by When The New York Times Having recently chosen Manchester as one of its 52 places to visit in 2024, alongside the likes of Paris, Singapore and Florida, he highlighted the music that has “long been at the heart of Manchester’s gritty soul” and the new arena inside Co-op Live. , opening in April. “Stars like Liam Gallagher, Eric Clapton and Barry Manilow are booked to open the 23,500-capacity space,” writes Nora Walsh.
It could be argued that the provocative soul of the city stems from two centuries of industrial development and that music is primarily an outlet for performers and giggers alike. Anyway, two of those artists have nothing to do with Manchester or its comedy – Barry Manilow! – and Liam Gallagher, 51, is definitely yesterday’s rock star rebel.
But of course The New York Times targeting its affluent readers. Many will have been to London, where they were served heirloom dolls, as well as overpriced fish and chips, horse guards, brave theaters and a generous spread of TGI Fridays, McDonald’s and Five Guys branches. If that seems too general and mean-spirited, I refer to the readers of the 2018 article in The New York Times entitled “Beyond Porridge and Boiled Mutton: A Taste of London”. Even cultured American journalists are not quite ready for Britain’s international culinary reform – even though it began almost a century ago.
Mutual misunderstandings aside, what can Americans expect to see and do in Manchester that will be delightful and different from anywhere else?
In one of the city’s best museums there is a display with deep connections to the United States. The Museum of Science and Industry has a floor dedicated to the machines and manufacturers of Cottonopolis. Work vests and spinning jerseys provide an evocative racket, while the guides describe the sector’s links to slavery and the US south.
When it comes to British industrial history – taught in American high schools – Manchester is always strong. The museum is difficult to find on what used to be the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world’s first intercity line. Around the corner is the Midland Hotel, where Charles Rolls met Henry Royce in 1904 to talk about cars – presumably (there is no documentary proof). At the glorious Neo-Gothic Town Hall there are coats of arms and mosaics with Manchester’s proud symbol – the worker bee. The symbol will no doubt be appreciated by Americans, who are said to be workaholics on the basis of their lack of holidays – although detractors claim it refers to the drone aspect of factory labour.
Also in the vicinity is the site where Peterloo Market emerged. Where there’s a vibe there’s brass, but there’s also unions, protests and communism. A statue of the 19 most famous people in ManchesterthThe leftist of the century, Friedrich Engels, sits on a square named after the most famous of the 20th centuryth-entrepreneur of the century, Tony Wilson Place. With an idol in his mansion, the founder of Factory Records will only know a tiny genius who loves music from the USA.
The most popular pilgrimage site for most Americans is the statue of Abraham Lincoln near Albert Square; as the plinth explains, the statue commemorates “the support of Manchester workers in their fight to end slavery during the American Civil War”. In contrast, Liverpool was the site of the final surrender of the US Civil War, mentioned in Gone with the wind – and it attracts tourists who are inundated with Congress.
According to VisitBritain, the US made 4.6 million visits to the UK i 2022. The top five cities were London (three million visits), Edinburgh (386,000 visits), Glasgow (136,000 visits), Manchester (111,000 visits) and Oxford (90,000 visits).
Patricia Yates, Chief Executive of VisitBritain, said: “Britain is the most popular European destination for American visitors and the US is our largest and most valuable visitor market. American visitors are extremely important to our tourism industry and our economy. We predict that US visitors will spend a record £6.3 billion in the UK this year. This means that Americans account for nearly £1 in £5 spent by overseas visitors in the UK.”
If Manchester’s industrial history succeeds as an alternative to the capital’s charm, can the North West’s biggest city compete on the other holiday essentials – food, drink, fun and games? Manchester-born Adam Reid, chef-patron at The French at The Midland Hotel, says he doesn’t need to.
“The entire British economy has been geared over centuries to inflate London, making it a cultural melting pot with a 24/7 lifestyle and a population with disposable income and choice of dining out. Manchester can’t compete with London, but why would it want to? We do what we do here and we don’t need to imitate or compete with anyone. Manchester will be leading Manchester as always.”
Reid cooks for fine diners but advises Americans to go beyond local. “Don’t visit and leave without trying Bury black pudding (ideally cooked fresh from the market), cheese and onion pie with mock peas, homemade tater tots with bread and butter, or if you’re here in a month February, forced Yorkshire rhubarb and custard.
“Every region of the world has its own food culture, a terroir if you will, and all you need is a little knowledge and understanding of that and a desire to tell its story. Pies, stews, pastries and mince pies are easy to raise if you know what you’re doing and use quality produce.”
If all else fails, the “Americans in Manchester (Yankunians)” Facebook page is full of advice on scoring high burgers and negotiating Wetherspoons.
Manchester is changing, fast. Ask any Liverpudlian and they will point out – enviously – that the skyscrapers on “Manchattan” show a booming local economy. October 2023 saw the opening of Manchester’s premier performing and visual arts space, Factory International – the UK’s largest investment in a national cultural project by Tate Modern. The international food scene is thriving. New hotels are opening all the time. Hollywood films love the city as a location (Captain America shot on Dale Street). New music, wine and LGBTQ tracks have been mapped across the city. A visitor’s pass has just been sent.
Nick Brooks-Sykes, director of tourism at Manchester Marketing, says: “It’s a great time to visit Manchester, with plenty of new things to do and discover, but as always we recommend that any international visitor use Manchester as a gateway. from the north of England; to explore the city and perhaps some of the emerging boroughs and neighborhoods in and around Greater Manchester, then check out some of the other great destinations on our doorstep across the North.”
With direct flights from JFK New York, Atlanta and Las Vegas, Americans can bypass London and spend more time in places like RHS Bridgewater, Jodrell Bank, Salford and Macclesfield.
As for new music, any American visiting Manchester this year will find gigs every night of the week in pubs, small venues and mid-sized concert halls such as Band on the Wall and New Century – both of which have reopened in 2022.
I The New York Times entry promoting the Manchester singer, Walsh segues “from Joy Division and the Stone Roses to Oasis and, now, Harry Styles”. It’s easy to be sniffy – but she’s probably on the right track. Joy Division ended with the suicide of Ian Curtis in 1980. “Madchester” was pretty much over by 1990. Harry Styles, raised in Holmes Chapel and nurtured not at Factory Records but on. X Factor, it is more representative of modern Manchester than any of the legendary miserabilists. It’s huge in America too.
