So 2021 didn’t exactly go to plan, did it – but our buzzing region is looking forward to the year ahead with some seriously exciting things on the horizon.
Greater Manchester has done its best to bounce back from another year of decimated tourism, delivering amazing outdoor experiences and attractions.
2021 saw the return of huge city events like Manchester International Festival, Manchester Pride festival, and Parklife.
New restaurants and bars have continued to spring up in every direction too.
It includes outdoor experiences, cultural developments, hospitality openings, and events.
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We’ve picked out 22 things heading to Greater Manchester in 2022.
Mayfield Park
Credit: Mayfield Parnership
Manchester’s first new park in more than 100 years will be unveiled in late 2022.
Spanning 6.5 acres, Mayfield Park is currently under construction on the sprawling Mayfield site adjacent to Piccadilly Station.
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UEFA Women’s EURO 2022
This will be massive for Greater Manchester – the women’s tournament is kicking off here next year.
England will play Austria at Old Trafford on July 6, with several other fixtures at Manchester City Academy, Leigh Sports Village, and DW Stadium in Wigan.
Mrs Doubtfire the Musical
One of the best films of all time has been turned into a Broadway show, and Manchester will be treated to the first performances on home turf in 2022.
Mrs Doubtfire the Musical will have its UK premiere at the Opera House Manchester on September 2 and will run until October 1.
This long-neglected and under-appreciated gem of industrial architecture in Manchester city centre will have new life breathed into it in 2022.
The Grade II-listed Castlefield Viaduct is being turned into an elevated urban park, much like New York’s High Line, by the National Trust.
Phase one will open to the public in the summer – read more here.
Soho House
One of the biggest hospitality names in the world will make its way to Manchester in 2022, taking over the upper three floors of the former Granada Studios building.
It will be a key operator in the new St John’s neighbourhood, which will also be home to MIF’s The Factory from 2023.
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It’s expected to include a rooftop bar and pool as well as dining rooms, lounge areas and a Mollie’s Motel & Diner concept.
Band on the Wall
CGI of how Band on the Wall will look
Gosh, we’ve missed this place – the historic gig venue Band on the Wall will finally reopen in the spring.
It’s been undergoing a big renovation while we’ve all been nipping in and out of lockdowns, expanding into the Victorian Cocozza building that’s been derelict at the back of the venue for decades.
Manchester Museum
Another reopening here – the much-loved Manchester Museum closed back in the summer while it grows into its £13.5 million extension.
When it reopens late in 2022, it will have a new two-storey extension, a new exhibition hall, the South Asia Gallery, and Chinese Culture Gallery.
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Rugby League World Cup
Old Trafford might be famed for its football pedigree, but in 2022 it will turn its attention to the world of rugby.
The rescheduled 2021 Rugby League World Cup, and Women’s Rugby League World Cup, will take place in October and November.
The Wheelchair Final will be held at Manchester Central, and additional fixtures are taking place at the University of Bolton Stadium and Leigh Sports Village.
Sexy Fish
Credit: Spinningfields
Decadent Mayfair restaurant Sexy Fish, owned by The Ivy’s Richard Caring, is taking over the old Armani unit in Spinningfields.
It first opened in 2015 and is famed for its luxurious dining environment and will be one of the most talked-about restaurant openings of 2022.
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Gratitude Games
This is a new event – a multi-sport games created to support the mental health of emergency service and NHS workers.
It will be held at venues across Greater Manchester in April and May. Spanning 20 sports – including both traditional sports such as athletics, cycling, swimming, as well as niche sports like angling, lawn bowls and squash – it’s a chance for our emergency services and NHS to have fun, enjoy the benefits of sport and for the public to thank them for the amazing work they do.
Northern Roots
Oldham’s ambitious eco-project, which will see the UK’s largest urban farm built just outside Oldham town centre, is moving forward.
The 160-acre Northern Roots will include hand-on community projects like beekeeping, animal husbandry and growing plots, as well as a bike hub, mountain biking trails, arts, culture and events, and a natural amphitheatre and swimming pond.
Pollen Bakery
Credit: Pollen / No Chintz Studio
Famed Ancoats bakery is expanding with a second location, this time at Kampus.
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The new location will offer an expanded brunch menu as well as more room for baking their sell out breads and pastries, with a chance for customers to see the kitchen working.
Leonardo Hotel
The Leonardo will open in Manchester in 2022. Credit: Capital & Centric
Capital & Centric’s Jenga-inspired hotel is well on the way and due to open in spring.
The £35m development, in the heart of Piccadilly East, will be draped in plants and plans include a ground-floor restaurant, cafe, and external terrace connecting to a new public square.
Jodrell Bank
Cheshire’s UNESCO attraction Jodrell Bank will welcome its new addition, the £21m First Light Pavilion, in May.
It will be a new gallery dedicated to telling the story of Jodrell Bank, with an immersive projection space and auditorium, and a new education hub and café.
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Wigan Pier
The long-vacant 18th century buildings of Wigan Pier will finally be brought back to life, as a waterside destination.
It was made famous by George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier in 1937 – but its new life will include a gin distillery, microbrewery, events venue and cultural hub.
The Locationist
Manchester has a rich history of being used as a filming location, including Peaky Blinders, Captain America, The Crown, and It’s A Sin.
The Locationist tour is set to launch early in the year and will show off the city’s top locations.
Bistro Marc
A great team effort by many at the Cumbria Clock Company bringing the Winters Clock House back up and running…a little more to do but nearly there… pic.twitter.com/jnsjnaVApd
There’s been painstaking work going on in Stockport, where the historic Winter’s building on Little Underbank is being turned into a new French restaurant.
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Bistro Marc will be a 70-cover restaurant spread over two floors that will serve French favourites, with a focus on using fresh local produce from Stockport Indoor Markets and other local suppliers.
Treehouse Hotel Manchester
That big brutalist Renaissance Hotel on Deansgate is being turned into a 206-bedroom hotel.
Forming part of the wider £200m redevelopment of the area, there’ll also be new retail space and room for pop-up food and drink vendors alongside the River Irwell.
Royal Exchange
Credit: Flickr
The magnificent Royal Exchange theatre has a packed year-long programme that will celebrate the joy of theatre, with bold plays, new writing and cast-iron classics.
Maxine Peake will star in a new show Betty! A Sort of Musical, while Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie will also come to the stage.
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Queer Contact
Queer Contact has been a staple of Manchester’s cultural calendar for more than a decade, but this will be its first year in its newly-transformed home.
Contact theatre on Oxford Road has undergone a £6.75m refurbishment.
The event in February will again be a celebration of queer culture and LGBTQ+ talent, including drag kings, comedy, variety, ground-breaking performance and the annual Vogue Ball.
Claus the Musical
There’s a world premiere in store for Salford, with a brand new Christmas musical debuting at The Lowry.
From the writer of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz comes Claus the Musical, telling the story of Claus and how he became an icon of our hearts and the skies.
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Manchester Open
The walls of HOME’s gallery will again be filled with work from the region’s artists, with more than 400 residents taking part.
Following on from 2020’s award-winning exhibition, almost 2,300 artwork entries were submitted for judging for its second outing and the resulting show promises to deliver an unmissable insight into the city-region’s local artistic talent.
Featured image:
Feature
A Manc’s guide to: Altrincham, officially one of the best places to live in the UK
Daisy Jackson
In 2020, Altrincham was named the best place to live in the entire UK – and it hasn’t exactly slowed down since then, so we’ve put together this handy guide to help you discover the town.
This leafy suburb way south of Manchester city centre, teetering on the border into Cheshire, is famed for a lot of things.
It’s the home of Altrincham Market, which paved the way for the town’s regeneration and inspired countless similar enterprises across the country.
There’s a lot of development currently underway in the Stamford Quarter too, which has welcomed some much-loved Manc indies into the fold in the last year.
We here at The Manc have already delivered you a pretty comprehensive guide to Prestwich, from its restaurant scene to its green spaces.
So for our next instalment of A Manc’s Guide to we’re heading south, to beautiful Altrincham, a town that’s putting itself on the map for all the right reasons.
Shopping
The covered market at Altrincham MarketTasty Records in AltrinchamIdahoA Manc’s guide to shopping in Altrincham
Altrincham town centre has always been centred around retail, but its shopping scene has really ramped up in recent years, as this guide proves.
There is, of course, Altrincham Market, where traders selling everything from fruit and veg to homewares prop up the stalls.
Bang opposite the market, you can’t miss Idaho, a lifestyle shop that practically sucks you in with its windows stuffed with vases, hanging plants, candles, cushions, socks, and all the other lovely lifestyle goods. It’s opened a second store at Stanley Square, too.
There are more plants and pottery, plus gifts and lifestyle bits, down the road at Green + Grounded.
A Manc’s Guide to Altrincham – So Marrakech
So Marrakech is a lovely spot for a coffee and a cake, but also has shelves stuffed with beautiful homewares, from cushions to crockery.
Music-lovers shouldn’t miss Tasty Records, where you’ll find all sorts of rare vinyls.
And when it comes to clothing, Madam Butterfly’s boutique sells all the summery, bright clothing that will make you finally pack your big coat away for the season.
There are a few bigger names that have moved in in the last year too, including affordable Scandi homeware store Sostrene Grene, and the first-ever LookFantastic concept store filled with cult and classic beauty brands.
Food and drink
Hive StoresPapa Dutch
Hive Stores – Part antiques store, part wine bar, part cafe, Hive Stores is a stunning little Parisian-style cafe that’s worth the short walk down from the town centre. Espresso martinis, cheese boards, fresh cakes and shelves of provisions are all on display here.
Papa Dutch – Specialising in Dutch favourites like mini pancakes and stroopwaffel, for a sweet treat in Altrincham you have to stop by Papa Dutch.
Yum Cha – This much-loved Hong Kong eatery has just recently opened its first restaurant in Altrincham, serving steaming baskets of dim sum (including their signature traffic light dumplings), gigantic bowls of noodles and rice dishes, and delicious Chinese roast meats.
Rudy’s – One of Greater Manchester’s fastest-growing hospitality enterprises, of course, didn’t wait too long before venturing out to Altrincham with its Neapolitan-style pizzas. Their spot just opposite Altrincham Market might be one of the best-looking Rudy’s in the country.
Unagi – Hand-rolled sushi, pan-Asian street food, and delicious Japanese cocktails are all on the menu at Unagi’s futuristic Altrincham restaurant, where bar-tops glow and there’s a huge vaulted ceiling.
UnagiRudy’s
Rigatoni’s – The original home of Sugo Pasta Kitchen in 2015, which rebranded to Rigatoni’s, this is where you’ll find their Puglian pasta dishes and jugs of wine, including their signature House Sugo pasta – beef shin, pork shoulder and n’duja ragu.
The Good Catch – For top-notch fish and chips, it’s got to be the award-winning, family-run chippy The Good Catch. Found opposite the famous Altrincham Football Club, you can get Hollands pies and salt and pepper squid alongside go-to Friday favourites.
Batch Bottle Store and Deli – As well as coming here to fill up your growlers and buy some natural wine to take home, you can also dine in (or out on the terrace) with mega sandwiches, Sunday roasts, and deli platters all on the menu here.
Altrincham Market House – An indoor food hall from the same team behind Mackie Mayor and Macclesfield Picturedrome, Altrincham’s Market House is home to traders like Little Window, Pico’s Tacos, Tender Cow, and Honest Crust. One of the first successful attempts of the multi-trader format to launch in Greater Manchester, it’s up there with the region’s best.
Blanchflower – Altrincham bakery and kitchen selling 3-day sourdough loaves, pastries, brunch dishes and bowls.
Tre Ciccio – Another Southern Italian kitchen specialising in Campagna staples like pizza Napoletana and roasted chicken with potatoes. A beautiful outdoor terrace allows for al fresco dining in the summer, with wood-burning fires keeping you cosy through the winter months.
Libero – A cute craft beer bar with a penchant for football and a striking mural by Manchester artist Caroline Dowsett, it’s not unusual to see punters donning vintage football shirts in here. Libero was only meant to be a two-week pop-up, but six years later it’s still going strong.
Toast – As the name suggests, the whole menu revolves around putting things on toast. You can have toast for breakfast and toast for lunch. That said, you’ll also find the likes of cakes and cheesecakes here – both minus toast.
Nightlife and hotels
The historic hamlet of Goose Green has become a bit of a destination in its own right, with a clutch of bars and restaurants to while away your evening in.
There’s cocktail bar the Gin Can (open until 1am at the weekends) and Traders Tiki Bar, which serves all sorts of tropical delights until the small hours.
If you need somewhere to stay overnight, there are the usual big chain budget hotels, but also some top-notch Airbnb options to get your own space.
There are a couple of rentals on the beautiful The Downs (like this Victorian house).
This huge property on Manchester Road has been turned into some very stylish apartments too.
Culture
Altrincham MarketWalking along the canals at Dunham Massey
Altrincham is far enough out of Manchester city centre that it feels very much like its own town, with its own identity and proper heart.
When it comes to culture, that encompasses everything from its luxurious boutique cinema, the Everyman (where you watch films with a cocktail, on a sofa), to its near proximity to the beauty of Dunham Massey.
There are events on at the National Trust property throughout the year, the most popular of which is arguably its magical Christmas lights display.
Altrincham has its own theatre, in the Garrick Playhouse, which has a bill of film screenings, family-friendly entertainment and up-and-coming theatre talent.
The Vegetarian Society has a cookery school here too, where you can get stuck in learn some new kitchen skills.
The most recent addition has been The Bowdon Rooms, which opened in 2021 with a line-up of talent that included Sir Lenny Henry, Shaun Ryder, and Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
Property
Houses in Altrincham are, on average, some of the priciest in Greater Manchester – but they have been dropping slightly in the last couple of years.
The average property price over the last year has been £541,726, the majority of which were semi-detached.
There are some seriously stunning homes dotted around though.
Transport
It might be right on the end of it, but Altrincham is handily connected to Manchester city centre on the Metrolink tram line.
It also has its own train station, with Northern Line services running to both Chester and Manchester Piccadilly.
There are loads of buses serving the area too, and you’re never far from the M56, which will whisk you away to Cheshire and beyond.
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | December 2024
Danny Jones
And here we are: it’s officially time for the final round-up of Manchester bands and artists for 2024 and what a year it’s been for tunage.
We started this feature back in January and each month we’ve given you five different acts, be they big, small, unsigned or unsung, new on the scene or veterans that deserve more attention.
Fast forward to December and now we’re ready for our last batch of suggestions for new music from around Greater Manchester that you may or may not have heard yet.
The question is, are you ready? Let’s give it one last spin around the turntables.
New Manchester music you should check out to start the new year
1. Morgan Seatree
Speaking of turntables, it seems only fitting to start with a Manchester-based DJ Morgan Seatree, whose tunes have already queued up at a fair few tunes ready for our New Year’s Eve playlist. Born and bred in 0161, not only has he smashed the likes of The Warehouse Project but his sound is already going global.
His inspirations include Kerri Chandler, Paul Woolford, Disclosure, Larry Heard and more, and his catchy brand of mixes has already attracted attention from other big names in the electronic scene, including Patrick Topping, Folamour, Jamie Jones and more.
Music made for nothing but dancing and good times, his ear for easily recognisable hooks and infectious beats means you’ll only be hearing more of his as time goes on. Our picks to start with include ‘Hit It!’, ‘Good Life’ and his ‘Say My Name’ remix. He’s also responsible for this iconic clip from a Fallowfield flat:
The kind of vibes we're after this #NewYearsEve. 🙌😅
Next up to bat are the truly brilliant Dirty Laces who have been going for a few years now but we still think are criminally underrated on the Manc music scene. Not only do they blend a great mix of American rock and roll influences with 90s and 2000s UK roots, but their latest work looks to be a real evolution.
There have always been proto-punk elements to their sound and wonderful guitar solos, as well as what we would liken to Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Shed Seven, and even hints of Velvet Revolver on tracks like ‘These Days’ – imagine ‘Slither’ mixed with She Builds Quick Machines’.
However, it feels like we’re starting to hear them pulling in a slightly new direction and trying new things; there’s no better example of this than their recent singles, ‘Quiet Space’ and ‘If I Go’, which we’ve had on repeat for a few weeks now. ‘Seeker’, ‘Midnight Mile’ and ‘Old Friend’ are where we’d start though.
Third on our list is the immense throwback that is a young man called Elliot James Reay: the 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Bury but with a sound harkening back to the end of America’s ‘Golden Age’, where pop rolled into rock and vice versa.
Taking inspiration from the likes of Elvis Presley and deep obsessions with Roy Orbison, not only in terms of the music but look and overall style, this up-and-coming solo artist feels like he was born in the wrong era but will happily keep the fight alive with the help of vintage jackets, slicked-back hair and a guitar.
He’s only got a small handful of tunes so far, so it won’t feel too overwhelming to get through his discography either but you can also enjoy a selection of his old world covers including tracks by Orbison, Elvis, Paul Anka and more.
A Manchester artist with a straight out of the American South.
4. Florentenes
Number four of December 2024 is Florentenes from Bolton – well, Westhoughton to be more specific; are they named after the old tea room and bakery in the centre? We couldn’t possibly say, all we know is they’re very a talented group of young lads helping put the town’s music scene on the map.
Their debut EP 14:17 dropped back in November and there’s already a very clear stylistic idea in their heads even at such a young age. Melancholy nonchalant vocals that burst into shrieks and rip-roaring guitars are reminiscent of The Stokes, The Hives, Palaye Royale and even Frank Carter at times, but there are also early Arctic Monkeys drumming as well pacey Surf Curse-esque guitar riffs. There is a lot of different stuff going on, basically.
Again, they’ve only five tunes to get through just yet so this would be a great time to latch onto them before they inevitably start gaining more momentum next year. You don’t write build-ups, breakouts and literal screams like the one lead vocalist Will Smith (not that one) delivers in ‘Glue’ and not go anywhere. Watch this space.
And our last pick of the year goes to local lads Bayboards who are another local outfit that we’re getting very excited about going in 2025, for a couple of reasons. Let us explain…
Maybe it’s just how we process music or some weird serendipity, but we happened to discover these guys not long after hearing the news of Sundara Karma calling it a day and, fortunately for anyone who has been a fan of them, you’ll get a lot of that vibe from this quartet and plenty more range too.
You’ll get notes of Circa Waves and Vistas, as well as plenty of other contemporary British indie bands, not to mention some more shoegazey moments at least in those distorted guitar tones. We’re excited to see where they go next and if it’s anything like ‘Push Against The Blue’, ‘Moving to America’ or ‘Fire and Air’ we’ll be there every step of the way.
One of the most exciting new artists coming out of Manchester at the minute.
And for the last time this year, that really is all she wrote.
We sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed coming along with us on the voyage of discovery and have genuinely cottoned on to new bands and artists from Greater Manchester that you’d never heard of before and perhaps familiarised yourself with a kind of music you never thought you’d enjoy up until now.
It goes without saying that this sort of stuff – discovering and championing local, up-and-coming bands – is the lifeblood of Audio North and genuinely keeps us going all year round.
You best believe we’ll be back with more in 2025 (so long as you’ll have us) and until then, we urge you to go back through previous months and above all else, happy listening!
Daisy Jackson -
26th December 2021 
