Eats

City-wide celebration of beer – including a beer festival in an old swimming pool – to take over Manchester this weekend

Indy Man Beer Con is back

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 30th September 2022

One of Manchester’s biggest and best-loved food and drink events is making its big comeback this week, celebrating all things beer right across the city.

Indy Man Beer Con (or IMBC)’s cornerstone event is the beer festival at the historic Victoria Baths, where the old Edwardian swimming pool is filled with bunting and bars.

IMBC was founded by Jonny Heyes of Common & Co fame back in 2012, and now brings together more than 60 brilliant breweries, including Bristol’s Lost and Found and Cheltenham’s Deya.

But the celebrating won’t be confined to Victoria Baths, with a city-wide IMBC Fringe festival also taking over other venues around Manchester.

Takeovers, events and collaborations will seep into bars right through until Sunday evening.

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IMBC will be back at Victoria Baths. Credit: Jody Hartley

One of the big ones will be Runaway to Kampus, with Runaway Brewery Tap Room upping sticks and moving into the Bungalow at Kampus for the whole weekend.

The building-on-stilts at the canal-side neighbourhood will host the four-day residency, in conjunction with Nell’s Pizza and other friends of the brewery.

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There’ll be fresh beer on tap plus a full selection of bottles (including a few rarities from the cellar).

Elsewhere, the award-winning Salford brewery will land at Chorlton’s beloved The Beagle all weekend, taking over the taps with keg and cask offerings.

IMBC will be back at Victoria Baths. Credit: Jody Hartley
IMBC will be back at Victoria Baths. Credit: Jody Hartley

On Saturday and Sunday, the Drop Project Den will pitch up at Common with a six-tap takeover and a Shifty special pizza from Nell’s.

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London’s Drop Project are known for creating fresh, premium beers that push creative boundaries.

Back at IMBC at Victoria Baths, there’ll be tasting areas, snug bars in the Turkish Baths, street food and – obviously – plenty of beer.

Traders on site will include Bundobust, Siop Shop, Tikka Chance on Me, Great North Pie, Dim Sum Su, Wholesome Junkies, Honest Crust, and Triple B.

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Ticket-holders for the main event are advised to download the IMBC app, which will act as a total guide to all the beers on offer and where to find them, and will also send out alerts for pop-ups and more surprises.

Tickets get you access to the festival and a festival class, with tokens inside priced at £25 for 10 or £2.70 each, with each token entitling you to one third of beer at any Indy Man bar.

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It’s a completely cashless event, and you’re encouraged to take your own vessel for water as, to minimise waste, there won’t be bottles on sale.

Final tickets are available now at indymanbeercon.co.uk/tickets.

Featured image: Jody Hartley

Eats

The viral factory in Oldham that sells £2 Colin the Caterpillar cakes

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

A factory in Oldham has gone viral online after sweet fiends discover they sell ‘Colin the Caterpillar’ cakes for less than half price.

There are some things that just go hand in hand: a brew and a biscuit, peanut butter and jelly and Brits and their crazy obsession with a character chocolate cake from M&S called Colin the Caterpillar.

Since hitting the shelves in 1990, more than 15 million Colin the Caterpillars have made their way from supermarket shop floor to our sweet-treat-awaiting plates.

Who would’ve ever guessed that the home to this cheeky chappy, who M&S have made their unofficial mascot (after Percy Pig, of course), has been crafted and created right here in Oldham?

park cakes oldham greater manchester
The utterly delicious Colin the Caterpillar cake which you can get for £2 at Park Cakes.
The shelves at Park Cakes will also be stacked with Colin and Connie The Caterpillar delights.
The shelves at Park Cakes are stacked with Colins and Connies.
Credit: The Manc Eats

Established in 1937, The Park Cake Bakeries – or just Park Cakes, colloquially – has been serving up this critter-inspired cake for over 30 years, and savvy shoppers have flocked to their factory shop to get their hands on some very sweet savings.

There’s a whole range of cakes on offer at this Oldham dessert factory shop, including slabs, sponges, loaves and even sweet pies too.

Whether you’re a firm believer that the birthday person deserves all of Colin’s white-choc face or you precisely cut it up so everyone gets some, Park Cakes has the solution, selling bags of the character’s chocolatey face so you can have one all to yourself.

The cake isn’t the only thing that leaves a sweet taste in your mouth, as the prices will too. Colin the Caterpillar, who normally retails for just under a tenner, is sold for around £2 at this Oldham factory shop.

It’s always the ones that look unassuming, isn’t it?

where is park cake bakeries cheap colin caterpillars m&s outlet
Credit: Google Earth/The Park Cake Bakeries (via Facebook)

Alongside producing one of the most adored cakes in the UK, they’re also responsible for lots more of your favourite supermarket sweet treats, and we’re definitely not complaining.

You can let your sweet tooth go wild in this factory shop as they sell everything from rainbow birthday cakes to sticky toffee puddings.

There’s so much on offer too, how about a giant bag packed to the brim with misshapen golden flapjacks that’ll last you over a week and cost you less than a fiver? Sounds like a plan to me.

If you haven’t had enough of your Easter chocolate fix, why not trek over to Oldham and stock up on even more chocolate and sweet treats? Trust us, there’s plenty to choose from.

Park Cakes factory shop can be found on Ashton Road in Oldham and is open from 10am-4pm, so go and grab yourself a seriously sweet deal before everyone else beats you to it.

Mini Colins, small in size but still packed with all that chocolatey goodness.
Mini Colins, small in size but still packed with all that chocolatey goodness.
Flapjacks and cookie dough bites are just some of the wonderful treats you might be able to get hold of.
Flapjacks and cookie dough bites are just some of the wonderful treats you might be able to get hold of.
Credit: The Manc

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Adam Higgin (via Facebook)

Eats

Kobbie Mainoo shouts out more of his favourite food spots in Manchester

Danny Jones Danny Jones

Man United star Kobbie Mainoo is back putting people onto his favourite places to eat in Manchester, and judging by his picks, he doesn’t just know football – he knows his food spots too.

The Stockport-born footballer turned 20 years old this month, and as well as celebrating leaving his teens with that impressive goal in the comeback against Lyon, the Manchester United midfielder was met with a birthday cake by his club, along with a fun little game of 20 questions.

Sharing the short but insightful Q&A, in which the number 37 dove into his favourite parts of matchdays, the best birthday gift he’s ever received, as well as the tried and tested dream dinner guest lineup.

Naming a very sporty trio of Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan and Jon Jones, the only logical next step was to ask him where his favourite places to eat around Manchester were, to which he answered…

That’s right, spotlighting a personal favourite of ours, the first Manc venue on his list was Pho Cue, the authentic family-run Vietnamese spot known for great value, top-quality street food such as their big hitter bánh mìs, as well as big queues every lunchtime.

If you don’t know already, then get to know.

As you can see, the second place he mentioned with the booked-up-till-kingdom come Onda Pasta Bar, which went viral for its ‘Tiramisu drawer’ last year and opened their first proper restaurant back in June.

Since then, it’s fair to say it’s more popular than ever and you’re lucky to get a table; if you, however, you’ll be treated to some of the most luxurious and indulgent pasta not just in Manchester but probably anywhere in the country, if you ask us.

These latest shout-outs come after Mainoo famously put Salford’s culinary kings, Burgerism, on the nationwide map after name-dropping them in his British GQ interview in November 2024.

You can watch the full thing HERE, but you already know the biggest takeaway from that chat, quite literally: the boy knows his burgers.

Kobbie is actually just one of several famous faces to have proclaimed Burgerism as the best in the business, at least in Greater Manchester of late.

Not only have British influencers Ollie Ball and Jacob Pasquill now become seemingly regular presenters on their social media, but online content creator turned boxer and WWE star Logan Paul also visited the beloved burger joint and reviewed it during a recent visit to the UK.

We’ll confess we’re more likely to take the local lad’s word on board over the bloke who used to make Vines, but it’s just yet more proof that the Manc food scene is top tier.

Come on, just look at the state of these selections:

Not a bad little spread there, Kobb… (Credit: The Manc Eats)

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We’re not sure how much of this stuff Mainoo is allowed on the diet sheet, but we can at least confirm that Kobbie knows his Manchester food, and as far as favourites go, we might just stand a chance of becoming best friends yet.

Happy birthday to a young man with a very bright future and hopefully a very active metabolism.

You can watch the full video down below:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Manchester United/The Manc Group

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