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A year ago, food festivals were off the menu. Pubs were closed, socialising was off the table and sharing snacks was unthinkable. So when 10,000 revellers visited Kantina in Manchester over the recent bank holiday weekend, it marked the first proper food festival since coronavirus arrived. It also heralded the start of what is hoped to be a much brighter second half of 2021, where people can gather, eat, drink and, if they so choose, listen to a Mexican mariachi band under a canopy dappled by sunlight.

That’s what happened on Saturday at Kantina, which was held in the impressive new Escape to Freight Island complex, built on the site of a former railway depot just south of Manchester Piccadilly. There, chefs from the North West such as Mary Ellen McTague, Gary Usher, and Sam Buckley combined with southern imports such as drinks expert Dom the Som, baker Richard Bertinet, and Mitchel Ibrahim from the Italian restaurant Ombra, to fill up the crowd with quick, fun, and delicious food.

They were joined by beef heart tacos from Madre in Liverpool, samosa chaat from the Indian restaurant group Dishoom, and excellent New York pizza from Voodoo Ray’s.

None of this was managed without difficulty or caution. Guests were strictly limited by number and all ordering had to take place by app (a new, slightly confusing app, I should say). Alas, countless pints were misplaced, forgotten, or delayed. For some guests, food took a while to come out, and when it did finally materialise, might not have lived up to the hype. The hour-long queues were less than kind to the thirsty.

One evening customer told the Manchester Evening News: “The app to order food and drinks kept crashing. We ended up just ordering pizza because it was the only thing left with availability.”

Another said: “Large queue, over 30 minutes, no assurance of entry time.”

But what Kantina’s merrymakers endured, everyone stands to gain. After all, this was the first fully fledged food festival since before the first lockdown and more than anything it was a success. The demand for £35 tickets shows how keen people are for this sort of thing – to go out (which is, by the way, the new staying in, as one neon sign at a bar in town instructed me later on).

There was a buzz inside the dining hall and a stronger vibe still outside on any number of terraces, alfresco dining compartments and in gazebo-like constructions that glowed with fairy lights after dark. People dressed up – I mean they really went for it, stilettos and dresses and all. Tables erupted into song.

For a short while, a man strolled about the place with a trumpet and, while confined to their tables, people danced, prosecco in hand. Every member of staff was brilliant and I hope they are all now enjoying a rest.

Co-founder Dan Morris told i ahead of the event that more than £100,000 was spent making the venue – which had already enjoyed considerable investment – safe. Doing so, while retaining a sense of freedom and exuberance, cannot have been easy, but was achieved.

The festival drew in crowds, and in the Northern Quarter, in Deansgate by the canals, and wherever I went, seats were full and restaurants busy. I cannot remember the last bank holiday where a city felt so buoyant, even euphoric.

Sure, the sprint sunshine helped, as did the cocktails and slices of pizza, but if Kantina is the first in a long line of similar events in 2022, we’re in for a tasty summer.