by the Habitat crew, delivering a soundtrack as varied and vibrant as the food.
Sunday saw Gig Pig host an ensemble of talents including BBC Radio 1’s Victoria Jane and rising R&B artist Francesca Fly. The music was more than just a backdrop – it was the heartbeat.
Our gratitude extends to Manchester Union Brewery for keeping the pints flowing with the launch of our very own lager, and to Renaker for hosting us.
Together, we turned a weekend BBQ event into something we want to become a regular fixture in the summer calendar – a meeting of food, music and Manchester culture.
We plan to do more of this. So stay tuned.