After a few years spent locked up in our houses, we’re all in need of a blowout – and what better excuse than the feast of St Patrick?
This year, St Patrick’s Day falls on Thursday, 17 March – and Manchester’s operators are already gearing up for the celebrations.
From Guinness gravy-soaked burgers and guided tours of Manchester’s Little Ireland, to boozy Guinness-fuelled bottomless brunches, parades and Irish festivals, we’ve put together a list of some of the best events happening in the city for you here.
Whether you want to drink your weight in Guinness or absorb a bit of culture, there’s something here for you.
Keep reading to discover where to go on St Patrick’s Day in Manchester this year.
The annual Manchester St Patrick’s Day parade is organised by the Irish World Heritage Centre and takes place in Cheetham Hill.
Now in its 25th year, the parade will start from the Irish World Heritage Centre on Queen’s Road in Cheetham Hill at 12 noon on Sunday and will follow a route down Cheetham Hill Road as far as the AO Arena before turning round and following the same route back to where it started.
One of the city’s oldest St Patrick’s celebrations, the Manchester Irish Festival has events running in the city throughout the month right up to 20 March.
Highlights include the award-winning Fianna Phadraig Pipe band who are coming up to their 75th anniversary and will be taking the festival on tour with visits to different locations across the city throughout this weekend, before touring Levenshulme, Burnage, and Fallowfield on St Patrick’s Day itself.
The area around Manchester’s Oxford Road station was once known as Little Ireland, and this St Patrick’s Day you can learn all about its history from local tour guide Ed O’Glinert .
This guided tour promises to unearth the best stories of Little Ireland: recalling Auntie’s Bar, stopping off at the site of George Orwell’s doss house, searching for a whiff of the Waxie’s Dargle and maybe even enjoying a glass of a black Irish drink with a creamy head.
It will take place on 19 March, kicking off at 1130am and running for a couple of hours. You can pick up tickets for the tour here.
A two-week Irish festival at O’Sheas beer garden
Image: Supplied
O’Sheas giant beer garden has re-opened in Manchester, and operators are kicking off the St Patrick’s Day celebrations early with a two-week Irish festival.
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Think live music from a host of Irish bands, free-flowing pints of ice-cold Guinness, and cocktails like espresso martinis and pornstar martinis, plus an all-new Irish American street food menu from Manchester bagel heroes Eat new York.
Running from now until 24 March, it’s the perfect excuse to get down to the newly-returned (and now covered) beer garden that was such a hit when hospitality reopened its doors in April last year.
A 4-day ‘Irish weekender’ at Manchester Piccadilly Gardens
Image: Twitter
Piccadilly Gardens will be paying homage to the Emerald Isle with a weekend full of live music and dance, free-flowing Irish stouts, street food and more.
Irish dancers, pipe bands and Irish folk musicians will take to the stage in the middle of the gardens throughout the long weekend, whilst huge bars will have all manner of Irish tipples – from dry Irish stouts and Irish coffees to hot toddies and fine whiskeys.
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Entertainment will be free and take place in the gardens from 12-7pm every day throughout the long weekend.
Manchester’s part-time pizza parlour is bringing the goods this St Patrick’s Day, with non-stop pints of Guinness and endless slices of their New York-style cold-proved pizza all for a fixed price.
For one day only, the team have added the beautiful black dry Irish stout to its bottomless brunch offer in honour of St Patrick’s feast.
That means that for just £25 a head you’ll be able to get 90 minutes of unlimited Guinness and non-stop pizza slices at both Manchester Bridge Street and Northern Quarter venues between 12 and 5pm. How grand.
A special Guinness fondue burger at Honest Burgers
Image: Honest Burgers
Honest Burgers is selling limited-edition fondue burgers drenched in Guinness gravy this month, all in the name of St Patrick’s Day.
Comprised of Honest’s classic hand-shaped beef patty, it’s sandwiched between brioche then topped with candied bacon, molten fondue, a Guinness beef and bacon gravy, crispy onions, rocket and pickles.
Available at the burger restaurant through March, it’s served with Honest’s signature rosemary and sea salt fries. For this month only, you can also enjoy a pint of draught Guinness on the side to wash it down with.
Bottomless wings and endless Guinness at The Shack
Another bottomless Guinness deal, this time with added endless wings.
The Shack in Manchester’s Northern Quarter has bottomless deals running on St Patrick’s Day, priced from £15 a head – and it sounds too good to miss.
Even better, they’ll also be offering free gaming in the basement from 5pm and £2.50 shots of Jamesons all day.
Boilermakers and Jameson whiskey pizzas at Nell’s
From 14-20 March, Nell’s pizza is serving up one of its classics with an added Irish twist.
For one week only, fans can get the signature Chilli HOney pizza with added Jameson whiskey for an additional £1.50.
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On top of that, there’ll be some boozy specials on the drinks side too – think Jameson orange and lemonade, or the classic boilermaker – combining a schooner of beer and a shot of Jameson for an extra £2.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
The free stuff your mum can get in Manchester for Mother’s Day
Danny Jones
If there’s one thing we know for sure it’s that none of us would be lucky enough to be on this planet were it not for our mums, and we think the least they deserve is for things to be made easy, comfortable and, ideally, free wherever possible when it comes to Mother’s Dayherein Manchester.
Now, we don’t live in a perfect so unfortunately not everyone Manc mum is going to be able swan into their favourite place and expect a complimentary this and a gratis that.
However, there are guite a few places in Manchester city centre doing the right things and giving away some free stuff for Mother’s Day 2025, so we thought we’d round them up for you and, more importantly, the person who helped bring you into the world.
Let’s get into, shall we?
Six freebies mums can score in Manchester this Mother’s Day
Albert’s Schloss – Deansgate
What better to begin than with a top-notch breakfast spot? Albert’s Schloss on Peter St is not only one of the best places to start or end a day out but they also do brilliant early morning offerings. Plus, this Mother’s Day, you can wash down your Bavarian brekkie with a free spritz, because why the hell not?
And since you’ve started as you mean to go on, we’d say the only thing better than an early drink (and a free one at that) is a second one, so it’s a good job one of the newest additions to Manchester, The Trading Route, is offering a free cocktail to mums this Mother’s Day.
Best of all, the new S. John’s beer and food hall is located just down the road from the main Deansgate strip and is just next to Spinningfields, so it’s a short walk from Schloss. You can book HERE.
Speaking of which, if your and/or your mum resisted the urge to grab another bite at Trading Route (we wouldn’t blame them if they did), you could then head from St. John’s to Spinningfields and grab some a sophisticated bit of brunch as you grab your next freebie.
Habibi on Hardman Boulevard is giving away a complimentary luxury gift from home, body and beauty brand, Rituals, to those who book ahead. Consider that killing two gift-shaped birds with one stone.
Now, we’re not necessarily expecting you stop at every single place on this list – unless your feeling extravagant or your mum really is that mega that she deserves all of this and more – but you’d be a fool not to grab yourself a margarita on the house from any Nell’s location.
Besides, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to grab a slice to further line your stomach.
However, if mum hasn’t had a nibble in a hot minute then why not take her back in the direction you came from to beloved Polish restaurant, Platzki, who as well as serving an incredible main menu are also offering a free cheesecake or apple pie to all maternal diners this Mother’s Day.
Open for walk-ins as always, of course, but you can reserve your table HERE.
Credit: The Manc Group
House of Fu – Central
And last but not least, what harm would another free marg do? That’s what on the cards over at House of Fu, which just so happens to be up there with some the best ramen in Manchester if there’s still any room in that well-treated tummy.
Located on Portland Street, it’s also not too far from Picadilly, the bus station or St Peter’s Square tram stop when you and your mum are ready to call a day on this freebie parade… Or, you could always tie off the night with some karaoke downstairs. Now that’s how you put an end to a party.
We’d like to think that half a dozen options should just about do you and your mums in central Manchester, though we’re sure there’s plenty more free things to snap up this Mother’s Day.
The cynics might want you to believe that this date is just another annual observance created, or at least perpetuated by companies to sell cards, flowers, chocolate and son, but the truth is a special day that deserves to be celebrated properly.
In fact, the truth is that Mothering Sunday started nearly 120 years ago over in Philadelphia, when a woman named Anna Jarvis wanted to honour her mother who spent her life gathering groups to promote female friendship and health during a memorial service at her late mother’s church.
We think that’s wonderful and whatever your relationship with the mother figure in your life, we reckon it’s a sentiment and motivation worth sustaining much more than just once a year.
Much love to all our mums from The Manc, and sorry if we were ever a pain – hopefully a few drinks makes up for it.
The 5 best places to go for a matcha in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Matcha fever has the nation gripped at the minute – it feels like half the country has turned its back on flat whites in favour of the popular green tea drink.
This pretty Japanese beverage might have been around for centuries, but it’s having a bit of a new moment here in Manchester and finding a whole new wave of fans.
With the global success of brands like Blank Street, you can barely walk down the street without passing someone sipping something green.
So we’ve decided to pull together five local spots in Manchester who are doing the very best matcha in town, from the very traditional to the very playful.
Know of somewhere we’ve missed? Drop us a DM on our The Manc Eats Instagram page HERE.
Ohayo Tea, Chinatown
Matcha bubble tea and soft serve at Ohayo Tea in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
This adorable bubble tea cafe in Chinatown has a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot, and you’ll find his face carved into the walls, waffles in the shape of his head, and a giant dog statue bursting out of the wall.
Ohayo Tea serve a complex take on a matcha drink that plays into their bubble tea expertise – expect your matcha to come layered with tapioca pearls, cheese foam, pistachio foam, and plenty more options too.
These drinks come with instructions – tilt your branded cup (the Shiba is back) it to at least 45 degrees to get every layer at once, or, if you insist, use a thick straw to mix it all together.
You can also get matcha soft serve here with shards of honeycomb stuck to it. Delightful.
Just Between Friends, Ancoats and Northern Quarter
Matcha drinks at Just Between Friends, Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group
If you’re someone who actually likes matcha to taste of matcha, rather than of all sorts of syrups and other add-ons, turn to one of the city’s best coffee shops.
At Just Between Friends – which has locations tucked into an old mill in Ancoats as well as right on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter – matcha is whisked properly with a traditional bamboo whisk, before being added to steamed or chilled milk.
The result is either a warm, smooth drink served in an earthenware cup, or a refreshing iced matcha.
You can wedge yourself into a window seat or even sit on the cobbled archway outside and imagine you’ve transported yourself to a Tokyo backstreet.
We’d love to tell you the opening hours and location of this pop-up matcha hotspot, but it tends to shift around Manchester a bit.
It’s worth tracking down though – Matcha Kyoto is importing speciality ingredients all the way from Kyoto and doing everything as authentically as possible.
With matcha whipped cream, matcha lattes, matcha desserts and matcha toppings it’s a dream come true for matcha lovers… Is the word matcha starting to sound like gibberish to anyone else at this point?
Track their latest movements on their Instagram HERE.
Sipp, Ancoats and Deansgate Square
Sipp matcha in Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group
If you’re new to matcha, or just know that you like yours with a little sweetness and fun, you must get a sip of Sipp’s.
These guys are based in General Stores around town, with their own coffee shop soon to open in Chorlton, and they have a whole list of ‘Matcha Cloud’ drinks.
Their best-seller is the raspberry and coconut, which tastes exactly like a lamington, or there are always specials cropping up (currently, it’s a mango and passionfruit).
This is gateway matcha – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Tsujiri, Chinatown
A selection of matcha items at Tsujuri in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Not satisfied with simply serving matcha you can drink, Tsujiri is a Japanese tea house using this powerful ingredient in cakes, ice creams, cheesecakes and more.
Tsujiri was founded all the way back in 1860, before bringing the finest matcha lattes and infused desserts to British shores.
In Manchester, you’ll find them in the heart of Chinatown, tucked up an anonymous flight of stairs, where there are cabinets full of green sweet treats like a matcha basque cheesecake, matcha sundaes, and classic iced lattes.
Georgina Pellant -
14th March 2022 
