Anyone hoping to put on the kind of rollicking, rip-roaring party that gets the crowd on its feet can always turn to one dependable event for inspiration: Bongo’s Bingo.
An epic promotion famed for putting a boisterous spin on a centuries-old card-playing game, Bongo’s is – on the surface – absolute mayhem.
Each new party is as rowdy as the last, with excitable toastmasters weighing in between bursts of music, head-slapping dance-offs, and bizarre prize revelations that range from giant unicorns to Henry Hoovers.
But beyond the frenzied stages, winding conga lines and roof-shaking decibels, there’s a team at work making it all tick. The chaos is organised. And the promotion is a phenomenon.
Bongo’s Bingo has, to date, sold over 1.5 million tickets – appearing in 50 countries and over 150 private hire events. A regular stop-off is Manchester – and the responsibility of implementing these crazy shows in the Rainy City has fallen to events company Square Fish.
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Neil Lofthouse – co-founder of the firm alongside his sister Steph – has been working with Bongo’s Bingo for years to make the magic happen at Albert Hall in a previous role.
Their partnership has proven such a success, in fact, that Square Fish has now been chosen to organise bespoke Bongo’s shows that can be booked by organisations for special one-off events.
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Ultimately, this means audiences can enjoy the intense, high-energy atmosphere of a classic Bongo’s night – only with the formula tweaked to fit the occasion.
Square Fish’s mission is to level up the entertainment and tailor shows to the client – whether it’s a private corporate party, conference, awards show or business festival.
Performances run for around two-and-a-half hours, featuring electric rounds of bingo buoyed by Bongo-branded extravagance.
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Neil said that he and his sibling Steph set up the events business to realise their ‘dream’ of running a firm together as a family. Manchester’s synonymy with music made this city the obvious geographic spot to get things going.
Just months after launching, a big name like Bongo’s has put its faith in Square Fish to manage the madness of its local shows.
Neil stated: “Manchester is a city like no other, the industry and people that support it are incredible. Manchester offers it all, from fresh and creative concepts, incredible music, and club scene to a thriving event sector.
“The events industry has been incredibly challenging, especially with the pandemic and the aftermath. We wanted to find a way to keep pushing forward and adapt our offering so we all could come out of the other side – we switched our business model to offer virtual experiences and created Boxspoke the bespoke gifting experience.
“We’ve got a great partnership with Bongo’s now and it’s hugely exciting to work with them.”
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As well as hosting virtual shows for thousands of viewers via Boxspoke and booming live experiences for bonkers crowds at Bongo’s, Square Fish has also established itself as an invaluable asset when it comes to the nuts and bolts of creating events.
The company can curate special lineups to ensure unforgettable shows, with a dedicated team handling all production and concept design work. Square Fish also operates as a ‘Venue Finder’: Helping clients pinpoint the perfect location for events that fit requirements, budget and vision.
The fact that Neil and Steph’s startup has thrived in such testing surroundings is testament to its capabilities – but the founders believe this is only the beginning.
“The future is bright for Square Fish and Manchester,” Neil clarified.
“We are super excited to have grown the team and can’t wait to share exciting upcoming projects very soon.”
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It sounds like the Square Fish parties are only going to get bigger, wilder and more ambitious as we move into 2022. If that sounds like your bag, it’s worth reaching out. A private Bongo’s Bingo is guaranteed to be a night that lives long in the memory.
If you fancy hosting a Bongo’s Bingo show for your business, you can contact Square Fish to talk arrangements via: [email protected].
You can also learn more about Square Fish and what they’re doing for the local events industry via their official website: https://squarefishevents.co.uk/
Gigs & Nightlife
Clubland Live is returning to Manchester with an arena show that will be ‘the biggest night of your life’
Daisy Jackson
Clubland will be back with a live arena show in Manchester next year, following massive success and feel-good parties for the last few years.
There’ll be five cities on the newly announced tour, which will fill arenas with classic dance tunes and the full Clubland experience.
As well as Manchester, the tour will visit Leeds, Glasgow, Newcastle and Aberdeen in May next year.
The three-hour action-packed show will bring together some big names from as far back as the 90s in the dance music world, along with some of the biggest new names on the scene.
Each city will have a slightly different line-up, but for Manchester it includes Cascada, Ultrabeat, and Ben Nicky.
The new Clubland show at the AO Arena will be reliving the times where dance music produced the best tunes, energy and feel-good factor from throughout the generations.
Clubland started life as a series of compilation albums in 2002, and become the umbrella brand for an entire movement of commercial dance music, spawning countless classic hits over the years.
That’s included artists like Cascada, Scooter, BassHunter and Ultrabeat amongst many, many more – selling 30 million albums.
And Clubland TV remains one of the most popular music channels on UK music TV, bringing a mix of the both the classics and new tunes to thousands of people every day.
Clubland Live launched in 2008 and played to tens of thousands of people across the UK, in a landmark moment for the dance music industry.
And now it’s back again for a live show at the AO Arena.
Clubland Live will be at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday 2 May 2026, with tickets on sale from 10am on Friday 7 November HERE.
Outbreak Festival announces hard-hitting lineup for 15th anniversary in Manchester
Danny Jones
Outbreak Fest is celebrating 15 years in 2026, and they’re toasting the milestone with a hefty lineup full of trash, metal, punk, hardcore and more.
The cult favourite alternative and annual music festival that takes place at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre, a.k.a. BEC Arena, every year has only gotten bigger over the past few years, and their landmark 15th anniversary is set to be another rager.
Approaching a decade and a half of delighting alt-kids and Manc rocks next summer, the Outbreak lineup down in London was always going to be impressive, but we just weren’t quite expecting so many big hitters in just the first wave alone up here.
Here’s the Outbreak Fest Manchester lineup for 2026 so far:
Promising plenty more to come and soon, the festival organisers have already confirmed that there will be a standalone Friday show to kick off the carnage come June 2026.
As explained in the social media post, which has been met with an incredible reaction from fans, “you will be able to upgrade your weekend ticket to include this show once the line-up is announced, if you would like.” Bang for your buck.
They went on to write: “This festival is nothing without the community of people around it. It doesn’t exist without your support, and we are grateful to still be doing this all these years later.”
This devil-horned, weekend-long celebration has always given off a great style and aesthetic, too; we particularly enjoyed their cinematic preview released on Halloween.
Put together by Charles Fitzgerald, a digital content creator who has worked with the likes of Bring Me The Horizon and their frontman Oli Sykes’ Drop Dead clothing range, these are the kinds of teasers we want to see more of…
With names like the resurgent Alexisonfire (set to play their seminal third album Crisis in its entirety), Ipswich rockers Basement, as well as post-hardcore heroes, Touché Amoré, topping the bill, we cannot wait to see what comes next.
Safe to say you should keep your eyes peeled on their social media for more announcements and information on Outbreak 2026.
Following up to the reaction online, they added: “Two-day passes on sale now. That was a crazy reaction to the first announcement and we are grateful.
“Truthfully, we were 60% sold before we announced yesterday! This is us giving you a heads up. If you can, and you f*** with this lineup – get your ticket soon! Thank you.”
General admission went live on their official website on Monday morning, and you really don’t want to wait around with this one; grab your tickets HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
1st December 2021 
