BRITAIN may have voted to leave the EU, but a little bit of Europe will be coming to Trafford this weekend, in the form of the Altrincham French Festival.
The festival will be a grand celebration of French culture, food and music over three days (July 8, 9 and 10).
Is is the fourth year of the festival and organisers say it will be bigger and better than ever before.
The event includes a carnival parade through Altrincham town centre on July 9.
Up to 40 young people dressed in colourful costumes and supported by musicians will set off from Stamford Quarter at 1pm.
Visitors enjoy all things French at a previous French Festival
They will go through George Street, around the market along Shaws Road and return to Stamford Quarter.
Many town centre retailers will be organising a range of French inspired activities in their stores during the day. These include food tastings, French style café, children’s art work, French cosmetics and promoting French recipe books.
In the evening, there will be a Bastille Celebration party at Bowdon Rugby Club, from 7pm to 11pm. Ticket price includes a three course French meal, live entertainment and a spectacular fireworks display.
Visitors enjoy all things French at a previous French Festival
On July 10, Stamford Park in Hale will host a family day, with free entry, from 9am to 7pm. The host of attractions include a Euro 2016 themed U-10 girls' football tournament, a cycling Sportive for families, a bake off competition and a five hour concert with live music, singing and dancing.
There will be food and drink stalls plus a wide range of activities for young people.
The festival is supporting Marie Curie Cancer Care through raffle draws over the weekend. The festival is being supported by Arts et Culture en Francophonie, a north west based French language charity.
Visitors enjoy all things French at a previous French Festival. Organiser Zainul Sachak is pictured
Festival director, Zainul Sachak, said: "Although Britain has made its decision to leave the EU, we remain passionate about celebrating with our French cousins as we want to create an event where all people and families come together to enjoy a weekend of French culture and sporting activities.
"We have put together an exciting line up of performing artists, food and drink stalls and family friendly activities.
"There are a number of new things including a French cultural evening and La Grande Bake off.
"We also see the return of some past favourites including Lego building, children’s craftwork and French storytelling. We have some headline local artists coming back to perform again – Absolute Belters and ABCD Dance group.
"There is something for everyone. For more details about the festival or to book tickets please go to our website www.altyfrenchfestival.co.uk. “
If you are interested in volunteering for the festival, you can email Zainul Sachak on info@altyfrenchfestival.co.uk. If you want to receive up-to-date information about the event, ‘like’ its Facebook page on facebook.com/AltyFrenchFest or follow on Twitter: @AltyFrenchFest.
The festival also has a website, altyfrenchfestival.co.uk.
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