Just on the outskirts of Greater Manchester, there’s a country pub set in a rural village that hosts a world gravy wrestling championship.
Leave it to us northerners to organise a world gravy wrestling championship because let’s face it, there’s nothing more northern than plummeting yourself into bucket loads of gravy.
At The Rose ‘N’ Bowl in the village of Stacksteads, it’s not just their meals they’re drenching in the brown nectar; they drench any willing guest in this beige saucy goodness too as part of the World Gravy Wrestling Championships.
Here’s a little taster from nearly a decade ago.
Participants are expected to wrestle in the gravy for two minutes, with the winner being judged not only on their play-fighting skills but also on their choice of fancy dress, comedy effect and entertainment.
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Past wrestlers have rocked up as zebras, racehorse jockeys and famous TV characters like Ali G and Mickey Mouse.
Each wrestler is encouraged to raise money on behalf of a charity of their choice, but if you don’t have one, donations will be sent to East Lancashire Hospice, which has helped people countywide suffering from life-limiting illness for the past 30 years.
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The World Gravy Wrestling Championships have been held outside this very pub for over a decade, with the first ever event taking place at a car park in Wigan before it found a permanent home outside The Rose ‘N’ Bowl.
And if swimming in a pool of gravy isn’t for you, don’t fret because there’s a handful of sauce-free activities you can get involved with spread throughout the pub’s car park.
Fret not, past events have included bouncy castles, cheerleading performances, craft beer stalls, cake and tombola stands and even a BB gun shooting range that are all completely gravy-free.
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There will even be help from a local fire brigade who will be on hand to wash down wrestlers in between their gravy-filled tournament, so they can wander round all the stalls too.
The 2025 World Gravy Wrestling Championships are coming to The Rose ‘N’ Bowl in Stacksteads on 25 August, with tickets available in person only, but plenty of information about the event HERE.
If you’re after signing up to be one of the wrestlers at this event, applications are still open and you can get stuck in with all the details you need HERE.
And if that wasn’t enough Northern food competitive action, we’ll catch you at the World Black Pudding Hurling Championships, innabit.
Harry Styles announced as latest performer at the 2026 BRIT Awards
Danny Jones
Yes, in what is set to be his Co-op Live debut (yes, the venue he’s literally invested in), Harry Styles has been confirmed as the latest blockbuster performer at this year’s BRITs.
The lineup for the 2026 BRIT Awards was already pretty stacked, but this just takes the cake.
Not long after FINALLY announcing his fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally and releasing the new lead single, ‘Aperture’, the Cheshire-born singer-songwriter is coming to the Co-op Live arena for the very first time as part of the ceremony’s live music lineup.
Absolute scenes. Screaming, crying, throwing up.
we've got news… Harry's coming home 💋🪩@Harry_Styles will be making his live TV performance debut of music from his new album 'Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.' at The BRIT Awards 2026
Watch the performance live Saturday 28th February on ITV1 & ITVX in the UK and on… pic.twitter.com/Aax3lV03xM
The 31-year-old former One Direction member turned solo artist and global megastar recently revealed a raft of live shows this coming May (and there’s been plenty of discussion surrounding ticket prices), but he’s sadly overlooked Manchester for now.
However, anyone who already secured a seat at the first-ever BRITs here in Manchester will no doubt be doing cartwheels now following the announcement.
As if that wasn’t a mega enough name, he will be joining the likes of the wonderful, already award-winning and fellow multi-time nominee, Olivia Dean.
As quite literally two of the biggest musicians on the planet right now, we couldn’t pick a better roster if we dreamed it up ourselves.
Speaking of Ms Dean, she is also one of several acts confirmed to be playing a series of intimate acts across the country – and her’s is right here in Manchester.
You can see the full lineup of gigs HERE – all we’ll say is that there’s some seriously big hitters playing very small capacity venues on this list.
What a great few weeks for music, eh?
Taking place on Sunday, 28 February, public tickets for the show unfortunately sold out some time ago for what will also be his first-ever live musical TV performance.
Perhaps his booking is at least partly why we haven’t got a standalone Harry Styles Manchester gig on the ‘Together, Together’ tour, but we’re still keeping everything crossed that he’ll announce a second leg of shows here in the UK.
You’d think he’d fancy properly headlining the gaff he helped pay for, or maybe a return to the Etihad Stadium across the way, right?
Find the complete shortlist of nominees, as well as the rest of the live music lineup for the 2026 BRITs ceremony here in Manchester, down below; and if you see on screen trying to clutch at Harry’s ankles, we’re sure you’ll understand…
Featured Images — Leticia Moraes (via Flickr)/Press shots (supplied)
Art & Culture
Sounds From The Other City releases 2026 lineup with 100+ acts playing on 17 stages across Salford
Emily Sergeant
More than 100 exciting artists are set to perform on 17 stages dotted across Salford this spring.
In case you hadn’t heard, 2026 is the year Salford is celebrating 100 years since it was first declared its own city, and to celebrate such a monumental occasion, the popular Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC) festival has now released its full lineup ahead of its return on the early May Bank Holiday weekend.
Salford’s long-running independent festival of new music is known for its genre-spanning showcase of new artists from across the UK and beyond.
This year’s festival is curated by some of the most exciting promoters, record labels, radio stations, magazines, and tastemakers in the North.
Music lovers will get the chance to see artists in a wide range of independent venues and unconventional spaces across the city – with 17 stages around Chapel Street and The Crescent, from pubs and churches, to concert halls and galleries.
Artists announced today include the uncategorisable masked provocateur Lynks, South African ‘future ghetto funk’ trailblazer Moonchild Sanelly, Manchester-based artist jasmine.4.t, who has recently been named BBC 6 Music Artist of the Year 2025.
Other artists to look out for include Grey Lantern, FaT OuT, ambient pop artist Pollyfromthedirt, genre-straddling South London six-piece, Blue Bendy, South London trio ashnymph, and Manchester quartet Pyncher.
The Sounds From The Other City festival has released its 2026 lineup / Credit: Breige Cobane (Supplied)
One of the undeniable highlights of the lineup is that the spiritual home of the festival, Islington Mill, will be programmed day and night by the legendary Band on the Wall, multi-award-winning Reform Radio, Manchester’s infamous queer day-rave BENT, and the LGBTQ+ POC collective Swagga, with performances from Sorvina, Renee Stormz, and Chimpo.
“This year, we’re shining a spotlight on Salford’s independent venues and the selectors in the North who shape our programme,” commented Emma Thompson, Co-Director of From The Other, as the lineup was announced this week.
“Giving these organisations the space to showcase the artists they champion is vital, not just for discovering emerging talent, but to recognise how important these spaces are for our scene.”
Sounds From The Other City 2026 takes place on Sunday 3 May, and tickets go on sale this week – with Early Bird ticket access available to mailing list subscribers from tomorrow (Thursday 29 January) and the remaining tickets going on general sale from Friday 30 January.
Prices remain unchanged from 2025 with tiers at £30/35/40/45, and you can get tickets when they go live here.
Thomas Melia -
25th July 2025 
