HEY! Festival Manchester

  • DATE

    23 April 2026

  • TIME

    2:00 pm to 8:00 pm

  • AGES

    All ages welcome

  • PRICE

    Free - No Booking Required

  • THEME

    Activism

    Poetry

    Political

    Publishing

    Read

    Wellbeing

    Write

  • ORGANISER

    Hey! Festival

Join us for a unique, writer led, fully immersive arts festival in the centre of Manchester on St George’s Day.

At Hey! you can talk to our Ear of Britain, Argue with a Woman, join in our interfaith blessing, sing your heart out to Mancunian mill songs and listen to talks, also participate in writing workshops before you pluck up the courage to perform live. Curious?

When? 23rd April, 2-8pm

Where? The Unitarian Chapel, Cross Street, Manchester

Hey! is a FREE festival funded by Manchester Metropolitan University coming to Manchester, 23rd April, St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s Birthday.

Hey! is the writer led wing of a rolling series of events across the UK called The Fete of Britain. FoB was devised by a collective of activists from across the arts; together they form a collective called Hard Art. FoB asks how we would like to see the fate of our country play out in future years, given current challenges of climate change and societal divisions, and uses art forms to forge collaborative answers.

Who? Hey! is a collaboration, a happening. Hey! is a pop-up micro lit-fest and more, a cross-arts collaborative effort, this time bringing together writers from Manchester Metropolitan University, actrs from Empathy Museum, organisers and activists from the Hard Art Collective and faith leaders from across Manchester as well as from the Unitarian Chapel, Cross Street, where William Gaskell was once minister and also home to famed author Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell. We will also be showcasing 19th Century Manchester Street songs with legendary ballad singer Jennifer Reid. You can also argue with a woman, Anouchka Grose.