The 22 victims of the Manchester Arena attack have been remembered two years on. Hundreds of people gathered to observe a minute’s silence in St Ann’s Square, where thousands of floral tributes were placed after the bombing on 22 May 2017.

Inside St Ann’s church, survivors and the bereaved attended a private service of remembrance.

Adam Lawler, who lost his best friend, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, in the attack, told reporters he still suffered from post-traumatic stress and struggled to come to terms with what happened

“You are fine some days but other days you are struggling and can’t even get out of bed and those are the worst days,” said Lawler, who was injured in the bombing.

On social media, the singer Ariana Grande led the tributes, posting a bee emoji – the worker bee is a symbol of Manchester – on Instagram. It was after her show that the suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device in the arena foyer, killing himself and 22 others.

A bee hangs from a tree in St Ann’s Square to mark two years since the Manchester arena attack. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images

Grande organised and performed at the One Love concert in June 2017 to raise money for an emergency fund launched after the attack, and she has regularly spoken about the atrocity.

Dan Hett, whose brother Martyn was killed in the attack, said he would be attending a memorial. “Thanks for the kind words already, all,” he wrote. “I’m trying not to post old photos or wistful platitudes today. I’m going to do the school run, go to a memorial thing, then I’ll probably get drunk and cry with a bunch of people later. This is every year now I guess. Stay OK.”

Later he visited Manchester Art Gallery, which has archived every public tribute and object left in St Ann’s Square and other locations around the city two years ago. “The staff have said there’s still a lot to do in terms of figuring out the plan for it all, and it’ll be a slow process, but the fact that it’s been captured and archived so perfectly is really something. I really hope I can be involved. Huge respect to everyone involved,” Hett wrote on Twitter.

I've just visited the archived collection of every public tribute and object from two years ago, currently in the basement of @mcrartgallery.



I'd like to really highlight the work of everyone involved in being such sensitive custodians of these objects, it was amazing to see. pic.twitter.com/pP4mbLdhkf — Dan Hett (@danhett) May 22, 2019

Both Manchester United and Manchester City paid their respects on Twitter with images of the Manchester bee.

At 10.31pm on Wednesday – the exact time of the attack – bells will ring out from buildings across the city centre including Manchester town hall, Manchester Cathedral and St Ann’s church.