MFDF, the country’s biggest urban food event, has announced a ‘Vegan Takeover’ at the Festival Hub on Cathedral Gardens on Sunday 29th September.


The Festival Hub is the ‘beating heart’ of the Festival, featuring bespoke booze offerings via multiple bars; a killer line up of street food; an artisan food market; a live music stage… plus demos, masterclasses and banquets at the very special Dining Dome. It’s all happening for on Cathedral Gardens and the whole Festival Hub is to be given over to a celebration of plant-based food and drink for one very special day.

The ‘Vegan Kitchen’ will take over the Dining Dome Live Cookery Theatre throughout the day. From 12pm – 4pm some of the leading lights from Manchester’s huge vegan scene will be taking to the stage to showcase some of the most innovative and exciting plant-based dishes, products and cookery techniques around. Local vegan luminaries taking part include author of award-winning, best-selling cookery book “Vegan Street Food” Jackie Kearney. Masterchef Finalist and British Street Food Award-Winner Jackie will be cooking up her favourite dishes from her new book “Vegan Christmas Feasts” due to be published in September.

Matt Nutter, Development Chef at Foodwell, and Founder and ex owner/head chef of the award-winning Allotment vegan restaurant will be joining the roster and demonstrating dishes that make the most of his favourite flavours - Miso baked pineapple tatin, miso caramel, confit beetroots, pomegranate and rose.

By night, the Dining Dome will host a very special MFDF vegan banquet… 
A Plant-Based Evening with John Robb, Shaun Ryder and Bundobust will start at 6pm and will provide an out of this world vegan-meets-music Indian street food experience.

Broadcaster, musician and journalist John Robb is a vegan of 10 years, and Shaun Ryder is a pescatarian Happy Monday who loves vegan food. Together they will be hosting a vegan feast from their favourite restaurant Bundobust. John will host a lively conversation with Shaun as they talk about their love of plant-based food, Manchester, and Shaun’s struggles to become a vegan. 

An incredible plant-based Indian banquet by the award-winning Bundobust paired with vegan beers from the new Bundobust Brewing Co., in the presence of two inimitable personalities, sound-tracked by a GREAT Manchester playlist… this promises to be a celebration of veganism, Manchester style.

For one day only, the street food traders at the Hub will also be offering their own special vegan offerings too. Tasty plant-based street food treats will include Dim Sum Su’s vegan Chinese dumplings, Tibetan Kitchen’s vegan Himalayan street food, Tampopo’s vegan Thai dishes, Middle Eastern & Mediterranean inspired vegan dishes from The Ottomen and Ginger’s Comfort Emporium’s array of vegan ice creams.

There’ll also be vegan beers from Camden Town Brewery, vegan G&Ts from JJ Whitley and vegan wines too.

This promises to be a proper, 24 Hour Party People style vegan street feast, so Step On and join the vegan revolution at this year’s Manchester Food and Drink Festival.