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A huge Hong Kong street food festival is coming to Bury market this month

Spread over two days, foodies heading down can expect to find over thirty different stalls celebrating food from Hong Kong.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 7th March 2023

A huge Hong Kong street food festival is coming to Bury’s award-winning market this March, bringing with it over thirty different traders serving up cuisine from the region.

Taking place on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 March, foodies heading down to the infamous market can expect to find a variety of different Hong Kong favourites on offer at this free-to-attend festival.

Making use of already empty stalls at the market, the event will offer Bury natives an introduction to the region’s food – characterised by richly lacquered roasted meats, fine soups and morsels of both sweet and savoury dim sum, as well as rice dishes, bubble teas and the increasingly popular Hong Kong French toast.

With stalls spanning homegrown Cantonese cooking as well as a selection of Japanese, Korean and South Asian dishes, businesses confirmed to take part include Sale cakery A Little Sweet, Ardwick restaurant Fat Tat and Pand.ora Meal Box.

Image: Fat Tat in Ardwick
Image: Fat Tat in Ardwick

A Little Sweet owner Jeffrey Koo Ka Chun, is known for his Red Bean buns – a wonderfully light steamed sweet bread, filled with azuki bean paste – but is also something of a local celebrity after appearing on Bake Off: The Professionals in 2022.

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He has already teased out its menu for the event, revealing plans to serve up a range of Hong Kong favourites including custard-filled pineapple buns and freshly baked egg custard tarts.

Ardwick restaurant Fat Tat, meanwhile, will be providing steaming hot Hong Kong hot pots, whilst Pand.ora Meal Box is set to dish up the likes of Hainanese chicken rice, Cantonese thin pancakes, peanuts mochi, rice balls and more.

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Elsewhere, there’ll also be bubble tea from Shining Rainbow Dream Tea & Snacks, Asian teas from Bang Bang Brands, and traditional Yunnan province rice noodles courtesy of Derek Leung.

Image: A Little Sweet
Image: Pand.ora Meal Box
Image: This is So Hong Kong Market

The event is being organised by a stallholder local to the market, who hopes that it will help introduce people in Bury to more of Hong Kong’s brilliant street food. .

It is being held as part of a month-long, UK-wide programme of festivals designed to promote Hong Kong culture within sixteen different UK cities.

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Arranged in collaboration with the Hong Kong March cultural festival and Moliuliu’s Store, a Hong Kong grocery store based in the market, the event will promote and celebrate Hong Kong culture to different communities through the medium of food and craft.

Read more: Inside Harcourt, the new Hong Kong-style pub that’s just opened in Altrincham

Cammie Liu, owner of Moliuliu’s Store in Bury Market and one of the organisers behind the event, told Manchester’s Finest: “The main purpose of the market is to introduce Hong Kong street food to the local people, as I believe food can connect people from different cultures,”

.“It will make use of the empty stalls, attract more young people to explore the lovely Bury Market, and also allow Hong Kong people to have the chance to set up their businesses.”

Read more: The Hong Kong greasy spoon-style cafe in Prestwich selling milk tea and toast

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So Hong Kong will take place from 9am – 4.30pm on Friday 17 March and 9am – 5pm on Saturday 18 March.

Feature image – Geograph

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AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intimate gig in Manchester next month

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

London rapper and respected grime artist AJ Tracey is ‘live and direct’ once again, announcing a whole host of UK dates, one of which is a rather intimate gig right here in Manchester.

It’s official: one of UK rap’s leading gents is getting back on the road and he’s showing a ‘Little More Love’ to lots of cities, including Manchester.

In a post on the UK star’s socials, AJ Tracey trades his music persona for that of a sports pundit as he announces the dates for his upcoming tour while impersonating an F1 commentator.  

Anyone looking to attend Tracey’s ‘Not Even A Tour’ can catch the star up and down the country on his over 20-date tour with a stop in Manchester as soon as this month.

The rapper has reached phenomenal heights since dropping the unforgettable ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in 2019 and is heading out across the nation to make sure everyone knows about it.

Get ready to spit bars left and right as this rapper’s discography is stacked with serious tunes like ‘Dinner Guest’, ‘West Ten’, ‘Thiago Silva’ and more.

More recently, he collaborated with Walsall’s finest Jorja Smith for a flirty garage beat also known as ‘Crush’ with the video being the two artists talking it out in a good old fashioned caff.

The latest collaboration with Smith marks the start of a new era for Mr. Live and direct as it fell in line with the announcement of his third studio album.

Titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead, we’re sure he’ll be “building a vibe” wherever he goes and probably previewing a few exclusive tracks from his upcoming project too.

Wait until you hear where he’s playing too…

AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intitmate gig in Manchester this month.
Credit: @AJTracey on Instagram

This gig may come as quite a surprise for any hardcore fans of the ‘Ladbroke Grove’ star as the venue in which he’s performing is definitely intimate only, holding just over 250 guests.

This rap giant is bringing his unbelievable beats to none other than the legendary small-cap city centre live music venue, The Deaf Institute, at the end of this month.

It’s safe to say you won’t get many more chances, if any, to see him in such a tight-knit space again.

AJ Tracey is bringing ‘Not Even A Tour’ to Deaf Institute in Manchester on 30 April, with tickets on sale Friday 4 April from 12 noon.

You can get ready to grab yours HERE.

Read more:

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Featured Images — John Lubbock (via Wikimedia Commons)/Audio North

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A local baby bank is holding a vital fundraiser to stop it from closing for good

Danny Jones Danny Jones Save Our Baby Bank Trafford Greater Manchester fundraiser

A Greater Manchester baby bank is holding a vital fundraiser in hopes of preventing it from closing for good imminently.

For anyone unaware, baby banks are crucial organisations run largely by volunteers who help provide supplies to families in local communities, with more than 300 in use across the UK at present.

Through delivering much-needed aid such as clothing, prams, nappies and baby food, right through to direct financial support, they help keep parents and their children in good supply of essentials and much more – hugely important work at any rate, let alone during the winter and a cost of living crisis.

However, the Little Green Sock Project over in Trafford is at risk of permanent closure and was initially given until the new year to raise £200,000.

As seen in this moving video, the baby bank based over in Stretford Mall is in dire need of support and, crucially, the funds for a new premises.

They’ve been deeply moved by how Greater Manchester united in reaching into their pockets and sparing whatever they can to contribute to their fundraising target thus far – and they really are nearly at the finish line, which would mean safety for the genuinely life-saving service.

Fundamentally operated as a non-profit and volunteer-led charity, they naturally don’t have the means to just take over a new space on their own and with the current site set to be demolished very soon, a minimum of £200k is needed to find and fund a new location.

Having amassed over 90% of the amount needed, they’ve already bought themselves extra time, they just need one last push from us.

Urging people to donate what they can and share their fundraiser where possible, as well as welcoming corporate sponsorships should other local businesses wish to back them or get stuck through volunteering days, time is of the essence.

The Little Green Sock Project was only started back in 2022 and has already supported over 1,300 children, redistributing more than £240,000 worth of essential items like clothing, cots, prams, and stair gates to local families, as well as saving 20 tonnes of items from landfills.

It’s no exaggeration to say that they’ve changed and saved lives, both parents and children, and with the often difficult festive period approaching, their work is needed now more than ever.

There are just under a dozen baby banks in all of Greater Manchester, many of which are facing similar pressures. (Credit: Supplied)

Speaking on their efforts and the fundraiser, founder Catherine D’Albertanson said: “We believe that essentials needed for the health and wellbeing of children should not only be for those that can afford them. Our work ensures that no child in our community goes without essentials, but without new premises, we will have no choice but to close.”

Moreover, Little Green Sock Project is the only baby bank in the Trafford area and of the families it serves, 58% are single-parent households already struggling with the cost of raising children, while 29% are fleeing domestic abuse, often leaving their belongings behind to protect their family.

With their circular economy model, they also help reduce waste whilst providing “a trusted link between the families that have items to give, to those that need them the most”, with D’Albertanson adding, “If we lose this charity, we lose a vital safety net for many in our community.”

A service user commented: “It was a truly terrifying time when I was pregnant with my first child. I found myself completely alone, with a baby on the way, wondering how I could possibly provide for my son.

“Then I found Little Green Sock Project, and everything changed. Everything was carefully chosen, colour-coordinated, and presented in such a thoughtful way. It felt so special—like someone truly cared about me and my baby. That feeling is indescribable, especially for someone in my position.

“There are so many people like me with stories like this. It breaks my heart to think that the Little Green Sock Project might have to close its doors. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without your help, and I hope with all my heart that the community comes together to keep this lifeline alive.”

Manchester parents need this much-loved baby bank – let’s not let it fall away on our watch. (Credit: Andy Bate at Royal Foundation)

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Every pound donated goes towards helping find the Little Green Sock Project a new home, but people can help contribute in other ways, once again, by spreading the word or getting their hands dirty in person.

Greater Manchester never fails to amaze when it rallies behind causes like this, and we’re sure you won’t let us down this time either. Let’s keep the lights on the lifelines for local families intact.

You can donate now, or to find out other ways to do your bit, click HERE.

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Featured Images — Little Green Sock Project/Andy Bate – Royal Foundation (supplied)

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