First ever King Street Festival delivers surge in visitor traffic for Manchester businesses

King Street, one of Manchester city centre’s busiest shopping destinations, saw a sharp increase in footfall during the last Bank Holiday weekend thanks to the inaugural King Street Festival.

Visitor numbers leapt year on year by 64% over the course of the three-day weekend at the end of May, after the city’s Business Improvement District Heart of Manchester BID brought a mix of music, history, fashion, beauty and VIP experiences to King Street.

In total, 52k people visited a pop-up garden and took part in lawn games or listened to live music, while youngsters had the chance to meet Beatrix Potter character Peter Rabbit and listen to storytelling at the Waterstones store.

More than 50 retailers and restaurants took part in the festival, including Brazilian eatery Bem Brasil, clothing brand Diesel and financial services firm Virgin Money.

The chair of the Heart of Manchester BID, Jane Sharrocks, commented: “The King Street Festival was created by the BID to celebrate the street’s resurgence and showcase the new range of luxury brands, eateries and hotels which have helped one of the UK’s most iconic shopping streets return to its former glory.

“It was fantastic to see everyone working collaboratively to put on an event that encourages footfall and ultimately drives awareness of what the street now has to offer and we’ll be looking at ways to build on the success of this event moving forwards.”

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