News

A huge vegan festival is coming to Manchester this weekend

Manchester Vegan Festival will have everything from street food to vegan dog cookbooks, chocolate and more

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 13th May 2022

A huge festival dedicated to all things vegan is coming to Manchester this weekend, bringing over 80 stalls showcasing all the tools you need to live your best plant-based, sustainable life.

Offering a mix of street food stalls, beauty and household products, vegan cooking products and more, whether you’re vegan, vegetarian or just thinking about making a bit of a change, Manchester Vegan Festival is the place to go for inspiration.

Taking place this Sunday 15 May at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Trafford, Manchester Vegan Festival is set to be full of surprises – selling everything from authentic Eritrean street food and toiletries to a vegan cookbook for humans and their dogs.

Run entirely by volunteers, all the proceeds from the festival (and that cookbook) will go to support animal welfare charity Miracle’s Mission – a non-profit animal welfare organisation works with sick, injured and disabled animals worldwide.

Other charities and not-for-profit organisations attending include Greenpeace, Hugletts Wood Farm Animal Sanctuary, Plantlife, Viva!, Woodland Trust and WWF.

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Food and drink stalls

Teatime Collective is a vegan bakery based in Hulme. At the festival, you’ll find vegan cakes by the slice as well as Bakewell tarts, rock road, chocolate tortes and apple turnovers. / Image; Teatime Collective
Root2Ginger sell natural ginger drink mixes that are alcohol free and made here in Manchester. / Image: Root2Ginger

On the street food front, look out for authentic Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine from House of Habesha and hearty wraps from Seitan’s Kebab. Elsewhere, you’ll find a Greek vegan deli, vegan vfish and chips from There’s No Catch, and an array of vegan hotdogs from VDogs.

As for the food and drink stalls, here you’ll find a host of Manchester-based makers including Root2Ginger, Kind Hearted Chocs and Teatime Collective.

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For fiery, spiced mint and ginger health drinks, Root2Ginger is a must, whilst Teatime Collective and Bolton-based Vegan Infinity are the places to visit for vegan cakes, brownies, truffles, apple turnovers, bakewell tarts and bars.

Artisan vegan chocolate shop Kind Hearted Chocs will be there with its special handmade selection boxes, and there will also be a stall selling a vegan cookbook for humans AND dogs. Called Bo’s Book, all the profits go to help needy dogs at the animal welfare and education charity Miracle’s Mission.

Read more: Simon Rogan’s son launches UK’s first Yorkshire pudding menu

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Beauty, household and lifestyle stalls

For all things beauty, household and lifestyle, stalls at the festival will include natural and organic vegan toiletries from iUVO Skincare, Eden Perfumes and fashions from Slogan Clothing, and Viva la Vegan.

Eden Perfumes promise to match your favourite perfume without chemicals, whilst Slogan Clothing has all your ethica, vegan and ecological clothing, boots and accessory needs covered.

Also exhibiting is the ultimate vegan food and camping experience happening in June 2023 – VFest UK. This brand new upbeat event features exciting headline acts, yoga, family entertainment, fun shows, international speakers, stalls, global food caterers and much more.

Charity support

The event supports Miracle’s Mission, a charity that works to provide a place of safety for animals in danger, to educate on the needs of neutering both pets and strays and to neuter stray dogs and cats to prevent the birth of more animals onto the streets.

The mission also rehabilitates and re-homes dogs in need, often with disabilities, from its UK rescue base.

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Speaking on the upcoming event, Manchester Vegan Festival organiser Victoria Bryceson said: “I’m really looking forward to the Manchester Vegan Festival which is set to be even bigger and better than last year’s.

Nelly from Miracle’s Mission is a double amputee looking for her forever home. / Miracle’s Mission

“We received so much positive feedback last year and there’s now so much demand that this festival is becoming a sell-out event. I think it’s partly because people really love the friendly atmosphere.

“The wonderful thing about the event is that it’s for everyone whatever your lifestyle. Just come along and bring your friends for a great, fun day-out.

“You’ll have everything you need there, whether you’re looking for some retail therapy, some ‘me’ time, precious family time, or just a lovely meal out with some friends.”

Read more: CCTV appeal after suspected acid attack in Oldham

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How to get tickets

Manchester Vegan Festival takes place on Sunday 15 May 2022 from 10.30am to 4.30 pm at Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Longbridge Road, Manchester M17 1SN.

Admission is £5, with under 16’s allowed in for free, or £15 for VIP tickets that can be ordered in advance from Eventbrite, These include fast track entry and a goody bag full of vegan products, samples, discounts and offers.

Visit the website here to get your ticket.

Feature image – Vegan Fest / Teatime Collective

News

Huge bakery chain Gail’s confirms move to Prestwich – but spells village’s name wrong in signs

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Huge bakery chain Gail's confirms move to Prestwich - but spells village's name wrong in signage

After months of swirling rumours, bakery group Gail’s has finally confirmed it’s moving to Prestwich – but locals have spotted a glaring error at the first hurdle.

The popular artisan bakery will be moving onto Bury New Road, right in the heart of the suburb and directly opposite the new Rudy’s pizzeria.

Prestwich locals have been hearing whispers of a Gail’s arriving for a few months, and finally the London-founded cafe has stuck up signs to confirm it’s on the way.

But the sign contains one crucial mistake – it’s spelled Prestwich wrong.

The red window displays now read ‘Hello Preswich. We’ll be baking here soon’.

One local messaged Gail’s to point out the error and to say it’s ‘not a great first impression for the locals…’.

Gail’s has since confirmed it’s in the process of fixing the signs.

The arrival of both Gail’s and Rudy’s has already caused a stir in Prestwich, which has always been fiercely independent and has only a handful of chains within it (Greggs and Costa are perched by the tram stop).

In fact, one local business-owner shared a moving statement about his concerns for the future of local businesses just a few weeks ago.

Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail's has confirmed it's opening a bakery in Prestwich
Gail’s has confirmed it’s opening a bakery in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc Group

First formed in the early 1990s as a wholesale-only operation, Gail’s opened its first cafe on Hampstead High Street in 2005.

Today the brand has more than 100 sites spread across London, Oxford, Brighton and further afield, and is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery.

It’s famed for its freshly-baked loaves, cinnamon buns, ham and cheese croissants and coffees, and is likely to go down a storm in Prestwich.

But the signs have been causing a bit of a stir in the wrong way this weekend – in a local Facebook group, one person commented: “Not locals who own it then.”

Another described it as an ‘epic fail’.

And one person said: “Oh the DRAMA of it all.”

Someone else joked: “I cannot wait for Gais to come to Preswich.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

News

Met Office issues snow warnings for large parts of northern England from this evening

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Greater Manchester could be waking up to a winter wonderland as weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued across northern England.

Expected to arrive anywhere from 6pm this evening (18 November) and last until around 10am tomorrow morning (19 November), the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for large parts of northern England – indicating that “snow may bring disruption to a central swathe of the UK during Monday night and Tuesday morning”.

Weather forecasters say that although most snow is likely to accumulate on higher ground, with five-10 cm on ground over 200 metres, and possibly 15-20 cm over 300 metres, there is a chance that snow may settle at lower levels “within the warning area”.

The Met Office also said that this possible five-10 cm at lower levels is likely to be “more disruptive”, particularly if travelling and if the snow coincides with rush hour, but the likelihood for that is still “uncertain” at this stage.

Greater Manchester could see snow from this evening as the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning / Credit: Geograph | Pexels

As the rain, sleet, and snow begin to clear on tomorrow morning, ice may form on surfaces that are untreated.

“We have issued yellow warnings for snow and ice as cold weather moves in from the north,” explained Andy Page, who is a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office.

“This brings snow showers and some ice to parts of Scotland on Sunday night, and then the potential for a spell of snow to lead to disruption to some transport routes across a central swathe of the UK on Tuesday morning.”

He further added that “gusty winds” in the east also remain a “potential hazard”.

“Updates to the warnings for wintry hazards are likely, so it is important to stay up to date with the latest forecast,” he concluded.

Read more:

In addition to the severe weather warnings, a Cold Health Alert has also been issued by the UKHSA, and it covers the north of England and the Midlands right through until Thursday.

Featured Image – Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)

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