Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, organisers of Manchester’s Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) have announced that its 25th-anniversary event will be postponed for a week out of respect for the royal period of mourning.
The festival will now take place from Thursday 22 September, with events running until Sunday 25 September, then again from Thursday 29 September to Sunday 2 October at its free-to-attend festival hub on Cathedral Gardens.
The MFDF curry club, initially due to take place on 20 September at 7pm, has also been postponed for the time being with a new date due to be announced by festival organisers soon.
Elsewhere, the MFDF wine and fizz festival will now take place after the festival on 7-8 October. Moving t a new home this year, it will be held over at New Century, the brand new music venue and food hall at NOMA.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: MFDF
The MFDF Gala dinner, meanwhile, will take place on 26September as originally planned at Escape To Freight Island.
Last week, organisers unveiled the full programme for the festival’s 25th anniversary event, which will feature a host of street food traders, an artisan food market, and a live music stage, as well as a huge beer bar pouring locally-made brews throughout.
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Elsewhere, there’ll be live fire pit cooking from some of Manchester’s top chefs and a series of talks and workshops from renowned food journalist and author Felicity Cloake, Kate Humble, Lia Leendertz and Edd Kimber and more as part of its Masterclass Kitchen.
Beyond the festival hub meanwhile, this year will also see restaurants around the city partner with MFDF to offer £25 menus in celebration of its longstanding presence in the city, with the likes of Three Little Words, District, Embankment Kitchen, Mi&Pho and more all taking part.
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For more details on the festival and its upcoming events, you can visit the MFDF website here.
Feature image – MFDF
Eats
The incredible Asian food market held every month at an 800-year-old church in Stockport
Daisy Jackson
One of Greater Manchester’s most unique food events is taking place monthly in and around the grounds of an 800-year-old church.
Held on the second Friday of every month at St Mary’s Church in Stockport, the Asian Food Market brings together some of the region’s best independent Asian street food traders under one historic roof.
Organised by Eat Good West, the event brings together 16 traders every month, serving up dishes from across Asia.
Visitors can tuck into everything from crispy Taiwanese fried chicken and Korean corn dogs to homemade strawberry mochi.
A real highlight is the Japanese yakitori skewers, grilled fresh to order on a traditional charcoal grill while you wait, served in a cloud of smoke and delicious charred edges.
The market originally launched in Edgeley, but after growing in popularity it moved to St Mary’s around a year ago, giving organisers more space to accommodate the increasing crowds.
For the team behind the event, it’s about more than just great food. They see the market as a way of bringing together Stockport’s diverse communities, creating a space where people can connect over shared meals and discover new cultures through food.
Strawberry mochiA round of drinks for £10Sticky fried chicken
There’s a lively atmosphere throughout the evening, with live music performances adding to the experience. And if Manchester’s unpredictable weather makes an appearance, there’s plenty of additional seating inside the church.
The bar also serves a selection of Asian beers and soft drinks at surprisingly affordable prices. We picked up an Asahi, a Singha and a plum beer for just £10 – one of the best-value rounds we’ve seen in a while.
If you’re looking for an excuse to spend your Friday evening eating your way across Asia without leaving Stockport, this is one event worth putting in the diary.
Inside the Greggs outlet store where you can get a sausage roll for 55p
Daisy Jackson
There’s a Greggs Outlet store over in Salford where you can pick up the bakery chain’s top products for a vastly lower price than the high street.
We’re talking sausage rolls for just 55p, four-packs of jam doughnuts for £1.35, and filled baguettes for £1.50.
The items in store at the Greggs Outlet have all been saved from waste and redistributed to customers for a reduced price.
It could be that it’s come out the oven a bit wonky, not sold in a local Greggs shop, has been discontinued, or they’ve simply made too much.
Whatever the reason, you’re likely to find everything from yum yums and fresh bread to filled sandwiches and pastries.
Depending on what you choose to buy, customers can save more than 70% on what they’d paid in a typical high street Greggs bakery store.
Designed to provide ‘affordable food in areas of social deprivation’, a share of profits generated from Greggs Outlets is donated to the Greggs Foundation to distribute through the Greggs Foundation Community Grant Programme.
Inside the Greggs Outlet at Radclyffe Park, you can find steals like a four-pack of sausage rolls for £2.20, or 55p each – around a 60% discount.
There are also two-packs of Yum Yums for 80p (normally £1.70 each), big packs of fresh bread rolls for 30p, and four-packs of filled doughnuts for £2.
You can even pick up fresh sandwiches at Greggs OutletPacks of discounted sausage rollsThe shelves are stocked daily
Then in the fridges, you’ll find classic filled sandwiches sold at exceptional value, like a honey roast ham and egg roll for £1.50, a Mexican chicken flatbread for £1.50, a classic tuna sandwich for 80p, or a roast chicken mayo baguette for £1.50.
That’s all better than half price.
Greggs says on signs in-store: “We can offer you food at a reduced price because we may have made too much, it’s come out slightly misshapen, it’s been unsold at a local Greggs shop, it’s being discontinued or the weather has changed so we’ve over-ordered.
“Whatever the reason, you can be sure of one thing: all our food is tasty and fantastic value for money!”
Georgina Pellant -
12th September 2022 
