We are delighted to announce that legendary Manchester poet, Tony Walsh, will be the guest host at Forever Manchester’s 30th Birthday Party at The Principal Hotel on Friday 7th February 2020.

Our relationship with Tony stretches back to 2012 when, as part of a re-brand exercise, he was commissioned to create a poem that would encapsulate the spirit of Greater Manchester by celebrating our local communities and helping to explain what Forever Manchester does. The resulting poem was This is the Place!

Since ‘This Is The Place’, Tony has also written a number of other poems for Forever Manchester which have been performed at numerous Forever Manchester events with Tony receiving standing ovations on every occasion.

Some of these poems including ‘This is the Place’ can be heard on Forever Manchester’s podcast ‘An Evening with Tony Walsh’ which was recorded at the Frog and Bucket in 2017. LISTEN HERE.

Last year, we caught up with Tony Walsh as part of our ‘Forever Manchester Meets’ Podcast series. This podcast also features a full length (rarely heard) version of Tony’s poem ‘Silver Sparks’, written in celebration of Forever Manchester’s 25th Anniversary in 2015.

This podcast also features a full length (rarely heard) version of Tony’s poem ‘Silver Sparks’ which was written in celebration of Forever Manchester’s 25th Anniversary.


We’d love you to join us for this fantastic celebration of 30 years of funding and supporting community activity across Greater Manchester.

Bringing together over 500 passionate and dedicated Forever Manchester supporters, the evening will be in the format of a three-course meal with live performances from a selection of local community projects and an awards presentation, hosted by Manchester poet Tony Walsh. All this will be followed by a headline act and DJ set from Clint Boon, guaranteed to get you all on the dance floor and partying into the early hours.

Click here for more Birthday Party details.