Street events mark decade of regeneration in Ancoats

Residents are being invited to suggest ideas for the "world's first user-generated day of events" on Saturday 20 June in Ancoats in east Manchester.

Cutting Room Experiment, devised by event organiser Ear to the Ground, will be an afternoon of activities where every event has been created out of an idea from members of the public.

So-called 'flash mob' style events will take place on the hour every hour. Activities could be such curiosities as 100 people playing violins at once to a mass poetry reading.

The event will take place in a new public square called Cutting Room next to St Peter's Church and will be funded by regeneration bodies, the North West Development Agency and New East Manchester.

The NWDA has invested £72m into Ancoats since 1999 and funded Cutting Room as part of this investment.

The name of this newly created square, just off Great Ancoats Street and next to St Peter's Church, comes from the rich heritage of the textile industry in this district in the late 18th and 19th century. This outdoor space was where large swathes of material were cut out.

Cutting Room Experiment is being held to celebrate the completion of the new square and to mark ten years' regeneration activity taking place in Ancoats.

Peter Mearns, director of marketing at the NWDA, said: "Over the last ten years, the progress made on the regeneration of Ancoats into a heritage area where people want to live and business want to base themselves has been outstanding. Cutting Room is the area's first public outdoor space and the first chance we have to celebrate the tremendous amount of work and dedication that has gone into transforming Ancoats into what it is now."

Eddie Smith, chief executive of New East Manchester, said: "This is an ambitious yet very exciting initiative. Ancoats, the world's first industrial suburb, is set to get another 'world's first' title under its belt when it plays host to the world's first user-generated event this summer. We want to capture the imagination of Manchester's creative people and inspire them to come together for one afternoon in June to help us celebrate a decade of regeneration in this historic corner of the city. It will be great to see hundreds of people enjoying the space for the very first time and we hope as many people as possible get involved in this unique event."

• Visit Cutting Room Experiment for more details and to submit an idea by 29 May. Winning ideas will be announced on 4 June 2009.