English National Opera and Walk the Plank kick off Manchester Day with PERFECT PITCH

With 1.3 million music tourists in Manchester this summer, thousands are expected to join in the celebrations with a day of of joyous, free family-friendly fun, as this year’s Manchester Day takes its inspiration from a sensational summer of live music in the city.

In celebration of opera and community football in Greater Manchester, PERFECT PITCH, co-created by ENO and Walk the Plank, presents a large-scale participation programme exploring the impact of mass singing on team performance and spectator experiences. Since January 2025, PERFECT PITCH has welcomed over 250 football fans and choir members from the boroughs of Bury, Manchester and Wigan to perform football chants and operatic repertoire.

The Manchester Day programme of outdoor arts, culture, music and sports takes place across different locations and runs between 12pm to 5pm. On the day, the free PERFECT PITCH activity kicks off with the following programme:

• 12pm: 100 football fans and choir members from PERFECT PITCH will be taking part in the Mini Parade alongside other community groups from across Greater Manchester. They will be accompanying two large-scale griffin mascots representing PERFECT PITCH’s two football tribes and participants will be kitted out to match. The location of the parade will start from St Peter’s Square, moving down Peter Street and along Deansgate to end at Manchester Cathedral.

• 3pm: Georgia Payton, Danni Bailey, Lily Metcalfe, Tish Reyes, and Kiera Lynchey, footballers from Bury FC’s Women’s team will be taking part in a penalty shoot-out like no other. The shoot-out will be accompanied by pop-up performance at Cathedral Gardens, outside of the National Football Museum, featuring a demonstration of football skills. Football chants and opera repertoire from the PERFECT PITCH programme will be accompanying this showcase of football talent.

• 4:30-5pm: For a grand finale to Manchester Day, located at Cathedral Gardens, PERFECT PITCH concludes the day with performances with the choir of 100 participants formed of both local community choirs and football fans, a gondola float procession, and many more surprises. Also performing at the finale, is internationally acclaimed and BRIT nominated soprano Camilla Kerslake singing the ‘Queen of the Night’ aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and the award-winning baritone Marcus Farnsworth singing the ‘Toreador’ from Bizet’s Carmen. They will be accompanied by members of the Chorus of ENO, who will also perform the ‘Anvil Chorus’ from Verdi’s Il trovatore, and eight student singers from Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). Lyrics for the ‘Anvil Chorus’ and ‘Toreador’ have been rewritten to celebrate both football and opera, especially for this performance.

Manchester Day is commissioned by Manchester City Council, and created and produced by Walk the Plank, working with community groups, artists and volunteers from across the city region.

PERFECT PITCH will be returning this autumn with further workshops, events and participation opportunities for football fans, community groups, music enthusiasts, or anyone else from the Greater Manchester region interested in taking part.