| Garden of Delights | - Manchester's biggest outdoor festival
- Platt Fields Park, every Whit Bank Holiday weekend
- Up to 50,000 visitors
- Organised by Manchester International Arts
- Held in 2003, 2004 & 2005
- Partners: Manchester Airport, Manchester City Council, AGMA, Manchester Environmental Network, Arts Council, x.trax & decibel
- 2005 was the final Garden of Delights
- may return for Platt Fields Park centenary in 2010
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Yes that’s right. The biggest outdoor festival in Manchester has finished, never to return. To be fair, the Garden of Delights – or GoD for short – did go out on a high. Many regard this year’s festival, with the theme ‘Delightful Furniture’ as the best ever. But like all good things, it has come to an end. Described as Manchester’s mini-WOMAD - GoD has attracted an ever-growing number of visitors to Platt Fields Park (50,000+ this year) with its eclectic mix of community arts, sculptures, performers, artists and artistes who have transformed this urban park into an enchanting weekend of wonder.
 | | Norbert: A garden gnome |
GoD is where the weird and the wonderful grow side by side. Behold! A wasp tamer at the Insect Circus Society Museum & Menagerie. Shh! Don’t look now but that’s Bury Met’s Top Secret Annual Spy Convention behind you. A whirling dervish here. A wandering gnome there. Watch Ogham Woodworks make a bench then listen to their storytelling... Music theatre, dance, circus, side shows and puppets – and all this for a quid. And kids go free. Not bad. The festival was a labour of love for three dedicated people – Anne Tucker, Jeremy Shine and Caron Wint – who make up Manchester International Arts (MIA). A grand title but Garden of Delights was in actual fact produced from a cellar of a commune in Rusholme - because their funding didn't stretch to an office. Which says a lot about how we value public events like this. GoD was a victim of its own success. It grew and grew: this year’s event attracted a record 120 groups – all needing support and liaison. Planning a project on this scale from your basement just isn't possible - without working every hour GoD sends - which they did! | "The last thing we wanted was a Garden of Delights that gets smaller and smaller and gradually shrivels away." | | Anne Tucker, MIA |
"It’s just not sustainable anymore," said Anne, adding with a wry grin: "And to be honest, it probably wasn’t sustainable this year!" So, without the promise of extra funding to pay for a dedicated office with at least one full time administrator, Anne and the others decided to call it a day. "It’s very sad, of course. But it’s wonderful in some way that the last year was so good! The last thing we wanted was a Garden of Delights that gets smaller and smaller and gradually shrivels away." "We never wanted to be maudlin. And we never wanted a campaign set up by the public to keep it going. It’s over! And we’re going out on a high!" So if you're wondering what to do next Whit Bank Holiday, remember that something magical used to happen in an urban park in Manchester. And we let it go. Shame.
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