Saturday 4. & Sunday 5. October 2025
Salford, Greater Manchester 🇬🇧
At the start of this month I spent a long weekend in Manchester for the annual Community Media Association festival, which this year took place at BBC Quay House, MediaCityUK in Salford.
A 6 and a half hour drive up the M5 and M6 on the Friday got me to my accommodation for the weekend – the 21st floor of a tower block opposite the BBC, with views in towards Manchester City Centre.
The festival itself took place on the Saturday – on the Sunday I was able to explore Manchester City Centre, before driving back (a little over 4 hours including stops).
The festival had many interesting sessions including ones on fundraising, AI, and diversity in the media. There were also talks from industry professionals including Mark Strippel, former Head of BBC Radio 1Xtra & BBC Asian Network – and Jason Hardy of BBC Radio Manchester; talking about their journeys from community radio to working full time for the BBC.
On the Saturday evening, after quickly exploring the Blue Peter Garden, I got the tram in to Manchester City Centre and ate at The Real Greek restaurant within the city’s very impressive looking Corn Exchange building. I had a very tasty stifado with rice, plus pita bread and hummus.
On Sunday I did some sight seeing in the city centre – including a wander around the Castlefield district of the city, walking along Deansgate to the Science & Industry Museum which was very interesting, and a visit to Manchester Cathedral.
It was also the week of the Conservative Party Conference so there was a heavy police presence in the city. The sight of two armed officers carrying huge guns the size of me was quite intimidating (I jumped out of their way as they walked past – not getting on the wrong side of them!) – However the sight of officers on horses was much more welcome.
Following my weekend in Manchester I have 9 pages worth of notes from the CMA festival, which I typed up on MS Word this week. So many takeaways from that event!
FH.
