The Manchester Christmas Markets are back for 2025, filling the streets with food stalls, festive bars, and all manner of market stalls selling gifts.
There’s loads of new stuff to explore this year, including the markets’ return to Albert Square for the first time in years.
And our first port of call – as usual – has been to suss out this year’s food and drink offering, which includes loads of exciting new traders for the season.
We’ve rounded up 10 phenomenal new food and drink traders at this year’s Manchester Christmas Markets – but there are loads of returning favourites worth your time too.
Waffle Kart are back on King Street with their famous Chinese waffle sandwiches (don’t knock it til you’ve tried it, they are DIVINE), Flat Baker have returned to Piccadilly Gardens with their Brazilian-inspired pastries and desserts, and Oi Dumpling are back slinging out handmade dumplings aplenty too.
ADVERTISEMENT
So without further ado, here are 10 food and drink traders you need to try at the Manchester Christmas Markets 2025.
Great North Pie Co.
Food trader Great North Pie Co. at the Manchester Christmas Markets. Credit: The Manc Group
Our piggy little food prayers have been answered – you can finally get your hands on proper British pies at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
ADVERTISEMENT
Great North Pie Co. have been a staple at the markets for years, but it’s always been with pies you take home to heat for your tea.
For the first time this year they’ve got an actual pie and mash bar, serving their award-winning bakes on a bed of fluffy mashed potato, with lashings of steaming hot onion gravy.
Piccadilly Gardens
ADVERTISEMENT
Hong Kong French Toast
Here’s a Manchester Christmas Market food trader we can all raise a toast to (… geddit?).
This new trader is Hong Kong French Toast, and you’ll find them serving adorable little trays of traditional French toast.
Thick, fluffy white bread is layered with fillings like peanut butter, Nutella, and pistachio cream, before being dipped in egg batter and deep-fried.
They’re then topped with things like condensed milk and miniature pats of butter for the ultimate indulgence that’s worth being on the naughty list for.
Rita’s Reign is one of the new food traders at the Manchester Christmas Markets. Credit: The Manc Group
Known for serving the city with hearty and gigantic Afro-Caribbean rice boxes, Rita’s Reign has expanded its reign even further – to the Manchester Christmas Markets food offering.
This beloved local street food favourite now has a festive-themed sister site right in front of the Town Hall, with festive fusion boxes of Jollof rice and homemade purple slaw.
Expect boneless Jerk chicken, curry goat, and vegan bowls, all served with that sunny Rita’s Reign service.
Loaded roast potatoes at Roastie HausAustrian goulash in a bread bowlCredit: The Manc Group
What could be more winter warmer comfort food than a stew (specifically, an Austrian goulash) served in a bowl made out of bread?
The team at Roastie Haus have got that, as well as loaded roast potatoes served with a big tub of gravy alongside.
You can have your spuds loaded with pigs in blankets, stuffing, onion gravy and lingonberry sauce, or with cauliflower and broccoli cheese plus golden breadcrumbs.
Piccadilly Gardens
ADVERTISEMENT
Misu Tiramisu
Misu Tiramisu at the Manchester Christmas Markets. Credit: The Manc Group
It’s not often that you come across stop-you-in-your-tracks branding at the Manchester Christmas Markets, but these adorable miniature trays of tiramisu did just that.
Misu Tiramisu is selling nine different flavours of individual Italian puds, from familiar flavours like classic, pistachio, and lemon, to festive editions including gingerbread, black forest, and chocolate orange.
Remember that tiramisu drawer from Onda that went incredibly viral? Imagine a miniature one and this is that stall.
This one kind of does what is says on the tin, and is one of two different loaded hash brown food stalls at this year’s Manchester Christmas Markets.
Look out for this silver Airstream on Albert Square and you’ll find portions of crispy hash browns loaded with all manner of toppings.
There’s the truffle, with crispy onions, truffle mayo and cranberry sauce; a Katsu hash with chicken goujons and curry sauce; and a salt and pepper, to name a few.
Albert Square
Niwa Yakitori
Who’d have thought you’d see the day where you could get an iced matcha at the Manchester Christmas Markets?
ADVERTISEMENT
And not just any matcha – matcha from one of the city’s finest Japanese green tea experts.
Niwa Yakitori (who have a cafe in the Northern Quarter that transforms into an intimate Japanese grill restaurant in the evenings) are here at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
As well as ceremonial-grade matcha and hojicha, they’re doing proper yakitori grill skewers too.
Piccadilly Gardens
Gorgeous Cheesecakes
This is Gorgeous Cheesecakes, and if you haven’t guessed it, they’re serving gorgeous cheesecakes.
ADVERTISEMENT
This build-your-own pudding bar is brand-new at the Manchester Christmas Markets, but you might recognise them from Selfridges and various other spots around the North West.
Pop over to see Matilda at Piccadilly Gardens and you can pick your base, cheesecake filling and toppings, whether you fancy a pistachio-loaded tub or a pot dripping in Biscoff.
Piccadilly Gardens
Pasta Claus
Pasta, from a cheese wheel, in the middle of Piccadilly Gardens. Whatever next?!
Pasta Claus is an Italian food trader at the Manchester Christmas Markets slinging out carby, cheesy classics like carbonara, cacio e pepe, and a pesto burrata number.
ADVERTISEMENT
There’s even thick-cut slices of Lasagne too, with layers of beef ragù, bèchamel sauce and lashings of parm.
Mini French toast
These mini French toasts are part of the new Albert Square Christmas markets in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Once you get over the jarring contrast of a pastel pink Eiffel tower standing in front of the Manchester Town Hall clock tower, you might notice that this stand has a sweet treat worth your attention.
This place is selling miniature boxes of French toast bites, topped with flavour combinations like pistachio and white chocolate, creme Anglaise, and Nutella and strawberry.
Imagine traditional Austrian Kaiserschmarrn (scrambled pancakes) but with a bit more hun.
Albert Square
10 of the best food traders at the Manchester Christmas Markets 2025
Great North Pie Co., Piccadilly Gardens
Hong Kong French Toast, King Street
Rita’s Reign, Albert Square
Roastie Haus, Piccadilly Gardens
Misu Tiramisu, Piccadilly Gardens
Loaded Hash Browns, Albert Square
Niwa Yakitori, Piccadilly Gardens
Gorgeous Cheesecakes, Piccadilly Gardens
Pasta Claus, Piccadilly Gardens
Mini French Toast, Albert Square
Featured image: The Manc Group
Feature
Review | The Lion, The Witch and The Beaver* – sorry, Wardrobe
The Manc
What an enchanting evening at The Lowry as we were transported to Narnia to review the live stage adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in Media City as the production began its festive run in Greater Manchester.
As we entered the playing space, the atmosphere was set with a pianist on stage, slowly drowning out the noise of the outside world and settling the audience in for a night of magic.
Launching ‘Act One’ with a touching rendition of the British wartime classic, ‘We’ll Meet Again’ by Vera Lynne, we meet the large ensemble, multi-instrumentalist cast.
This talented ensemble pivots around multiple roles throughout the performance, creating a shape-shifting atmosphere with some impressive seamless transitions, allowing us to “open our minds” and be absorbed into the mythical world of Narnia alongside The Pevensies.
Sweetly played by Joanna Adaran, Jesse Dunbar, Kudzai Mangombe and Bunmi Osadolor, they excel in exploring sibling dynamics such as rivalry, trust, but most of all, loyalty and love.
The most mind-blowing element of this performance, however, was the production; it truly is the unsung hero of the entire show, so we’ll so the singing on their behalf.
Set and costume (designed by Tom Paris), lighting (done by Jack Knowles), puppetry design and direction (by Max Humphries and Toby Olie), sound design (credit to Tom Marshall) and hair, make-up and wig designer (Susanna Perez).
All this carefully curated talent helped create a world where we had no choice but to believe in magic.
For us as an audience, it made things so much easier to immerse and delight in the world of C.S. Lewis’ imagination, as it is so wonderfully presented in front of us.
This was elevated once again by levitation and disappearing acts – the scene was set on the boards and in the air.
Huge credit goes to Gwen Hales (aerial director) and Chris Fisher (magic and illusions); it felt as if anything was possible, and we needed no convincing that we were in the presence of pure enchantment.
However, arguably the most magnificent moment of the show was the reveal of Aslan himself. As this grand puppet prowled onto the stage, you could hear gasps echo throughout the theatre.
Manoeuvred by three puppeteers, this skilful spectacle was a credit to bringing the story to life in live theatre. The seamless, lifelike movements of breath and king-like presence were both majestic and a credit to the production.
Accompanied by Stanton Wright, we had no doubt that this was the true hero of Narnia.
If you want us to sum up our review of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at The Lowry, quite simply, this show is nothing short of a marvel.
Make sure to take home a cuddly lion toy, of course. (Credit: The Manc)
With constant playfulness and wit throughout – mainly brought to you from the broad Northern and oh-so lovable Mr Beaver (Ed Thorpe), and fellow believer in magic, ‘The Professor’ (Kraig Thornber).
It’s the lattermost that left us with a lasting thought, as he warmly reminds the audience that even when times feel dark, “the sun is always up there, we just have to look.”
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is running from The Lowry in Salford Quays all the way up until Sunday, 11 January 2026. Don’t miss the magic and grab your tickets HERE.
If you’re interested in finding out what else we’ve enjoyed at the theatre in Manchester recently, then look no further…
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Press shots (Brinkhoff/Moegenburg supplied via The Lowry)
Feature
Hazlett at Manchester Academy 3 – some of the best ‘sad and depressing songs’ you could ever ask for
Danny Jones
On Thursday evening, we finally got to see Hazlett in a small, tightly-packed room here in Manchester and have maybe never heard so many people sing so expertly quietly so as not to even remotely dullen the stunning voice of this rising solo artist.
For anyone who isn’t aware of Hazlett, he’s an Australian singer-songwriter who has been gradually growing in popularity over the last couple of years, but his journey to where he is dates back much further than that.
Noticing a few familiar faces in the crowd from his last visit to the city for a performance at The Deaf Institute just over a year ago – one we sadly missed and have been kicking ourselves ever since – he acknowledged that many may already know his story, but it’s nevertheless worth sharing with the class.
After self-deprecating (how oh-so British) about gigging in pubs when he was younger, and being told to stick to covers rather than try any of his own material, he moved to Sweden in 2019 and fell in love with not only a much more seasonal European but winter, specifically. No wonder he looked at home here.
Here’s our review of Hazlett at Manchester Academy 3, 4/12/2025. (Credit: Audio North)
Kicking off with one of his best-known tracks, ‘Please Don’t Be’, it immediately struck us how full and mournful it all felt in the flesh – arguably even more so than the studio version we’ve been playing in our headphones since 2023.
The atmospheric but not over-produced engineering is an aspect we’ve always admired about Hazlett‘s discography, and we were so relieved it came across on the night, with the Brisbane-born ex-pat crediting his talented live band with helping bring that same sound to life on stage.
It’s a regular trapping, we’ve found, when it comes to acoustic-led music; that instinct, perhaps, for an artist and/or a producer to use seemingly as many of the tools at their disposal as possible just because they’re available to them.
Sadly, this easy pitfall often ends up taking away from what makes those tunes so beautiful to begin with – but not in this case.
The rising solo star seemed to have an expert command not only of his vocals, but the second mic that added those subtle and yet stirring layers, and built those moving, almost ethereal effects on top of the words themselves.
Honestly, we were literally in awe of him just whistling…
Admittedly, it’s hard to put a finger on what exactly made this such a special show, but we think it is THAT same appreciation and embrace of colder months and how it’s inspired his music.
Just bear with us for a minute, it’ll make sense soon.
He actually said it was one of the things he loves the most about people in this country, and this specific part of the world, as well as other parts of Europe, such as his now beloved Sweden, where he says he found his creative spark.
It’s that feeling of the weather and the mood it brings so intensely that he says it helped him write ‘Bones Shake’, which was fittingly chilling as he played it to the spellbound, would-be choir, and could hear the soft sibilance of people gently repeating those S-sounds back to him.
There’s a genuine sense of being able to chart the slight sorrow in the passing of time through the seasons, and while some may not be afforded that same feeling from the sun-soaked shores of his homeland, it’s a concept he’s really run with – especially on his most recent LP.
Simply titled, last night you said you missed me, it’s almost something he kind of tried to resist, confessing that he wrote and finished the album in the space of about a month, fearing that it couldn’t be good enough/ready purely because it came together so quickly.
Given that two specific tracks from this record made a lady standing with us well up and eventually shed several tears (you know who you are), we’d say he absolutely nailed it.
Our only minor gripe was not getting to hear ‘Tell Me What You Dream About’. (Credit: The Manc)
He did joke that his set is filled with nothing but “a bunch of sad and depressing songs” and had a laugh at the idea of people being “dragged along” without any real idea of who he is or the kind of stuff he makes, but having now witnessed him play live, we can assure you it’s much more than that.
Bloom Mountain was an emotional, magical debut that found us in a particular place and time in our lives that we’ll always appreciate, but hearing him knit it together with his newest material confirmed to us that his music has to be more than listened to – it has to be felt.
Like the changing of the seasons. Like the winter. Like the cold.
We unfortunately didn’t manage to make it in time to watch the support act, Hans Williams, but judging by the reaction from the audience who did get in there early enough, the authentic but inventive stylings of the Americana, folk and soul-infused indie-pop artist, he definitely won over plenty of new fans.
As Mitchell Hazlett Lewis, to use his full name, he’s had our hearts since the very start and will continue to do so for however long he keeps bringing his relatable lyricism, delicate but impressive guitar-picking and gentle charm to Manchester.
Please check out his tour dates and see him the next time he’s in town. You can guarantee you’ll find
Please enjoy the song from his latest album that he says his mum likes best.
Daisy Jackson -
13th November 2025 
