Wing Fest, aka the biggest chicken wing festival in the UK, is returning to Manchester this August from its new home at the Love Factory.
Championing street food traders and restauranteurs from across the UK, over the course of the weekend there’ll be more than 100,000 drums and flats churned out from kitchens as they compete for the titles of Best Buffalo Wing, Best Wild Wing, and the Best BBQ Wing, a brand-new category for 2023.
Taking place this year on 12 and 13 August, this year will see the introduction of a new format inspired by the classic beer festival.
Organisers have taken on feedback from previous years about queue waits, and for 2023 Manchester Wing Fest will be divided into sessions with reduced capacity – starting with a Saturday afternoon, followed by an evening session, then finishing with a bang on Sunday afternoon.
This means less time waiting, more wings, and a more seamless festival experience. Expect profound poultry eating, music thumping, axe throwing, beer and bourbon drinking of epic proportion.
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Guests can expect a seriously saucy line-up for 2023, with wings from returning champs Eat The Bird, and local favourites Yard & Coop.
Wings at this year’s London event. / Image: Wing Fest
Image: Wing Fest
For those wanting wings from further afield, Poor Boys will be showcasing flavours from the big smoke, alongside Birmingham wing slingers, Filthy Wings.
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All traders will be competing to win your vote and guarantee their spot in the Hall of Flame, chicken wing fans will have the opportunity to cast their votes across each of the two categories.
Wing Fest’s legendary competitions will be held on both days, and it’s set to get seriously heated with the deadly Lava Wing Challenge.
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Hosted by Clifton Chilli Club, it’s the UK’s hottest wing challenge, renowned for the carnage it causes and strictly for the brave. If you’re a true wing aficionado, then it’s time for the Sweet Baby Ray’s Wing Eating competition hosted by Food Review Club.
Competitors who are hungry enough compete against each other to see who can eat the most chicken wings in the fastest time – easily the messiest spectacle across the two days.
Not just a festival for Wing aficionados, expect plenty of beer from Tiny Rebel, some of the best bourbon around from Horse With No Name, and whiskey from Jameson Black Barrel.
Entertainment includes axe throwing, beer puppeteers, chicken pinatas, and donut eating challenges, alongside live music – best enjoyed with a wing or two in hand.
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Tickets are on sale now from £21 (entry is free for under 12s) and can be purchased via the Wing Fest website here.
Featured image – Wing Fest
News
Teen sentenced after deliberately driving into a female police officer in Stockport
Emily Sergeant
A teen who deliberately drove into a female police officer at a retail park Stockport earlier this year has been sentenced.
Harvey Bell was at a retail park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle back on 25 January 2025 when he seriously injured a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer during a shocking incident – which left the officer requiring hospital treatment.
At the time, the 19-year-old from Knutsford was present while police were investigating reports of class C drug use in a car park.
Police parked in front of an Audi and the officer signalled for Bell to remain stationary and turn the engine off, but instead he reversed, and as the officer approached the front windscreen, Bell drove at the officer, knocking her to the ground.
He then proceeded to drive over her legs with both sets of wheels, before heading out of the car park at speed.
#JAILED | A man who deliberately drove into a police officer in Stockport has been jailed.
Harvey Bell (12/08/2005) has been sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute and was disqualified from driving for two years.
— Stockport Police (GMP) (@GMPStockport) June 4, 2025
Bell was subsequently arrested the following day and made no comment in his police interview, but then went on to plead guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, as well as possession of cannabis on 27 March 2025.
The teen appeared at Manchester Crown Court this week where he was sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute, and was also disqualified from driving for two years – which will take effect when he is released.
“What [Bell] did to me is permanently in the back of my mind, every call I go to, I feel the apprehension, the fear that any incident, no matter how innocuous it appears, can end with being assaulted or hurt,” the officer explained in a powerful victim impact statement read in court.
“This is an unseen result of Bell’s assault on me.”
She continued: “I know that Bell’s abhorrent behaviour is an exception, and the majority of the public we serve do not wish us harm, but assaults on police need to stop. An attack on a police officer is an attack on us all.
“Bell is a danger to society and had total disregard for my life.”
Featured Image – GMP
News
IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site
Emily Sergeant
It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.
The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.
The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.
IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.
IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.
Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.
IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.
Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.
The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.
“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.
“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”
Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester.
Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.
Georgina Pellant -
4th August 2023 
