Kids & Family

A three-day outdoor music festival is heading to Manchester this weekend

Plus free Family Pride MCR events

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 25th August 2022

Manchester’s secret suntrap street will throw a huge three-day live music festival this weekend, alongside family-friendly Pride fun.

The Great Northern Warehouse’s sun terraces will be serving up sun, food, drinks, and live music throughout the bank holiday weekend.

Lion’s Den will welcome Manc music legend Clint Boon to its newly refurbished terrace space as part of Den Fest, alongside live performances from rising talent.

The bar’s pop-up outdoor stage will welcome more than 25 different artists, bands and DJs between 26 and 28 August – and it’s totally free to attend.

The line-up features up-and-coming indie artists including Colliders, Bedside Manners, The Common View and Reave.

Any proceeds raised from Den Fest will be donated to local charity Forever Manchester, which supports community activity across the region.

Den Fest at Great Northern Warehouse. Credit: Phil Tragen 2021

Elsewhere at the Great Northern Warehouse, its giant outdoor sandpit will host a series of free, family-friendly events, in collaboration with Family Pride MCR and LGBTQ+ charity Proud 2 b Parents.

The Palaver Party will be an inclusive and celebratory event, hosted in the square and amphitheatre, with live performances celebrating queer identities for children and families.

There’ll be a magic show, a mini disco, arts and crafts, party games, prizes and free play, aimed at children aged between three and eight.

The Palaver Party will be at Great Northern Warehouse as part of Family Pride MCR. Credit: Supplied

The Palaver Party will take place on Saturday 27 August between 12pm and 6pm and is free to attend.

The Book Nook, Great Northern Warehouse’s community library on the first floor of the warehouse building, will hold a human library and quiet chill-out areas in collaboration with Proud 2 b Parents.

All the Great Northern Warehouse’s brilliant independent businesses will open for business this weekend, so you can really make a day of it.

You can start with brunch or lunch at Another Hand – recently shortlisted as Newcomer of the year and Restaurant of the year at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards – where the ever-changing menu features small plates and perfect eggs on Holy Grain sourdough.

The Book Nook
Almost Famous

Another Hand is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10am until 3pm, with the small plates menu available from 5pm until 10pm.

There are delicious milkshakes, cakes and bakes at Alex’s Bakery, like brand-new Cake Pots, made up of fluffy carrot flavoured sponge cake with the bakery’s top-secret recipe vanilla cream, topped off with freshly whipped cream.

The largest sun terrace of the lot is at Impossible, which is open late between Tuesdays and Sundays.

Read more: A ‘cabaret rave’ for babies and toddlers is coming to Manchester

There are two-for-£12 cocktails between Sunday and Thursday, including the Vimto Bramble, a delicious mix of double Beefeater gin, lemon and drizzled in Vimto syrup.

Almost Famous are based here too, and will be offering 50% off all burgers on Thursday 25 August to celebrate National Burger Day.

The burger legends have just added new ice cream cookie sandwiches to the menu too, using freshly-baked cookies and Cheshire Farm ice cream, rolled in a biscuit crumb.

To find out more about this weekend’s activities at the Great Northern Warehouse, visit thegreatnorthern.com.

Featured image: Supplied

Kids & Family

Viral Manchester beauty brand P. Louise to open first ever flagship store in Trafford Palazzo

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Beauty brand and viral cosmetics giant P. Louise has announced her first ever flagship store, and it’s opening at Trafford Palazzo.

Droylsden-born beauty guru, turned makeup mogul, P. Louise, is opening her first ever flagship store in Manchester in one of the region’s biggest shopping centres.

Titled P. Louise City, the pastel pink viral cosmetics company is launching its very-first physical site in Trafford Palazzo.

The beauty brand has become a social media sensation, as well as a Greater Manchester hotspot thanks to its P. Louise Empire headquarters located in Stockport.

This pink-furnished warehouse site offers customers an immersive experience with makeover sessions, shopping DIY activities, a cafe, and lots of photo opportunities.

The upcoming P. Louise City is set to build off this success with a 19,000 sq ft store that houses a variety of distinctive zones with iconic names.

You’ll be able to quench your thirst at the ‘Bad B*tch Juice Bar’, find all the latest pink-hued goodies at ‘Juicy News’, and pick up all your essentials at the ‘P. Louise Supermarket’.

P. Louise may not be a medical company, but her ‘P. Louise Pharmacy’ will cure all your retail therapy needs, and although many of her fans already knew her products were liquid gold, the ‘P. Louise Vault’ definitely confirms this.

As well as lots of shopping areas throughout this massive Trafford Palazzo site, there will be lots of hands-on activities – including makeup education zones, and even a dancefloor to bust a move or two.

P. Louise is set to open its first ever flagship store titled P. Louise City in Trafford Palazzo.
P. Louise is set to open its first ever flagship store titled P. Louise City in Trafford Palazzo.
P. Louise is set to open its first ever flagship store titled P. Louise City in Trafford Palazzo / Credit: Supplied

In an Instagram post on her personal social media account she calls this physical store ‘a dream come true’, adding: “[It’s] truly a pinch me moment – here’s to my next chapter”.

Anyone wanting to add a splash of pastel pink to their life ahead of the big new opening can check out P. Louise’s upcoming Pinkmas event, which is returning to the Trafford Centre and features similar zones with a Christmas twist.

Read more:

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Featured Images – Press Shots / @plouise1 via Instagram

Kids & Family

Kendal Calling toasts 20 years of unforgettable memories with Audio North’s best visit yet

Danny Jones Danny Jones Kendal Calling review 2025

Kendal Calling 2025 was always going to be special: it was yet another sellout edition of a live music and cultural celebration that impresses every year, shifting its ticket capacity in record time.

Even after two decades of success, genuinely getting ‘bigger and better’ each time, the local event that started off as a cult favourite for roughly 900 people somehow remains one of the most underappreciated festivals not just in the North but in the country.

To be honest, there were so many factors that went into making this our best visit to Kendal Calling to date, but we thought we’d rattle off some of them in our review of 2025’s 20th anniversary year, in what was a truly momentous milestone weekend.

Here are just a few.

Kendal Calling 2025 review

The sun shines down on Lowther Deer Park

For starters, 2025 was comfortably the best weather we’ve ever had at Kendal Calling, as the rays beamed down on the valley pretty much all weekend long.

In fact, the only bit of rain we had came overnight/in the early morning during the final 24 hours, and while there was a bit of showering later that night, we got to enjoy the bulk of the daytime making the most of dry ground – by which we mean jumping up and down every chance we got.

As much as there’s something very romantic about the inevitable wet and muddiness of a UK music festival, this particular tree-encased corner of Penrith is just so pretty set against pure sunlight and clear blue skies. Just gorgeous.

The next big plus may come down to bias, but it gave us a buzz nevertheless. Cue Friday night’s headliners:

The Mancs do us proud as always

It’ll surprise none of you to hear that the Greater Manchester music scene was flying its big festival flag high, wide and handsome at Kendal’s 20th anniversary.

Tell me something I don’t know, right?

From youngsters The Guest List, and fellow indie up-and-comers like M60, to now established main stage stars like The Lottery Winners and, oh, you know, a little-known band called The Courteeners, we had plenty of top-tier representation this time around.

This is not to say that we haven’t in the past, by the way. Everyone knows how prolific and influential our city is when it comes to the arts, in general; nevertheless, it felt like this year, extra eyes were on us.

We’d be fools not to surmise that some of this may have been down to Oasis fever still firmly gripping the nation by the neck with both hands (a sea of their adidas merch was certainly a tip-off), but seeing acts we’ve featured in our artists of the month to look out for felt affirming.

Credit: Audio North

A festival that thrives after dark

Another thing we can never get over is just how much fun we have after the headliners walk off around 11pm…

Beyond the nine stages located around the sprawling festival site, there are so many little nooks and crannies we are still finding three years in, such as a cosy tea tent with cushion seating and low lamplight, the new ‘Green Room’, which serves as a little taste of VIP, and tonnes more.

The best part about all these bits is that they usually get better the longer the night goes on, and as we found from our two nights dancing until 3am to the silent disco over at the Woodlands stage amidst a trail of fairy lights and flashing headphones, Kendal has endless stamina.

Even on the walk back from the technicolour forest full of ravers, those warming their hands by open fires, or simply lying back and gazing up at the stars in the night sky, you’ll see the big Ferris wheel still spinning, food traders slinging out late-night scran, and people still dancing.

Credit: The Manc

As for some of the names that really impressed us this year, Keo, Sports Team and The Big Moon were up there for some of our favourite sets of the weekend, but we have to say that Sheffield’s very own Reverend and the Makers were truly brilliant.

We’ve had the pleasure of seeing Jon McClure and co. live on a number of occasions over the course of our lifetimes, and while they’ve never quite been as massive as we feel they should be, Kendal Calling 2025 proved they deserve not just main stage but headline slots.

Barring arguably Fatboy Slim on Saturday night, they got the biggest energy and movement of the crowd we’d seen since we got there – and it came as no surprise, either, as the case was very much the same last time.

They acknowledged themselves that they’re having a bit of a ‘Rev-naissance’ and we couldn’t think of a more deserving group of musicians.

Honestly, at this point, we’d say we were getting tired of trying to convince people to give Kendal Calling a go if they haven’t before, but we’re not sure we’ll ever be able to put into words a review that’s fitting enough of how much we adore this festival.

Happy birthday to one of the best. Thanks again for having us back, and here’s to 20 unbelievable years.

As ever, we cannot wait until we’re back on the fields again soon.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

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