Bolton has officially been named Greater Manchester Town of Culture for 2024.
Taking over the reins from Stockport – which held the title in 2023, and recently hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close – it’s now the turn of the north-western Greater Manchester borough of Bolton.
Bolton has long been celebrated as hub of culture and creative activity within our region.
The area has notably produced some big-name stars in the arts, entertainment, comedy, and sporting spheres over the years, as well as having seen significant new residential and commercial developments popping up in recent times, and a blossoming food, drink, hospitality, and nightlife scene that continues to prove popular.
The Bolton Food and Drink Festival, IRONMAN, Bolton Film Festival, and Put Big Light On are all big annual events in the borough.
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Bolton has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2024 / Credit: Bolton Food & Drink Festival (via Facebook)
And now, the town has got itself a fancy title to prove it – and along with that, a whopping £50,000 grant to support a year-long programme of events.
In case you’re unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about, it’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region – with Bury the inaugural title-holder 2020 and holding onto it into 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, and then followed by Stalybridge in 2022, and Stockport in 2023 – and it celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
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As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Bolton’s programme will have three parts, according to Bolton Council.
The town has taken over the reins from Stockport, which held the title in 2023 / Credit: Wikimedia Commons | The Octagon Theatre
The first is a taster programme packed full of cultural activities delivered in Bolton and its various districts, and then following on from that, there’ll be a grants programme designed to help support Bolton’s smaller cultural organisations, freelancers, and artists.
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The grand finale will be the Bolton Gala – which is set to take place next March, and is gearing up to be a celebratory event jointly-organised by all cultural partners, and co-designed by residents too.
Bolton Council says it will be working with cultural organisations, creative practitioners, and residents to “strengthen partnerships” that’ll deliver a collective approach to creative programming, and Councillors hope to build on assets such as the town’s legendary Octagon Theatre, the newly-refurbished Bolton Central Library and Museum, and the Bolton Albert Halls too.
GMCA has awarded the town a £50,000 grant to support a year-long programme of events throughout the year / Credit: Paul Hayes (via Bolton Food & Drink Festival on Facebook)
“It’s fantastic that Bolton has been announced as the latest Greater Manchester Town of Culture,” Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, commented as the town took the title this week.
“Bolton already has some outstanding cultural venues and eventsm from the Octagon Theatre and the Bolton Albert Hall, to the famous Bolton Food and Drink Festival and the Bolton Film Festival, and Town of Culture will celebrate these existing venues and events, but will also shine a light on the smaller venues and events that are happening across the town.
“I look forward to visiting Bolton to join their cultural celebrations.”
Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Nick Peel, says he’s “thrilled” about the town’s new title, and added: “Bolton certainly has a promising future, and will be a great place to live, work, study, visit and invest in the future.”
Featured Image – Bolton Food & Drink Festival (via Facebook)
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Two Greater Manchester postcodes revealed as being hotspots for uninsured drivers
Emily Sergeant
Two of Greater Manchester’s popular postcodes have been named as being ‘hotspots’ for uninsured drivers.
Merely days after one of our region’s towns was identified as being a property ‘hotspot’, thanks to house prices there having shot up by 10% on average last year, now another local two residential areas have been named ‘hotspots’ too… only this time, it’s for a reason not quite as positive.
That’s because these two areas have been found to have a high concentration of drivers who are uninsured to be on the roads.
Motoring company RAC looked at new data from the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) to compile a top 15 list highlighting the regions that are most affected by uninsured and hit-and-run drivers.
Egerton in Bolton, which is one of the uninsured driver hotspots / Credit: Google Maps
According to the data, the West Midlands is particularly impacted by uninsured drivers, with eight out of the top 15 hotspots located in this area, but some of the other regions with high rates include Northumbria, London, Thames Valley, South Yorkshire, and, of course, Greater Manchester.
Both the SK1 postcode in Stockport and the BL7 postcode in Bolton have, unfortunately, found themselves on the list, featuring at number eight and number 12 respectively.
Top 15 uninsured driver hotspots
B11 (Birmingham)
B21 (Birmingham)
DA17 (Bexley)
WV2 (Wolverhampton)
NE29 (North Tyneside)
HP12 (Buckinghamshire)
B18 (Birmingham)
SK1 (Stockport)
B8 (Birmingham)
WS4 (Walsall)
CV7 (Solihull)
BL7 (Bolton)
B33 (Birmingham)
DN8 (Doncaster)
MK7 (Milton Keynes)
The SK1 postcode region includes Stockport town centre and the residential areas within it, while the areas in the BL7 postcode include the affluent villages of Bromley Cross, Egerton, Edgworth, Belmont, and Chapeltown.
The only other northern areas featuring on the list is North Tyneside postcode NE29 and DN8 in Doncaster, with the vast majority being in Birmingham and the West Midlands.
The RAC’s report coincides with the MIB’s work alongside police forces nationwide to get uninsured drivers off the road, with forces set to use the data provided to direct their efforts.
Featured Image – pxfuel
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Beloved Manchester street food venue Grub shares major update on its future
Daisy Jackson
2025 will be the last year that legendary street food venture Grub will operate from its current home in Manchester.
In a major update shared today, the enterprise – which is one of the city’s very first and most prominent street food businesses – confirmed that it will ‘cease to exist’ in its current form this winter.
Grub wrote that the building they have occupied for the last six years, on Red Bank in the Green Quarter, will be undergoing redevelopment.
And so it’ll be the end of an era for Grub – but they’re urging fans not to panic.
The much-loved venue said that it will now be ‘returning to the street’, returning to its roots as a travelling food festival, filled with street food chefs, pop-up bars and ‘unbeatable vibes’.
They wrote in their ‘big Grub update‘ that: “For too long venues, food halls & restaurants have been taking the STREET out of STREET FOOD (that includes us!) but we’re on a mission to bring it back.”
Although Grub will continue to operate on Red Bank throughout summer, they’ve already lined up some other venues to host events at this year, and are on the look-out for even more.
The venue’s independent cinema, Cultplex, will move to a new home, and its sister site Fairfield Social Club will continue to operate from Angel Meadows unaffected by Grub’s closure.
Grub will ‘cease to exist’ at its current home in Red BankGrub paved the way for street food in ManchesterCredit: The Manc Group
Grub wrote: “We just wanted to let you know 2025 will be GRUB’s final year at our current home. But DON’T PANIC!
“The only reason for this is that our fantastic landlords (who have supported us through thick & thin) are getting round to re-developing the building we live in.
“This was supposed to happen in 2021 so we’re very happy we’ve managed to hang around for 6 years.
“So GRUB at Red Bank will cease to exist in winter 2025 but that isn’t the end for GRUB as we’ll be returning to THE STREET.
“Yes GRUB will go back to being a travelling food fest packed with the best street food chefs, pop up bars & unbeatable vibes that only a proper street food market can deliver.
“For too long venues, food halls & restaurants have been taking the STREET out of STREET FOOD (that includes us!) but we’re on a mission to bring it back. We’ve already got venues lined up for summer but we’re on the lookout for more, it’s going to be lovely.
“Before that all happens we’ll be having one last SMASHING summer at Red Bank with a few foodie surprises & special events. More news soon!
“Thank you one & all for your support over the many years we’ve been chugging along, it really is very much appreciated and we hope to see you soon. Much love”