A small group of Google Local Guides from Manchester met on a stunningly warm (and for Manchester, unusually rain-free) afternoon to explore the now-annual Manchester Flower Festival. This year it was a trail of ten main floral installations, with several fringe exhibits, side stalls, bars and market stalls.
The theme of each of the ten main installations was Manchester based - taking into account things such as Alan Turing and the invention of the computer;The Roman origins of Manchester;The rise of the Suffragette Movement in Manchester (womenâs right to vote); King Cotton and the Manchester textile industry; Manchesterâs status as the worldâs first industrialised city; The Hive, acknowledging the worker bee - the symbol of Manchester; LGBTQI+ equality and freedom; an iconic ânorthernerâ character - Hilda Ogden - from Britainâs premier soap opera; a rain garden, celebrating (?!) Manchesterâs usually damp climate which contributed to its industrial rise; a mini and floralised version of Manchesterâs town hall, currently undergoing restoration; and a tribute to The Hacienda - probably the most iconic night club in Manchester in its day, and the home of The Manchester Music Scene.
We followed a distinct pre-planned route, provided on the paper maps available throughout the city centre, to ensure we didnât miss any installations - although we did stop for liquid and solid refreshment a couple of times during the afternoon.
You can see some of the photos taken by the the group here
@AdrianLunsong spent a considerable time making a video tour of the festival while we were walking around, and it can be found in his Go Loco Podcast here.
This event was organised by Google Local Guides, Manchester. We are an active group of Local Guides who try to arrange several face-to-face MeetUps during the year. Everyone is more than welcome to join us. Keep searching Manchester LG in Local Guides Connect for details of past and forthcoming events.
26 Likes
Mega slay! Itâs great to hear from you, Iâm so glad that in Manchester you have organized an LG group. I was also at the event and it was wonderful, the creativity put into each flower arrangement was super!
1 Like
Hi @Tatys90 Itâs great to have your comment, and great to know youâre in and around Manchester. We are a thriving group of actual people who meet feet-on-the-ground quite frequently. We would love to have you join us.
Search Manchester LG for events and MeetUps we have previously put on, and also keep checking there for any up-coming MeetUps.
If youâre in and around the city centre most Wednesdays, Iâm there, and a coffee or a drink to meet each other would be great. Message me!
1 Like
Hello,
I have been a local guide for the last 6years and during this time,i have seen many people in my city and country join maps.I would love you guide me to my first meet-up.
2 Likes
Thanks for organising the meetup @PeteMHW ! I certainly enjoyed wandering around the various places but I probably spent too much time trying to capture everything on video! 
I need to hold back a bit next time and just enjoy the atmosphere too! We were certainly very lucky with the weather and I hope that the good weather remains for a bit more.
For those too lazy to hit the link above, Iâve embedded the video below:
I couldnât get Peter in the video as he was playing host to another attendee and I was taking way too long to set up my camera stuff but in the second half when I caught up with the rest, you do see him pop up from time to time! 
My favourite is probably The Hive in St Annâs Square but that whole section was really nice and I liked that they put out a big chess board underneath the shade of a tree and it was rather popular with folks competing against each other!
@Tatys90 Do join in the events in Manchester. Peter has taken up the mantle of organising events these days but I am trying to put one together for July. Hopefully the weather will hold and we can do another photo walk around town.
Also, when replying, do tag the person youâre talking to using the @ symbol plus their username so that they will get a notification⌠otherwise itâs really easy to miss a reply on here! 
@Muemakelvin You can use the search box at the top of the Connect forum page to search for other Local Guides in your area e.g. Kenya. That will then show you posts from users that have included the search term âKenyaâ in their post. And hopefully, that will help you find other Local Guides in your area. You can then send them a message to find out if thereâs an active local group for you to join in.
Also, keep monitoring the Meet-up section to see if there are any events getting organised in your local area. And you can also go to the Favourite Locations to set three favourite locations and posts with those geo tags will show up on your main page. I hope that helps!
Hi @Muemakelvin Itâs great to hear from you, and good to know youâre enjoying Local Guiding. And itâs good to know there are people joining in by contributing to maps in Kenya!
We are obviously continents apart, so a real life MeetUp where we both meet each other is unlikely - unless you ever get to Manchester - but Iâm more than happy to give you online advice on arranging a MeetUp in your home city. You can message me directly if you want! Meanwhile good luck with what youâre doing, keep enjoying, and keep Local Guiding!
@PeteMHW As I am seeing the pictures and complete detail of the Meetup it seems like a successful event and I am very much glad that such kind of events will help to LGs community to close each other.
Keep up the good work 
