Excitement as Manchester Day celebrations return to the city after three year break

Excitement is building ahead of this year's Manchester Day - the first celebration since the start of the pandemic. After three years off, the grand Manchester Day event is returning to the city centre this Sunday, June 19, with thousands expected to head into the heart of the city to enjoy the celebrations.

With parades, performances, and activities for all the family, this year's celebrations are themed around the young people of the city region, with all of the events fitting into the theme Our Year.

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At a preview event on Tuesday evening, some of the members of Manchester Youth Council took the time to speak with the Manchester Evening News to share what they'd been getting up to in preparation for the event.

Daanya Isa, 16, 14-year-old Lois Adeou, 15-year-old Virginia Collins, 18-year-old Davina Adesanya, and Callum Shallcross, 15, have been working incredibly hard over the last few months to put together their own ideas for what will be happening over in Piccadilly Gardens on the big day, planning live performances, food, and special treats for young people, by young people.

Daanya said: "We've been planning and organising for the event, our focus has been at Piccadilly Gardens where we're doing a youth takeover, we got a lot of youth groups and young people involved and we planned what we want to see for young people, it's kind of a youth led youth orientated space."

Virginia added: "Young people are such a vital part of Manchester as a whole so we wanted to focus on them and give them a chance to express themselves, I'm looking forward to meeting the new people that are going to turn up because I feel like there's going