The Manchester Coffee Festival, presented by Cup North, will make its grand return to the city this month – and you can save on tickets with The Manc.
The renowned event celebrates all things caffeine and is a must-visit for anyone in the industry, or just anyone who’s a coffee fanatic.
You can connect with other coffee lovers from around the UK while doing your favourite thing – drinking loads of coffee.
Visitors can work their way around the vast event at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre, where there’ll be everything from a Markets Marketplace for shopping, a tasting room where you can sample loads of different coffees, workshops to have a go at, and talks and panels with industry experts.
As well as that, Manchester Coffee Festival will have live music featuring incredible local artists, and a fun and entertaining LGBTQ+ friendly family program in collaboration with Drag Queen Story Hour UK and The Proud Trust.
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Cup North will be hosting the coffee competition, Extracted Development, over the two days of the event. Baristas and roasters from across the UK will be bringing the real life behind-the-bar scene on stage.
Unlike the usual competitions, attendees will be encouraged to interact with the competitors and get to taste their delicious competition coffee at a brew bar setting.
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There’ll be more than 60 exhibitors joining Manchester Coffee Festival 2023, each bringing their unique coffee products, artisanal treats, and coffee-related products.
Traders at Manchester Coffee FestivalManchester Coffee Festival 2022The tasting room at Manchester Coffee Festival
And coffee fiends will find plenty of familiar names about, such as Oatly, La Marzocco, Stores, KeepCup, WaterCare and Brew-It Group.
This year, the festival will be going paper cup-free – attendees are encouraged ‘sip responsibly’ and to bring their own reusable cups.
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KeepCup will be on hand with free cups you can borrow for the day too.
This year, the Manchester Coffee Festival will be partnering with Farmers’ Voice Radio as part of its Community Partner Program, which aims to support different charity organisations who share their ambition to make a positive contribution towards specialty coffee communities and the communities local to their events.
Farmers’ Voice Radio has a mission to transform the lives of millions of farmers and rural communities through the power of radio.
It is also working with The Proud Trust to build a more diverse and inclusive event for the local community.
6% of all ticket sales will be evenly donated to both organisations, who will be on site to chat to attendees too.
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Festival co-founder Hannah Davies said: “The Manchester Coffee Festival is all about celebrating the vibrant world of specialty coffee and creating a welcoming community, not just for the industry but for all.
“We’re thrilled to be back, bigger and better than ever, with a program that showcases the very best of coffee, sustainability, and accessibility.”
Manchester Coffee Festival will return to Bowlers Exhibition Centre between 18 and 19 November. Tickets are now available to purchase online at manchestercoffeefest.com/tickets. Use code TheManc to save 10% on Sunday tickets.
Featured image: Supplied
Eats
Manchester’s smash burger and ice cream legends Big Licks launch huge crowdfunding effort
Daisy Jackson
Big Licks, the Manchester restaurant that’s found the ‘sweet spot’ between amazing burgers and delicious desserts, is sailing through a huge crowdfunding campaign.
The restaurant, which has an eye-catching location down on Liverpool Road as well as two sites in Scotland, has already raised a whopping £135,000 for its expansion dreams.
It’s now pushing to hit £150,000 so that it can open new restaurants and franchises across the UK.
Big Licks was first launched by two teenagers in 2009 as a takeaway – it’s now gone on to be a rapidly expanding name bringing in £3m in sales and more than 400,000 customers in the last 12 months alone.
On their menu you’ll find incredible smash burgers (with up to four patties in each bun) made with free-range grass-fed beef that they source directly from farm, or buttermilk chicken topped with their signature ranch sauce.
There’s also an impressive menu of house-churned ice cream made with quality local ingredients, and cakes, cheesecakes and brownies all baked in house daily.
All that is alongside fried chicken, loaded fries, and other mouth-watering sides.
Next on the agenda for Big Licks is expansion across the country, offering up the chance to become a shareholder in this bright young business.
They want to use the money raised to prepare the business for franchising, with a target to open 18 restaurants by 2027.
Then any extra money raised will be used to open more company-owned restaurants.
And there are rewards on offer for those who choose to invest in Big Licks.
If you invest £100, you’ll get a Big Licks White Card which gets you 10% off in store, as well as owning a share of the business.
Then the rewards continue with other things like free burgers and shakes all the way to merch and much bigger discounts.
Co-founder Anees Ahmed said: “It is clear that the potential is great.”
He added: “We believe one of the key ingredients to a successful restaurant is creating a hangout spot, a vibe. That will always be our aim when you come to Big Licks.”
The businessman then said: “We won’t compromise on quality. We will always keep sourcing within head office. This means we keep producing our own ice cream using locally sourced organic milk and the finest Italian flavours.
“We’ve found that sweet spot. The combination of sweet desserts and smashing burgers that opens up audience’s doors, covering off every craving.
“We want you to be part of the journey and become a shareholder in Big Licks.”
You can find out more about the Big Licks crowdfunder through Crowdcube here.
*Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
Eats
Electrik Bar in Chorlton is giving away 100 FREE frankfurters to celebrate their latest kitchen collab
Danny Jones
We all love a freebie, so we thought we’d spread the good word of the scran lords by letting you know that Electrik over in Chorlton is giving away 100 free frankfurters to celebrate their newest menu takeover.
The popular neighbourhood bar and kitchen on Wilbraham Road in the South Manchester suburb has had a couple of different foodie collaborations over the past couple of years, with local residents Paramogeddon and Four Side Vegan Pizza being the most recent, but now they’re doing hot dogs.
Welcoming their latest vendors Tisch Und Teller, Electrik will be giving away a total of 100 free frankfurters to the first century of people there this evening.
Bringing a taste of Berlin, Bavaria, Frankfurt and more (with a Manc twist, of course) to the popular pub for the Thursday launch party, all you need to do is order a drink upon arrival to get your hands on a free frankfurter sandwiched between a lovely fluffy roll.
Who doesn’t love a hot dog? Especially when they’re giving them away.
As for Tisch Und Teller (TuT), they’ve been serving up German-inspired favourites from the likes of The Shakespeare in Manchester city centre and Nip and Tipple in Whalley Range since September last year, including some very impressive brunches and Sunday roasts.
But the brand just keeps gaining more traction and now they’re setting up shop in Electrik, we’re sure the word will continue to spread – and fast.
Better still, as advertised on the promo poster, not only will TuT now be serving up their delicious food from Electrik every Thursday-Sunday for the foreseeable but the launch party will also live music by local legend and DJing veteran, Abigail Ward of Ghost Assembly.
Free food, pints and top tunes – what more could you ask for on a random weeknight?
The offer will be available from 6pm tonight and, once again, you have to be among the first 100 people to buy a pint to be eligible for a free frankfurter.
Daisy Jackson -
21st September 2023 
