Christmas karaoke huts and curling lanes are coming to Spinningfields
Crazy cocktail bar Clubhouse is hosting a massive month-long Christmas party on Spinningfields Square with karaoke huts, duelling pianos and a 10m long curling lane
Spinningfields’ Square will be transformed into a winter wonderland later this month as wacky cocktail bar Clubhouse takes it over – bringing karaoke huts, a curling lane, and a giant 35ft high Christmas tree along for the ride.
Completely heated and covered in a giant pergola, the square will be transformed into a festive party hub following some careful planning by the cocktail connosieurs behind Clubhouse.
The team – who haven’t yet enjoyed a Christmas together before, thanks to 2020’s successive lockdowns – will be throwing their own version of a Christmas party in the square, complete with alpine karaoke huts, free-flowing Christmas cocktails, live music, and duelling New Orleans-style pianos.
Elsewhere, there’ll be festive cocktails like Santa Baby (pink gin, triple sec, sour, sugar and cranberry) and Life’s A Grinch (kiwi, sour, sugar and coconut) delivered straight to your huts; and a full on festive kebab and loaded fries menu created by the team behind Kong’s Chicken Shop and Meat and Three.
Chipotle orange and cumin pulled pork Christmas kebab with pickled red cabbage, tomato and cucumber, lettuce, garlic sauce, homemade chilli sauce and spiced pickled gherkins (£13) / Image: The Manc Group Chipotle orange and cumin pulled pork Christmas kebab, pulled turkey and cranberry kebab, and loaded fries with pigs in blankets, baconnaise and cranberry hot sauce (£13) / Image: The Manc Group
Think pigs in blanket-loaded fries, a festive poutine with mozzarella, mulled wine gravy and sprouts, plus Christmas kebabs stuffed with your choice of pulled turkey, chipotle orange and cumin pulled pork, mulled wine braised beef brisket, or slow cooked mushrooms and fennel.
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Kicking off next Wednesday, 17 November, a Clubhouse Christmas will be opening on the Deansgate-facing square outside Spinningfields restaurant Australasia next week.
We’ve also heard rumours about a grinch who’ll be roaming the square in the evening – but that’s yet to be confirmed.
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Clubhouse is well known for its crazy cocktails, which come garnished with treats like flumps, custard cremes and Haribo tangfastics / Image: The Manc Group
Music will be on from 7 – 10 pm every Friday and Saturday, with duelling pianists taking requests for everything from Metallica, to Christmas songs, to pop anthems. / Image: The Manc Group
Karaoke huts will be bookable for up to 6 people, priced from £50 an hour with an almost infinite number of song options. There’ll be drinks service direct into the huts, with drinks packages available to add on when you book.
Huts themselves will be priced at £50 an hour, with options for drinks on top priced from £35. For that, you’ll get 6 cans of prosecco served on ice, or alternatively you can opt for three four pint pitchers of Clubhouse pilsner (£50), or for two festive cocktail jugs of your choice (£50).
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The bar will be bringing its wild, party bar attitude to Spinningfields Square from 17 November / Image: Clubhouse There’ll be plenty of drinks pouring at the Clubhouse bar in Spinningfields square / Image: The Manc Group
There’s also a VIP drinks package priced at £100 that gets you a jug of festive cocktail, a pitcher of clubhouse pilsner and 6 cans of prosecco.
As for the 10m long curling lane, an hour on here with up to six people will cost you £60. Just like in the huts, you can pre book drinks or use a QR code to have them delivered to you whilst you play.
Open from 12 pm – 11 pm every day, with last order at 11 pm, a Clubhouse Christmas kicks off on 17 November and runs up to 23 December before taking a short break for Christmas. It will then return on 26 until 30, before breaking for the New Year.
Whilst walk ins are welcome, booking is recommended. Karaoke huts can be pre-booked here.
To keep up with all things Clubhouse Christmas, make sure to follow the Instagram page here.
Featured Image – Clubhouse
City Centre
Family behind Salvi’s launch new concept, weeks after iconic restaurant closure
Daisy Jackson
Just weeks after the closure of its iconic, 16-year-old Italian restaurant in the Corn Exchange, the family behind Salvi’s have revealed a brand-new concept.
And this time, the reins are being handed over to the next generation.
Salvi’s founder Maurizio Cecco has helped to shape Amò, but it’s all the brainchild of his daughter, Sienna.
Sienna will run the business out of a unit up on Deansgate Mews, serving fresh pasta dishes, pizza sandwiches, tubs of tiramisu, and two-for-£10 spritzes.
The deli aspect of the original Salvi’s has been carried over to Amò too – you’ll find shelves almost to the ceiling filled with Italian pasta, wine, olive oils, pistachio spreads, and more.
Sienna has grown up in restaurants, with her parents launching Salvi’s when she was just two years old.
She said she wants the space to be a livelier, fresher version of the Italian restaurant that has been so loved by Mancs for so many years.
Sienna outside AmòFresh pasta dishesInside Amò by Salvi’sTheir viral frozen crema di caffeLemon granitaInside Amò by Salvi’sTiramisu pots
Amò, which is Neapolitan slang for ‘my love’, will have loads of fresh Italian dishes, including arancini, gnocchi, and hearty pasta plates.
At lunchtimes, guests can order from a £10 lunch menu, with dishes changing daily depending on the best produce the kitchen can get – it could be a pizza sandwich with proscuitto and tomato, a spicy pasta, or a gnocchi bake, always served with your choice of soft drink.
With its position on Deansgate Mews, Amò basks in the sunshine at lunchtimes.
And while it’s definitely a different concept to the original Salvi’s, Amò looks set to carry the family’s Italian food legacy into its next generation.
Manchester announces its first-ever Pride Fringe event with community celebrations all over the city
Emily Sergeant
Manchester is getting ready for a city-wide Pride celebration this month.
Of course, we all know Manchester Village Pride will be returning for 2026 over the August bank holiday weekend, but aside from the official festivities around the Village, an extensive new Pride Fringe event has been announced – with a programme featuring everything from a film festival and shopping events, to live performances, family-friendly celebrations, and more.
Alongside comedy, club nights, exhibitions, and walking tours, venues across Manchester will also come together for a month-long celebration.
You can expect an exciting mix of LGBTQIA+ arts, culture, live entertainment, family events, food, drink and shopping experiences, giving visitors even more reasons to make a weekend – or even a week – of it.
Many of these events will be raising vital funds for local LGBT charities, and on top of that, the city’s hotels will also be joining in the celebrations with dedicated Pride packages, parties, free gifts, and discounts this month.
Manchester has announced its first-ever Pride Fringe event with community celebrations all over the city / Credit: Jason Lock Photography (Supplied)
Pride Fringe will be led by the return of the week-long SCENE Festival.
Back for its third year and kicking off from Thursday 20 August, SCENE will be bringing together some of the biggest names in TV, film, and queer culture for eight days of screenings, panels, live comedy, parties and premieres across 10 Manchester venues – and this year, it’s the festival’s most star-studded programme to date.
Some of the other highlights on the programme include a selection of Pride-themed walking tours and guided trails.
At the forefront of this is a a guided walking tour led by local playwright and tour guide, Chris Hoyle of What’s The Story?, exploring the stories that have shaped Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community.
From Victorian drag balls and the birth of Canal Street, to the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and the city’s iconic Pride Parade, the tour uncovers the people, places, and moments that have helped make Manchester one of the world’s leading LGBTQ+ cities.
Manchester Arndale and Afflecks will also be hosting their own Pride-themed shopping events and workshops, while Aviva Studios, The Refuge, Freight Island, Kampus, and Fairfield Social Club are among the dozen independent venues throwing their own parties.
Families can also head to places like Manchester Central Library and Great Northern Warehouse for storytimes, craft sessions, entertainment, and other child-friendly events.
Georgina Pellant -
11th November 2021 
