Blooming at the Manchester Flower Festival

For one weekend in May, Manchester Met students and the Manchester Flower Festival transformed the city centre into a burst of green – with carefully designed gardens, a colourful selection of flowers, and even a relaxing pond! Mentored by rising TV star, the Cloud Gardener, aka Jason Williams, and supported by Manchester-based social enterprise Sow the City, students had eight weeks and only £700 to design two garden installations for two completely different weathers: sunny or rainy.

The time was tight, the budget limited, and most students had no horticultural experience! But, their passion to sustainability motivated them to complete this challenging project.

Working in cross-disciplinary teams, from architecture and fashion to biology, the students combined their creativity and knowledge to bring the gardens to life. ‘The Sunny Team’ took inspiration from guerrilla gardens in Barcelona to use recycled materials to create an edible garden filled with a variety of herbs and vegetables.

Meanwhile, ‘The Rainy Team’ looked to Singapore and China’s sponge city designs, building a garden that captured and filtered rainwater.

Throughout the process, students learned far more than just planting techniques. They developed skills in planning, teamwork, budgeting, and sustainable design, all while building confidence and forming new friendships. The project even gave some students their first chance to appear on live radio, as they proudly shared their creations on BBC Radio Manchester alongside Jason.

But the story does not end there. After the festival, both installations were moved to Newton Heath, where students (soaked by Manchester’s signature rain) replanted the gardens in a local alleyway with the support of Easy Come Easy Grow. These green spaces are now part of a growing community project, where they will continue to bloom and benefit local residents.

Hear from some of our participants!

“The project opened my eyes to the challenge of planning, budgeting and making real change in local spaces. It’s sparked a new passion I didn’t know I had!” Ntania Alaoua

“I joined this project because I genuinely care about the environment and wanted to be part of something that makes a difference. Seeing it all come to life was so rewarding. It was all about bringing people together through sustainability and creativity.” Alphius Ohdar.