Some of Manchester’s best street food traders will come together at Castlefield Bowl this September, slinging out bagels, burgers, bao and burritos to Laughterama punters across five glorious days.
Local favourites including Triple Bagels, Mi & Pho and T’arricrii will all come together from 21-25 September, slinging out their best-selling dishes as part of Manchester’s new comedy festival.
Featuring big names like Nish Kumar, James Acaster, Rosie Jones, British Comedy Award winner Aisling Bea, Dylan Moran, Phil Wang and Josh Widdicombe, Laughterama will pair award-winning comedy with some of the best food trucks in the city.
The festival will also welcome a number of homegrown Manchester comics including Stephen Bailey, and Josh Jones.
Brought to Manchester by a team of siblings who already run successful comedy festivals in London and the south of England, organisers hope this event will be the first of many.
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As well as catching some uproarious stand up sets, ticket holders will also get to feast on some of Manchester’s best street food throughout the event.
Alongside some established food favourites, the festival has also booked up and comer Thief Street, Mexican taco truck Nina’s and top-end kebab kitchen Eat Like a Greek.
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Meanwhile, sweet tooths will be catered to with pancakes from Eat Dutch Lekker or a range of sugary treats from Ravenous Fudge.
Keeping reading for a breakdown of what food to expect to discover as part of this year’s brand new comedy festival.
T’arricrii
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Image: T’arricrii
Image: T’arricrii
Run by Riccardo and Romeo, two Sicilian brothers with a reputation for making some of the best arancini (Sicilian rice balls) in Manchester, T’arricrii began life at Hatch on Oxford Road in 2018. Over the years, the duo have firmly cemented themselves as a local favourite.
Eat Like a Greek
Image: Eat Like a Greek
Image: Eat Like a Greek
Serving gyros and souvlaki from their beautiful mobile taverna (converted from a horse trailer), these Manchester newcomers are making their mark with delicious wraps dripping with olive oil and seasoning direct from the motherland, alongside other Greek favourites.
Eat Dutch Lekker
Image: Eat Dutch Lekker
Image: Eat Dutch Lekker
Get a load of these amazing Dutch desserts! Mini pancakes, loaded waffles and so much more. Try a new spin on some of your all-time favourite delights with fresh ingredients and an abundance of toppings made right before your eyes.
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Triple Bagels
Image: Triple B
Image: Triple B
Serving up the best salt-beef bagels and burgers around, if you love New York-style street food then you’ll be making a (Triple)B-line for the house-cured and smoked pastrami, juicy burgers, fries, sides and more.
Thief Street
Combining retro style with handmade potato waffles and restaurant quality toppings, this newcomer has fast become a city favourite. It is the brainchild of Manchester chef Jon Green, who rose up the ranks in some of the city’s finest eateries like Trof, Sugo Pasta Kitchen and The Refuge before spending lockdown masterminding the perfect waffle.
Ravenous Fudge
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Image: Ravenous Fudge
Image: Ravenous Fudge
This is a long way from your typical fudge. With flavours like banana and chocolate, vegan sea salt and caramel, chilli chocolate or maple and walnut, Ravenous Fudge has revolutionised this classic treat since forming in Essex in 2015 and are bringing all their fudge-y delights to Manchester.
Mi & Pho
Image: Mi & Pho
Image: Mi & Pho
South Manchester’s hugely popular, multi award-winning outfit guarantees its legions of fans fresh and delicious offerings inspired by Vietnam’s street-side vendors. Get ready for an explosion of Southeast Asian flavour with their Buns, …
Nina’s Taco Truck
Image: Nina’s
Image: Nina’s
Serving fully plant based Mexican street food from their lovingly converted retro caravan, Team Nina bring you brimful burrito bowls of smokey seitan chicken, refried beans, guacamole, home-made salsa and lots more besides.
Tickets for each individual comedy event are priced separately at £25 a head (not including booking fee) for general admission. Food is not included with your ticket and must be purchased separately.
Be part of the biggest Great Manchester Run ever
Danny Jones
Runners and regular Mancs alike, start lacing up your trainers and sorting safety pins early, because the Great Manchester Run is back for 2026, and you can be part of it.
With sign-ups flying and bibs selling out fast, we really recommend getting a move on and booking your place now to make sure you’re part of what is, without fail, not just one of the most exciting dates on the local sporting calendar, but always a great day for the city in general.
Returning for its 23rd edition and fourth year being backed by principal sponsors, AJ Bell, we can assure it’ll be as well-attended as ever.
In fact, judging by the numbers already and the increasing crowds of spectators every year, this is looking on course to be the biggest Great Manchester Run to date.
The only question is, are you going to help make it the BEST yet by joining the thousands of others already finding the perfect spot to hang their shiny new medal?
Half-marathon, 10k, junior and mini races
As ever, the Great MCR Run isn’t just limited to one event: there are multiple distances, routes and age groups that can race the route in and around the city centre.
Whether you’re a seasoned runner looking to get in a PB, looking to box off your first half, love a 10, or you’re a youngster looking to get in on the action and soak up some of that glory on the day
So, whether you’re a seasoned runner looking to get in a PB, looking to box off your first half, love a 10, or you’re a youngster looking to get in on the action and soak up some of that glory on the day, there really is fun for all ages.
In all seriousness, even watching the massive metropolitan event stood next to the roads with homemade signs promises plenty of atmosphere, but with fancy dress galore, various different activations in the middle of the city, there’s not a chance you’ll get bored.
Even in the years we’ve missed out on running it ourselves (it sold well in advance last year, for instance), the pure buzz we got from joining countless other Mancs cheering from the pavement is enough to keep us coming back time and time again.
All that being said, if you’re looking to sort the perfect Christmas present for a runner, or simply need more reason to give yourself the kick up the backside you’ve been waiting for and just put your name down, this is it.
Besides the full annual marathon in April, running events simply don’t get bigger in this region than this one, so don’t miss out.
Sign up for the 2026 Great Manchester Run right HERE.
Featured Images — Great Run Company/AJ Bell (supplied)
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A candlelit Queen tribute concert is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
Yes, you read that right: a candlelit concert dedicated to the one and only Queen, with a spectacular West End Cast and a talented live rock band, is coming to Manchester city centre in January.
In fact, it’s coming home, as this wonderful event started right here in 0161 back in 2021.
Concerts by Candlelight themselves host concerts up and down the country at various points throughout the year, but their much-loved ‘Queen by Candlelight‘ special knows all about lighting up Manc venues.
Having since gone on to become an internationally acclaimed live concert experience, we’re glad we still get to see the ‘Princes of the Universe’ on our doorstep.
Credit: Concerts by Candlelight (supplied)
With the likes of Bridgewater Hall and the magical Manchester Monastery all having played host to the promotion on many ocassions, this time Queen by Candlelight is coming to the legendary Manchester Opera House in the new year.
One of our most historic and legendary theatres, it’s only fitting, really, that they be chosen to welcome a night of equally iconic tunes.
But it’s worth reminding more casual fans that these aren’t just British rock and pop anthems; Queen‘s discography is one that still has global recognition to this day.
That’s why this specific show has been taken to virtually every corner of the world, with the incredibly talented cast of singers and musicians delighting audiences in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and New York, to domestic crowds here in town and down in London’s West End.
‘Queenies’ or ‘Darlings’, as Freddie Mercury used to call them, can expect all the big hits, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, to ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and plenty more from the back catalogue.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store this coming January:
With tickets already flying out fast, we really would recommend securing your seats early before they inevitably sell out.
To quote the promoters themselves, “this spectacular celebration of Queen’s biggest hits is guaranteed to rock you.”
Coming to the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, 6 January, you can book your tickets for Queen by Candlelight right HERE.
And if you’ve never been to one of their candlelit events before, you only need to see how much of a ball we had at their country event earlier this year to find out how much fun they are…
The Manc -
14th September 2022 
