Considering Manchester’s a city obsessed with football, surprisingly, it’s not always the easiest place to find somewhere good to watch the match.
We’ve been inundated with messages asking us where to go this summer, so we’ve knuckled down and done the leg work for you – digging out some of the best spots in Manchester to watch the football outside (and in) this summer.
Keep reading to find out where you should be booking for all the upcoming Premier League fixtures. This piece will be regularly updated as new information becomes available.
Joshua Brooks
Oxford Road
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Kicking off the launch of the Premier League in style, Joshua Brooks is going all out with giant beer pitchers, a massive 3m wide screen and pizzas courtesy of its new kitchen resident Tanto Amore.
With club nights raging on in its basement from early evening, you can even make a whole night of it – going down for the footie, then staying on for a boogie.
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Box
Manchester’s new-ish giant sports bar Box is, of course, screening the football this summer.
The huge venue has screens all over the place, so you’ll never be far from the action if you pick the Deansgate bar to watch all the action.
Barca Bar
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Castlefield
This Castlefield gastropub has it all: canal-side dining, plenty of outdoor seating and loads of big screens for showing the football. With room for 250 outside alone (and that’s not including the balcony), there’ll be plenty of space for fans to watch the action, weather permitting. If the heavens do open, there’s room for another 300 inside.
Binary Bar
Castlefield
Binary Bar is a reliable spot for sports fans in Castlefield, showing all the sports fixtures this summer – footie included. As well as a good selection of pints and a classic cocktail menu, they’ve also got a kitchen service up burgers, pizzas, wings and wraps.
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Hotel Football & Cafe Football
Trafford
With it proudly being Manchester’s “home of the Euros” and also owned by the Class of 92, naturally, you’d expect Old Trafford’s Hotel Football to be showing all the important matches this summer.
The Brotherhood of Pursuits and Pastimes
City Centre
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With a couple of tables always left open for walk-ins, this Mount Street sports bar is a decent shout if you’re looking for somewhere to catch the game last minute. Bringing the inside out, all outdoor seating comes with a guaranteed good view of a TV screen. What more do you want?
Walkabout
The Printworks
Aussie sports bar Walkabout is not short of big screens to watch the match on this summer. Whether you support Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or any of the other big boys, Walkabout will be showing all the fixtures live so you don’t miss any of the action.
Yates
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The Printworks
Showing the fixtures all summer, Yates is another solid go-to for sports fans looking for big screen action and affordable drinks. From the Premier League to the World Cup 2022, if there’s a match you want to see you can trust that Yates will be screening it.
O’Neills
The Printworks
With BT Sport and Sky Sports access, you can watch all televised Premier League matches and the top European action from UEFA Champions League, Europa League and more at O’Neills. Tables here are available to book in advance, and there’s even a Carling Score Predictor game on its app allowing you to win prizes if you guess correctly.
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Bierkeller
The Printworks
Bavarian party bar Bierkeller isn’t just all steins and oompah, it’s also a great place to catch the match. The shooters sports bar boasts a whopping 20 TV screens, plus a massive projector screen and a large LED superscreen – so no matter where you’re sat, you won’t miss a thing.
The Crown and Anchor
Northern Quarter
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This popular family-run pub on Hilton Street will be showing all the football fixtures this summer. Grab a seat in its cute little enclosed courtyard beer garden or up on the roof terrace, and load up on homely grub from the kitchen – washed down with some of the city’s most reasonably-priced bevs.
Gasworks
First Street
This beer bar and microbrewery on First Street has some lush beers on draught, many pumped straight out of the brew tanks in its cellar, and decent grub too. They’ll be showing all the football this summer, but to secure a table you’ll need to book by email.
The Dockyard
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Media City
Offering a strong selection of craft ales, beers and ciders, The Dockyard at Media City will be screening all the Euros fixtures this summer. Advance bookings are recommended.
Manchester
Manchester’s biggest free music festival is back this Easter bank holiday weekend
Danny Jones
Sunnier days are well and truly on their way and better still, that means Manchester’s biggest free music festival and one of the best event series on the annual calendar is returning: that’s right, it’s time for Manifest 2024.
Back and bigger than ever, Manifest over at The Oast House in Spinningfelds returns this Easter Sunday and we cannot wait to get soaking in the sun, tunes and good vibes.
The biggest and most popular free music festival you’ll find anywhere in Greater Manchester, Manifest has been going for a few years now and it’s become such a staple of the warmer months here in the city centre that we don’t consider spring/summertime as having even started until it rolls around again.
Set to deliver an all-day line-up of live music with various acts playing from Sunday, 31 March at 1pm onwards and well into the early hours of Monday, 1 April, we can’t think of many better ways to spend the bank holiday.
Taking place on The Oast House’s large outdoor terrace complete with its dedicated stage and the big beer garden providing both coverage and plenty of room for Mancs to turn it into one giant dancefloor, thousands turn up to this series of events every year now.
Kicking off this season’s festivities on Sunday, 31 March, the first Manifest event of 2024 has a packed roster of musicians lined up including bands, solo artists and duos, as well as interludes from their resident and ever-reliable DJs.
Guests can expect not only a vibrant party atmosphere all day and night but tastes of pretty much every genre, from rock, pop and soul to R&B, funk, disco and blues.
Again, part of the reason this music festival series has become so popular is that it’s completely free, with space inside the venue dished out on a first-come, first-served basis. There were plenty of queues at every single date last year, so we recommend getting there early. Seriously, it packs out quickly.
You’ll have everything you need to keep you sorted throughout the day when it comes to food and drink too, by the way.
The Oast House’s street food-style menu will also be on offer for those looking to line their stomachs during the festivities.
We’re talking katsu chicken fries, Northern poutine with bone marrow gravy and Shorrock’s Lancashire cheese, chicken or plant-based gyros, stacked burgers, hot wings and hanging kebabs. We’ve tried it all and trust us, some seriously good scran this.
Festivalgoers can also keep cool with plenty of cold pints and house-made cocktails, including twists on the classics such as Watermelon Margaritas, Passionfruit Coladas and Pink Gin Punch. Phwoar.
The best part is, even if you’re already busy this weekend (obviously, scrap your plans and come here), you’ll have plenty more opportunity to enjoy Manifest this year with the free music festival returning every bank holiday weekend throughout the spring and summer.
There’s also set to be an extra few Saturday Manifest dates this year which are still yet to be confirmed but we’ll keep you posted as and when we know more – see you there, Manchester!
And to keep track of the other latest music news going on here in Manchester, keep your eyes peeled over on The Manc Audio.
You can take the kids to meet Kung Fu Panda in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
If you’re looking for something a little different to entertain your mini Mancs this weekend, then how about taking them to meet Kung Fu Panda?
In case you hadn’t heard, the fourth installment in the beloved DreamWorks Animation film franchise, Kung Fu Panda, has just been released today, and there’s no better way to celebrate the long-awaited new flick than taking the kids down to meet the legendary Dragon Warrior himself right here in Manchester city centre this weekend.
Po will be setting some time aside from his busy schedule of Kung Fu mastery to make his way over to Manchester’s landmark entertainment complex, Printworks, this Saturday (30 March) for a very-special meet and greet.
He’ll be meeting his Manc fans every hour, on the hour, from 11am right through to 3pm, and families will need to head to the ‘Printworks Pumpyard’ to grab a selfie with the popular character.
You can also expect loads of FREE giveaways to be up for grabs throughout the day too.
“We are always looking for exciting new experiences for families at Printworks, and are thrilled to bring the fun of Kung Fu Panda to our venue,” commented Kristian Brennan, who is the Marketing Manager at Printworks, ahead of this weekend’s meet and greet.
“As part of the recent re-launch of Printworks following extensive refurbishment, Kung Fu Panda 4 has been the first commercial partner to take space on the giant ceiling screen amongst a host of unique content.
“This partnership will spark a whole host of entertainment, fun and adventure with our young visitors, and we can’t wait to welcome them this Bank Holiday weekend.”
And then, once you’ve met the main man (or main panda, we should say), you can even extend your bank holiday family fun by sitting down to watch the film itself, as Kung Fu Panda 4 finally arrived on the big screen at Vue in Printworks.
Manchester’s landmark entertainment destination Printworks is the place to meet Po himself / Credit: Printworks
It means that, for the first time in almost a decade, you’ll get to see comedy icon Jack Black return to his role as the world’s most unlikely kung fu master.
With regular screenings available to book throughout the Easter school holidays, families are encouraged to grab some popcorn, kick back, and get ready for a hilarious butt-kicking experience.