Marks & Spencer, Morrisons Café and more are among the places offering a selection of meal deals and offers for kids this summer holidays.
Now that schools across Greater Manchester have broken up for summer over the next six weeks, plenty supermarkets, chain restaurants, and pub groups are offering families the chance to save money on hearty meals out.
Whether it’s kids eat free when an adult pays, meals for as little as £1, or lunch deals at discounted prices, eating out just got a whole lot easier.
A post rounding up a list of places offering meal deals this summer shared to the ever-popular Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK group on Facebook last week gathered thousands of comments and interactions from thankful parents.
Looking to save a few pennies where you can this summer? Here’s everything you need to know.
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Supermarkets
M&S Cafe
When adults spend £3.50 or more in the M&S Café this summer, kids can get a meal deal – normally costing £3.95, and including sandwiches, toasties and pasta – completely for free.
You’ll need to be quick as the deal ends this Friday 6 August.
Morrisons Café
From 3pm every day, you can get a meal from the kids menu for free with any one adult meal at a value of £4.50 or over.
The free meal can either be from the Café kids menu or chilled kids snack pack.
ASDA Café
Similarly to Morrisons, ASDA Café is offering kids the chance to eat for free all day throughout July and August when adults spend at least £4, with both hot meals and a cold selection including in the deal.
Tesco
Up until 1 September, kids can can eat for free when adults spend £3.50 at Tesco cafes nationwide, with the free offer covering the lunch Pick “N” Mix meal deal or hot meal deal, alongside various breakfast options such as Little Eggs on toast.
Schools across Greater Manchester have broken up for summer over the next six weeks / Credit: Asda CorporateA selection of meal deals at discounted prices mean eating out just got a whole lot easier / Credit: Farmhouse Inns
Restaurants
Bella Italia
Everyday (except Saturdays, and Bank Holidays) from now until 5 September, kids can eat for just £1 with the purchase of every one adult main meal.
Sizzling Pub & Grill
There’s a whole host of Sizzling Pub & Grill restaurants across Greater Manchester and the north west that offering kids the chance to eat for just £1 with every adult main meal between 3pm-7pm on Mondays – Fridays.
Hungry Horse Pubs
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, which is why Hungry Horse Pubs – which has a number of branches in Greater Manchester – is offering kids the chance to eat breakfast for free with every paying adult.
Offer is available from 8am – 12pm daily.
Beefeaters & Brewers Fair
Ensuring no one goes hungry this summer, each Beefeaters & Brewers Fair branch across Greater Manchester is offering a three-course kids meal for just £4.99.
Farmhouse Inns
Available up until 3 September, two kids per paying adult can eat for just £1 each at local branches of Farmhouse Inns this summer, and they can choose from the small breakfasts, any kids meal or junior carvery, and then relax in the dedicated family areas.
Pizza Hut
If you’re looking to properly treat the kids this summer holidays, Pizza Hut’s iconic unlimited buffet is available to tuck into until 3pm each weekday, setting you back just £5.99 for kids.
Featured Image – Morrisons | M&S
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Manchester Mardi Gras lineup and stage times in full – the ultimate guide to Pride 2025’s new event
Danny Jones
This year’s Manchester Pride festival is nearly here, and with the organisers introducing an all-new addition to the celebrations in the form of Mardi Gras, 2025 is going to be unforgettable.
Promising to be bigger, better and bolder than ever, this new entire sub-section/spin-off/side-event (whatever you want to call it) is designed to up the party atmosphere even further over the long August bank holiday weekend.
For anyone as yet unaware, Manchester Pride 2025 will not just boast the usual parade, Gay Village Party and numerous other specific events in and around Canal Street, but an entirely new series; this year, Mardi Gras is taking over Depot Mayfield and Freight Island too, promising a whole host of shows.
So, without further ado, let’s get stuck into what’s on where and when, shall we?
Now, for starters, you can see the full lineup down below, including the likes of blockbuster headliner Nelly Furtado, who was announced as the final act for the closing night of Mardi Gras 2025 last week.
The are plenty of other big names playing Pride this year – take a look for yourselves.
It’s also worth noting that wristbands for Mardi Gras still grant you entry to all of this year’s Gay Village Party events, too.
Mardi Gras stage times for MCR Pride 2025
Next up are the stage times, and while we can certainly lay everything out for you, as with any festival, having to painstakingly check all of the clashes is up to you.
Anna Phylactic – 2:45-2:50pm N-Trance – 2:50-3:20pm Louis III – 3:30-4pm K-Klass – 4:10-7:10pm Louisa Johnson – 5-5:40pm Banksie – 5:20-5:35pm Tayce – 5:45-18:00 Big Freedia – 6:30-7pm Tulisa – 7:20-7:50pm Olly Alexander – 9:40-10:40pm Nelly Furtado – 11:30pm-12:30am
The former Little Mix star is headlines the night of Mardi Gras.Gok Wan sets always go off.Credit: Press Shots (supplied)
Freight Island
Sat, 23 August
Sun, 24 August
Bongo’s Bingo – 4-5pm Red Bull ‘Dance Your Style’ – 5:15-35pm Yshee Black – 5:35-5:50pm Shanika Sunrise – 5:55-6:10pm Bailey J Mills – 6:15-6:30pm Red Bull ‘Dance Your Style’ (second set) – 7-7:20pm Charity Shop Sue – 7:20-8:05pm Queenz: ‘Drag Me To The Disco’ – 8:15-9pm Dean McCullough’s Pop Machine – 9:15-10:15pm The Danny Beard Show – 11:33pm-12:28am
Bongo’s Bingo – 3:45-4:45pm Lucky Roy Singh – 5:20-5:25pm Tequila Thirst – 5:25-5:30pm Fortune – 5:35-5:40pm Minara el Waters – 5:40-5:45pm Lady Imelda – 5:45-5:55pm DJ – Club Zindagi – 6-6:30pm Singh/Raj/Fortune/Kaan/Awas – 6:30-6:35pm Sitara Malik – 6:35-6:40pm Awais – 6:40-6:45pm Saki Yew – 6:45-6:50pm Raj – 6:50-6:55pm Duniya Dhoom – 6:55-7pm Khaan – 7-7:05pm Buffer – 7:05-7:15pm Zahirah Zapanta – 7:15-7:20pm Amirck Channa – 7:20-7:25pm DJ – Club Zindagi (second set) – 7:25-7:55pm House of MCR ‘Pride Edition’ – 9pm-12:04am
The Garden Stage is often the quieter, more laid-back part of Freight Island, but there’ll still be plenty of entertainment to be found there this bank holiday…
That’s just about everything you need to know ahead of the inaugural edition of Mardi Gras as part of the annual Manchester Pride celebrations.
We hope you all have a wonderful time this weekend – look out for one another, be happy, unapologetically yourselves, and show this city in its best light like you every year.
And last but not least, you can find out everything else you need to know from our complete MCR Pride 2025 guide right here.
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/The Manc Group
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Trailer released for new BBC drama series Riot Women filmed near Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The trailer for a new BBC series telling the story of five menopausal women who come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band has finally been released.
Riot Women, the brand-new drama from the multi-BAFTA award-winning writer Sally Wainwright – best known for being the creator of Happy Valley – is a six-part series set and filmed in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
First look pictures of the new show were shared back in January of this year, but since then, very little information about its air date emerged, leaving eager fans in the dark.
But now finally, the first trailer for the show has been released.
The newly-released trailer gives fans a glimpse at the show’s stars in action – with Joanna Scanlan, Rosalie Craig, Tamsin Greig, Lorraine Ashbourne, and Amelia Bullmore as band members, alongside a talented supporting cast consisting of Taj Atwal, Chandeep Uppal, and Macy-Jacob Seelochan as the band’s riotous backing singers.
A trailer has been released for the new BBC drama series Riot Women filmed near Greater Manchester / Credit: BBC
According to a synopsis on the BBC website, Riot Women dives headfirst into the world of five women who come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest.
But, in writing their first original song, they soon discover that they have a lot more to say than planned – and this is their way to say it.
As they juggle demanding jobs, grown-up children, complicated parents, husbands who’ve buggered off, and disastrous dates, and relationships, the band becomes a catalyst for change in their lives, and it’s going to make them question everything.
The six-part series is coming to BBC One this autumn / Credit: BBC
Creators and producers say the show is a testament to the power of friendship, music, and the resilience of women who ‘refuse to be silenced by age or expectation’.
Speaking ahead of the show airing later this year, Riot Women creator, Sally Wainwright, commented: “I’m having a whole new buzz of excitement about the show as we bring it together in the edit, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.”
Emily Sergeant -
2nd August 2021 
