Christmas

Bongo’s Bingo Tropical Christmas party at Albert Hall Manchester will star Dene Michael from Black Lace

Aga-do-do-do!

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 26th November 2021

Bongo’s Bingo – the wild travelling promotion famed for turning sleepy gaming halls into floor-stomping parties – is returning to Manchester in December, and it’s bringing along a UK novelty icon. 

Dene Michael from Black Lace is headlining a series of special Christmas shows at the Albert Hall next month, as Bongo’s Bingo borrows the magnificent venue for a seven-night tropical winter shindig. 

Black Lace are the band behind the singalong pop tracks destined to soundtrack UK discos and weddings for eternity – with notable hits including Agadoo, Hokey Cokey, Do the Conga and I Am the Music Man. 

Group member Michael will be leading rowdy renditions of these karaoke classics, which will be followed by trance belters, chart-toppers and indie rock songs – from N Trance to S Club to Gerry Cinnamon.

Bongo’s Bingo

The special events are set to feature all the usual weird and wonderful antics you’d expect from a Bongo’s show including conga lines, dance-offs, prizes and, of course, a few good old-fashioned games of bingo. 

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A Very Tropical Christmas will take over the Albert Hall across seven dates next month: Sunday 19, Monday 20, Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 December. 

Eponymous founder of the riotous gaming promotion Jonny Bongo said: “Christmas is my favourite time of the year and we are gearing up for a brilliant season of festive shows in Manchester. 

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“Having Dene Michael from Black Lace back for a run of dates is going to be class – he is amazing fun and always has the venue going wild. We can’t wait!” 

Rich Furness, Bongo’s Bingo’s Manchester host, added: “Christmas is always huge for us in Manchester. It’s my fifth year hosting Xmas shows in Manchester and I cannot wait to get stuck into this run of shows.

“A couple of years ago we had Dene Michael from Black Lace and it went off that much we had to get him back.

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“It’s been a weird and strange couple of years for us emotional and not having any Xmas shows last years felt really strange, so these Manchester shows feel a bit more special to me this year.

“The crowd here is always well up for it and I can’t wait to hear the Xmas Manchester roars and ear piercing singalongs.”

Bongo’s Bingo is an immersive night out that has dominated the party scene for years.

Blending bingo, dance-offs, rave intervals, bonkers prizes (like Henry Hoovers and giant pink unicorns) and loads of audience participation, it’s a phenomenon that now takes place in almost 50 locations worldwide.

Tickets for A Very Tropical Christmas are on sale now at: www.bongosbingo.co.uk 

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Follow @bongosbingo on Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date with the latest news and parties. 

You can also keep up with Bongo’s Bingo via the promotion’s Facebook channel. 

Christmas

Manchester City Council confirm New Year’s Eve party at Piccadilly Gardens – but there’ll be no fireworks

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

Manchester WILL have a New Year’s Eve countdown party, but rising costs will mean there’s no fireworks again this year.

Manchester City Council has today confirmed its plans for New Year’s Eve in the city centre.

The decked platform area at Piccadilly Gardens – which has been packed with street food traders for the last six weeks of the Christmas Markets – will be used as a free events space for the night.

The platform splits into two areas, a bar space and a family-friendly, zero-alcohol viewing platform.

The evening will consist of DJ sets and a countdown to midnight displayed on a big screen.

In previous years, the Council has arranged a huge fireworks display, previously at the Town Hall but in more recent years at the Cathedral.

New Year's Eve in Manchester
Piccadilly Gardens will host the New Year’s Eve celebrations – pictured here when it was home to the Manchester Christmas Markets. Credit: The Manc Group

But this year they say they ‘simply cannot justify’ the expense when budgets are stretched so thin.

Instead, the council plans to use its limited resources for free community events year-round, like the recent Christmas Parade.

Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester’s Christmas spokesperson, said: “We know that New Year’s Eve is a special night – one that everyone looks forward to – and we are all disappointed that we can’t go ahead with our usual fireworks this year. 

“Unfortunately, we simply cannot justify the increasing costs of putting on a big display while also worrying about funding essential Council services. 

“We believe that we should use the limited funding we have to put on free events in communities throughout the year and we look forward to seeing more of this in the coming months. 

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“But we couldn’t let New Year’s Eve go by without a true Mancunian countdown. So join us before midnight in Piccadilly Gardens and help us bring in 2023 in style.”

Both spaces will be limited capacity and will be closed once they are full. 

When it comes to getting home again from Manchester city centree after New Year’s Eve, many bus services are ceasing at 6pm, but trams are set to run later with the last trams leaving the city centre at around 1am.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons

Christmas

Man steps up his hilarious and chaotic Boxing Day tradition to binge-drink Boddingtons

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

He’s back! Everyone’s favourite Boxing Day hero, who makes it his mission to binge-drink cans of Boddingtons, is back.

Last year, stand-up comedian Robert Copland worked his way through 15 cans of the legendary bitter, live-tweeting the whole thing in a viral thread.

And this year’s instalment was even more impressive, with a target of 16 (SIXTEEN!) cans in his sights.

Once again, what starts off as a fairly ordered and logical Twitter thread soon descends into madness, including dancing videos, puns, swearing, and plenty of typos.

Rob’s tradition, now coined ‘Boddmas’, has even drawn support from Ed Gamble this year.

And for 2022, he worked out how to set up a crowd-funded hangover recovery fund, with more than 100 people donating to get him through his Boddingtons hangover.

Highlights from this year included an impassioned rant about Declan Rice (‘a sound as f*ck geeza, heart of gold, wonderful sprit, we can’t get enough’), a break for hoisin duck pancakes, and a desperate bid for the attention of whoever manages Boddingtons’ social media channels.

Rob’s Boddingtons Boxing Day mission reached 16 cans this year.

The ‘official’ rules of Boddmas include sticking to a 12pm-12am window for the binge-drinking marathon, tweeting an update each time a can is opened, and ‘having fun’.

Reaching the halfway mark, Rob tweeted: “Number 8 is making me sentimental, how far we’ve come how far we have to go. It’s all the same when you’re rushing on Boddingtons.”

The typos really kicked up a notch after this, with him adding: “Feeling cockey about how fine I feel after 10… but then realised I’ve got 6 to go… Have a feeling I might be humbled in the final striaght.”

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As things went on, he posted: “No13! Come at me! Like Ally McOist I’m mosit for it! I hope to have a face so red and booze bitten one day. One can only dream. We love you Ally!” – which is… definitely words.

The mental no-context celebrity mentions continued after that, including this: “Fifteen. Reckon I could beat 50 cent in a wrestling match at this point. He must be old by now no? Get rich for die wrestling the Boddingtons guy! What’s his name Curtis Jackson right? Bring it on Curtis!”

And then this morning? Rob says he ‘woke up sweating yellow’.

During the Boddmas celebrations, one person Photoshopped Rob’s head into a World Cup photo as a mark of encouragement, writing: “You are Messi and number 16 is your World Cup Final.”

Someone else said: “If you only do one thing this Boxing Day, make sure it’s watching @Robertdcopland drink a mountain of Boddington’s (16 cans). Last year’s 15 cans was utterly glorious. #BODDMAS2022”

Another person posted: “For the second year in a row i am fully emotionally invested in @Robertdcopland trying to drink 16 cans of boddingtons.”

Dozens more shared photos of themselves watching along with a can of their own in their hands.

Here’s hoping this is a tradition that never ends – and we’re looking forward to the 17 can mission in 2023.

Featured image: Twitter @robertdcopland

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