Pollen’s owners say they need the support of their fans to help them get it off the ground and grow into the new space they “desperately need”.
The duo behind the bakery, Chris Kelly and Hanna Calvert, successfully used a Kickstarter campaign to move the business from a railway arch near Manchester Piccadilly to their waterside cafe at New Islington marina back in 2018.
They’re famed for their sourdough loaves, cruffins, and other pastries and cakes, with queues out of the door most weekends.
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In the new campaign, they wrote: “The pandemic tested us in many ways but have come out the other side busier than ever and it’s more than our small space can cope with.
“We’ve been running over our realistic capacity for some time now.”
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Popular Ancoats bakery Pollen has launched a new Kickstarter campaign to help build its second site / Credit: Pollen / No Chintz Studio
The Kampus bakery will include a dedicated pastry kitchen with a glass viewing gallery, and a cafe with 60 seats inside and 30 outside.
It’s one of the latest businesses to join the rapidly growing new Capital & Centric neighbourhood, across the water from Canal Street.
Pollen will join the likes of Nell’s New York Pizza and General Stores, as well as the pop-up residencies running at The Bungalow.
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The Kickstarter post continued: “We cant quite believe we are on the cusp of opening a second location and the rate at which the bakery has grown and gone from strength to strength.
“There’s no question without your support this far, we would not be where we are today.
“Everything we do is for you, our customers and the community, this next step will allow us to reach more of you and become more accessible.”
Just days after launching, the Kickstarter has already received £15,000 from more than 200 backers, with 11 days still to go until fundraising efforts end.
Rewards on offer include tickets to an exclusive supper club, the chance to pre-order a wedding or celebration cake, merchandise, workshops, brunches and bread loaves.
Drink prices at Parklife 2025 as festival-goers face £9.50 gin tins
Daisy Jackson
Parklife festival is a bucket list item for a huge swathe of young Manc music-lovers, with a massive line-up of dance, electronic and house music up in the fields at Heaton Park.
As the biggest party in the calendar, tens of thousands save up for tickets and to let their hair down for two days of the summer.
But as with all music and entertainment venues, prices for everything are creeping ever-higher.
And Parklife is not immune to the rising price of drinks, with spirits, beer, wine, and even pre-mixed cans more expensive than ever.
In our opinion… still worth it.
Here are the drink prices across Parklife 2025.
Spirit and mixers
Smirnoff No.21 Vodka- £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Captain Morgan Spiced Gold – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Captain Morgan Black Spiced – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Johnnie Walker Black Label – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Gordon’s London Dry Gin – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Gordon’s Pink Gin – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Casamigos Blanco Tequila – £14.80 for double, £10.90 for single
Included mixers: Pepsi Max, Pepsi Max Cherry, 7Up Free, Ginger Beer, Tonic, Soda, Grapefruit Soda
Rockstar Energy drink mixers: Tropical Guava, Peach Zero Sugar, Original – +£1
Free Glastonbury-themed festivals with pizza, tequila, and big screens to take place in Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Glastonbury weekend is upon us, and to celebrate the UK’s biggest music festival in all its glory, Nell’s is hosting its own festivals instead.
Hundreds of thousands of people will be making the trek to the fields of Worthy Farm next weekend, as Glastonbury 2025 headliners Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young, and The 1975 bring the tunes, alongside a list of other talented names too big to even begin starting to reel off – as is always the case with Glastonbury, there’s something for everyone.
But for those of us not lucky enough to have bagged tickets to what is undeniably the biggest event in the British music calendar, not to worry, as Nell’s is where it’s at here in Greater Manchester.
The beloved New York-style pizza specialists – which now has four sites across the region – is turning two of its most popular restaurants into festival hubs next weekend, bringing all the spirit of Glastonbury to Kampus and Altrincham.
Manchester‘s thriving canalside neighbourhood Kampus will become home to the aptly-named Kampus Fest, while over in the Trafford town of Altrincham, Alty Fest will be in full force.
Nell’s is hosting its own FREE Glastonbury-themed festivals at Kampus and in Altrincham / Credit: Supplied
At Kampus, the gardens will be transformed into a city centre festival site for a free three-day party featuring big screens live streaming the full Glastonbury festival throughout, plus a pop-up market, face painting and hair tinsel stations, an outdoor tequila and margarita bar, happy hours, and of course, lots and lots of Nell’s pizza.
Altrincham is bringing you much of the same – the same big screens, the same tasty pizza slices, and the same happy hours, only over two days instead of three.
Family fun is also at the heart of both Kampus Fest and Alty Fest, so you can expect lots of crafting workshops and bunting making, accessory customisation stations, as well as all-day colouring sessions by Born to be Wild Child and Søstrene Grene.
Kampus Fest will take over the gardens at Kampus from Friday 27 – Sunday 29 June, while Alty Fest will take place at Nell’s Altrincham on both Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June.
Daisy Jackson -
9th November 2021 
