Between Monday, 9th March and Monday, 23rd March 2026, Greater Manchester will be hosting the first ever Live Well Spring Festival. The Spring Festival will pop up locally in neighbourhoods, community spaces, parks, high streets, and online, showcasing the people, places, and partnerships that bring Live Well to life every day across Greater Manchester.
The four festival 'stages'
The festival will be built around four (metaphorical) stages. Unlike traditional festivals, these are not physical stages. Instead, they act as shared foundations that support local pop-ups to grow, while ensuring a strong, consistent thread runs throughout the festival.
Each pop-up can connect with one or more stages, reflecting the many different ways Live Well is visible across Greater Manchester.
- Spaces of hope and connection: Celebrating the trusted, community-rooted places that bring people together - where belonging grows, relationships deepen, and support flows.
- Great everyday support: Showcasing inspiring examples of relational and inclusive support in communities that help people Live Well.
- Building bridges and weaving trust: Bringing people, places, and experiences together - strengthening trust, connection and belonging between communities, and with public services.
- Participation and community power: Celebrating the ways communities shape the places they live and the decisions that affect their lives - shifting power, driving change, and growing collective action.
Full details of the Spring Festival can be found here.
The festival is a great opportunity to showcase the excellent work you are doing as VCSE organisations, share your knowledge and expertise, and connect with others.
If you are interested in becoming a festival curator and hosting a festival pop-up, please share your idea via this link. To be included in the festival programme, all ideas must be shared by Friday, 30th January.
The GM Live Well team will walk alongside pop-up curators, enabling ideas to take shape and come to life. A Live Well Spring Festival Fund is also available to resource involvement, participation, and the costs of running events or activities. Any support needed can be shared through the link above.
To stay updated, sign up to the GM Live Well newsletter by emailing GMLiveWell@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk.
