Dropinto parkand gowith the flow

Free opening event for Manchester International Festival celebrates rivers

- Dianne Bourne

AT MANCHESTER'S Mayfield Park the bees are literally buzzing as they dart among the lavender and blooms.

The city's first new park for a century has exploded into floral life in its first summer and it will be the simply stunning location for Manchester International Festival's big opening event for its 2023 return.

Each Tiny Drop is the name of the huge free opener at Mayfield Park on the evening of June 29.

It will see hundreds of people head to the park for a walk of magical reflection with the sounds of a live choir and calming water sounds.

The creation of the park itself unlocked the River Medlock from its culvert, and it is the waters here that have inspired the major new arts premiere. Artist Risham Syed and director Angie Bual will draw on ancient practices and river rituals from South Asian culture in what is described as a "restorative event that honours our connection to water-and to one another."

What that means in practice? Well, for visitors arriving at the park for the MIF opening event, there will be plenty to alight all the senses.

On entry to the park, there will be spectacular kinetic sculptures created by Savinder Baul, where waters, transported from the River Soan in Pakistan will trickle over. Guests will collect one of 3,000 specially-created tiny clay pots to collect droplets of water from the sculptures.