The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel and The Refuge are throwing a summer packed with Pride events this year.
The Summer of Pride will see the incredible venue overtaken by everything from sparkling cocktails to photography exhibitions to terrace parties.
The Manc Audio will be launching a summer residency on The Refuge Terrace, celebrating diverse up-and-coming DJs and music talent from across the region.
Hotel brand Kimpton has been supporting the LGBTQIA+ community for more than 41 years and will continue with its work all summer.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Refuge at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel will celebrate Pride all summer. Credit: Supplied
The hotel supports several charity partners, including George House Trust, which provides support services to people living with HIV and their carers and loved ones.
Those who work for the Kimpton Clocktower are also completing the Be Trans Aware training programme, which will help staff to understand and support the full gender spectrum.
Although Pride month is officially in June, the celebrations will continue into July at the huge Oxford Street hotspot.
ADVERTISEMENT
There’ll be a partnership with Sparkle Weekend, the world’s largest free-to-attend celebration of gender diversity.
The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel. Credit: Supplied
Sparkle Charity will host the event in Sackville Gardens between 8 and 10 July, but the Kimpton Clocktower will invite Sparkle Weekend members and hotel guests to a Sparkle Social Hour, with a drink on the house.
A special Sparkle cocktail will pop up on The Refuge’s menu, mixing white rum, cranberry, almond orgeat and cacao blanco, topped with an apple and rose foam.
ADVERTISEMENT
50% of proceeds from the cocktail will be donated to Sparkle, the National Transgender Charity.
The British Culture Archive are going to host a free new exhibition at the hotel, launching on 19 July.
Together As One – A Celebration of Manchester’s LGBTQIA+ Community features photographs by Jon Shard and Peter J Walsh capturing some iconic moments in the city, including Flesh at The Hacienda and the protest against Margaret Thatcher in 1988.
The Come As You Are Weekender will make a return in August too, coinciding with the Manchester Pride celebrations on 27 and 28 August.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking on the announcement, general manager of Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, Johan Scheepers said: “Inclusion and diversity is an integral part to the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel and Kimpton brand and we have always been extremely proud of this.
“It is crucial that any activity we do embraces the LGBTQIA+ community, so we’re more excited than ever to be announcing three-months of Pride championing activity.
“For us, it’s never just about doing something for Pride – it’s how we can spearhead the whole community throughout the entirety of the year. We look forward to welcoming all guests this summer and beyond.”
Mani from The Stone Roses is throwing a fundraising party with his wife following cancer diagnosis
Daisy Jackson
Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield and his wife Imelda are throwing a massive fundraising night to raise money for The Christie and The Stockport Charitable Trust.
The wife of the Stone Roses legend was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2020, and has been undergoing gruelling treatment and surgeries ever since.
The pair, who have nine-year-old twins together, will curate an evening of first-class entertainment at The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel’s ballroom in Manchester city centre.
This is The One: Let’s Kick Cancer’s Arse will be taking place during Mani’s birthday week, with raffle and auction prizes donated by bands, footballers, actors, venues and promoters.
Imelda and Mani will throw the fundraising party together. Credit: Supplied
Imelda is an events agent who says: “Both charities have supported me through my journey. Cancer affects not just the person who has it, but everyone around them, and I hope that by investing in some more research, we can help alleviate some of the devastation caused to families.”
Mani added: “When life deals you a pair of twos, you must get your game face on! The past two years since my wife’s diagnosis have been brutal in so many ways, but it’s also opened our eyes to so many things.
“This disease needs to be eradicated – we feel duty bound to do our bit to achieve this. So everybody, get on board, dig deep, help out, we will win!”
Credit: Twitter, Imelda Mounfield
By the time Imelda was diagnosed with bowel cancer, it had already spread to her liver and a small nodule in her lung, she wrote on her own JustGiving page.
She said: “I underwent emergency life-saving bowel surgery at it perforated. I had Covid and appendicitis for my first 3 chemo sessions, which were missed.
“I thought I was going down to the theatre to confirm appendicitis. Nobody heard anything for 9 hrs. Hence I woke with no small colon and an ileostomy stoma instead.
“Fast forward 6 months of treatments and breaks while they considered surgery, I had the right side of my liver removed.
“We were just on the mop-up stage of chemo when a scan revealed another tumour in the liver and several nodules on my lungs.
“I’m looking at other treatment centres and treatments privately as I’m nowhere near giving up this fight.
“Think positive thoughts into the universe for me to beat this. I’ve got twin boys aged 9 who I’m fighting for to be their mummy to be there for many years to come.”
This is The One: Let’s Kick Cancer’s Arse will take place at The Kimpton Clocktower’s ballroom on Friday 18 November.
Featured image: Paul Husband
Audio
A live orchestra is performing Kanye West’s ‘best’ album in Manchester next month
Emily Sergeant
One of Kanye West’s most-critically acclaimed albums is set to be performed by a live orchestra right here in Manchester next month.
And tickets are going on sale very soon.
There aren’t many artists in recent times who could be considered quite as polarising or who divide opinion like Kayne West, but despite how controversial his public persona has been over the last decade, and most-recently within the last few years, he is still widely considered to be one of the most influential hip hop musicians of all time, as well as often being voted as one of the greatest musicians of his generation.
But in typical Kanye fashion, his music often divides opinion just as much as his public persona – especially aomng fans, who will usually debate his best songs and albums, but rarely come to an agreement as to what they are.
One of the albums generally-considered by critics to be the best of West’s discography though is his 2010 album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’.
One of Kanye West’s most-critically acclaimed albums is set to be performed by a live orchestra / Credit: The Blues Kitchen Manchester
And if that’s the album you were expecting it to be, then you might want to add the date Friday 2 December to your diary, as that is when a live orchestra will be setting up at The Blues Kitchen to perform a “reimagining” of the LP in full.
Smash-hits like ‘Power’, ‘Runaway’, and ‘Monster’ are just some of the tracks from the album set to be performed during the set.
In a description for the upcoming event, The Blues Kitchen Manchester said: “Kanye’s career-defining record, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is widely seen as one of the last decade’s greatest albums [so] we’re incredibly excited to re-interpret this cult classic with a 13-piece orchestra formed of the UK’s finest classically trained musicians, using a unique musical score.”
‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ will be performed in full right here in Manchester / Credit: The Blues Kitchen Manchester
On top of the influential album being performed in full, fans can also expect to hear “some extra Kanye classics to finish off the night” too.
Re:imagine My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy will be live at The Blues Kitchen Manchester on Friday 2 December, and tickets are set to go on sale at 10am next week on Tuesday 16 August.
Daisy Jackson -
4th July 2022 
