He said: "After Tony Wilson died we knew it was very important we didn't let the moment go. The 24-hour event on the longest day of the year includes a very wide range of the arts, culture, music, architecture and so on.
"We know that in Manchester there is lots of talent, lots of young people working hard to make their ability count, and we need to be giving them opportunities. This can, potentially, become a major way of unleashing that talent in the city."
Sir Richard Leese will be speaking at 8am on the Sunday. Tweet