The full lineup for the Manchester Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) has been revealed – and it sounds amazing.
Taking place down at the festival hub in Cathedral Gardens, MFDF will run from 16 – 27 September. As ever, the hub will be free to enter with some special events and feasts requiring tickets to be purchased on top.
Highlights of this year’s programme include a mammoth chippy tea feast, an Oktoberfest takeover from Albert’s Schloss, a wine and fizz festival at Halle St Peters, and an ultimate night of pub grub feasting from The Bull and Bear’s Tom Kerridge (the only UK chef to ever win two Michelin stars at a pub, thank you very much).
Elsewhere, an artisan food market will feature some of Manchester’s finest local producers, hosting two separate line-ups across each weekend.
And of course, there will also be an amazing range of street food traders popping up at intervals throughout the duration of the festival.
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Other happenings at the festival include a four-day MFDF street food trailer takeover with chefs from Evuna and Tast Catala; a fundraising kitchen from anti-food poverty enterprise Eat Well MCR; and a gaggle of street food chalets hosted by sponsors Just Eat and filled with their top restaurant partners.
There’ll also be live entertainment from local bands like Mr. Wilson’s Second Liners and The Lottery Winners over on the City Life stage.
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One of the street food traders confirmed for this year’s Manchester Food and Drink festival lineup / Image: The Hanoi 75
MFDF also has its own street food kitchen trailer on-site, which will be taken over by some of the city’s best-loved restaurants and chefs over a four-day period: including Evuna, Jackie Kearney and Tast Catala.
Headline sponsor Just Eat will install restaurant partners La Bandera, Vertigo, JJ’s Vish and Chips and Peck n Yard inside street food chalets.
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And Meatless Farm will also be in attendance throughout the festival, serving up a full burger menu alongside samples of their excellent vegan cooking products.
An artisan food market will also feature some of the region’s best independent food and drink producers, makers and businesses, bringing down guests like Ancoats’ community bakery Companio, Chorlton Cheesemongers and HM Pasties to name just a few.
Bars, meanwhile, will include a Manchester Beer Bar celebrating locally-brewed ales, beer and cider, a gin and tonic bar from Franklin and Sons, and a Truly Hard Seltzer bar from alcoholic sparkling water brand Truly.
Manchester’s biggest chippy tea feast is coming to MFDF this September – with boozy ice cream for dessert.
Manchester’s biggest chippy tea feast
Manchester’s best-loved restaurants, chefs, chip shops and food traders will be coming together on 22nd September in what’s being dubbed “Manchester’s biggest chippy tea”.
One of Manchester’s best traditional chippies, Anchors of Didsbury, will join Hip Hop Chip Shop, JJ Vish and Chips, acclaimed Ancoats fish restaurant Street Urchin and Stockport’s Lord of the Pies for the event in serving their own take on this classic Northern staple.
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For dessert, there’ll be boozy ice cream courtesy of ‘A Few Scoops’ who will be bringing their special pink Tuk Tuk ‘Jolene’ to the Hub serving up the perfect chippy tea boozy finale.
As this is expected to be very busy, a limited number of tables are available for pre-booking here.
The ultimate pub grub feast, with a live music sound track
Tom Kerridge’s The Bull and Bear is hosting a one night pub grub style takeover at the festival hub, creating their own take on street food with a special three-course meal.
Designed especially for the festival, think potted Loch Duart salmon with apple jelly and cucumber chutney; followed by braised beef and blue cheese pie with English mustard mash and Seven Brothers ale gravy; finished off with a pudding of banana custard, dates, pistachio, and honeycomb.
A live music soundtrack will provide the perfect accompanying ‘pub at the hub’ atmosphere, and Manchester beer bar will be on hand with a selection of local craft beer to bring that proper pub variety.
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Tickets cost £55 per person and can be booked here.
A Schlosstoberfest takeover feast in July, with brats, pretzels and lederhosen
Albert’s Schloss will be taking over the MFDF street kitchen on the evening of Thursday 23 July with Bavarian street food and lively entertainment from their brilliant house dancers and musicians.
Expect brats, pretzels and lederhosen a-plenty, plus German other street food favorites like mayonnaise loaded fries.
Free to enter, walk-ins welcome.
The CityLife stage is a regular fixture at MFDF and always hosts great local artists
What’s happening at the CityLife music stage?
Featuring a curated line-up of Manchester’s best local bands and musicians, The CityLife stage always brings a great selection of local talent to MFDF. This year looks set to be no different.
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The festival will kick off with live music from Mr. Wilson’s Second Liners on Thursday 16.
Friday 17 will see local indie-pop band The Lottery Winners take to the stage. Hailing from Leigh, they will be performing an acoustic preview ahead of their first Manchester Live gig at the Ritz on 25 September.
Sunday 19 and Sunday 26 September will bring the Flat Cap Brass, then on Sunday 19,Fine Lines will play exquisite roots infused Americana with echoes of Dylan and The Band.
What about the app?
For the very first time the entire programme of what’s happening will be available via a brand new MFDF App – bringing the Festival to your fingertips like never before.
App users will be able to browse the full festival programme, reserve a table at the Festival Hub and vote in the MFDF awards too. The app can be downloaded by IOS users here or at this link for Android users.
As part of this year’s Manchester Food and Drink festival, there is also a number of fringe events taking place around the city. To find out more and for full details, head to their website here.
The 24th Manchester Food and Drink Festival will take place this year from 16 – 27 September, 2021.
News
Sankeys nightclub is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s officially happening: iconic local club Sankeys is coming back to Manchester city centre almost a decade on from its gutting closure.
The iconic ‘Sankey’s Soap’ nightlife space – which started out over in Ancoats during the mid-’90s – enjoyed numerous stints during its time in the clubbing world, as well as opening multiple partnered venues in the country and even overseas.
Now, approaching nine years after the shutdown, Sankeys is returning to Manchester in the new year, and Mancs are currently losing their minds.
Whether you are one of those who ‘remember it when’, or someone who sadly missed out on the halcyon days in the old Beehive Mill, we assure you that everyone is in agreement that this is nothing short of massive news…
First teasing the comeback back in July, as our city and the world at large were gripped by ‘Britpop Mania’ 2.0, the largely dormant Instagram account posted: “This week Manchester, and the UK, has been blessed with a homecoming of our very own, Oasis.
“We think Manchester deserves another homecoming… Definitely, maybe?”
The North West corners of the internet and veteran revellers alike were understandably quick to get excited by the potential revival, but nothing else had been said for months – until now.
Confirmed on Tuesday, 25 November, the infamous and storied nightclub’s social media team began by writing, simply: “The Legend Returns” and beckoning “a new era for Sankeys”.
It is still unclear as to where exactly the new and improved club(s) will be, but we do know that the events will be in the city centre. However, we do know we’ll be getting a familiar matrix grid installation as part of the design once again.
They will also be enforcing a strict new no-phones policy, which has become increasingly popular across the scene, thanks to the likes of Amber’s right here in Manchester.
Sankeys first opened in Manchester as "Sankeys Soap" in June 1994.[3] It was so called due to its residence inside Beehive Mill, Ancoats, which once was used to manufacture soap. The basement of the mill was transformed into a club and live music venue#pub#historypic.twitter.com/cnM6Nt23uZ
Sankeys may have remained an active promoter in the days since the building on the corner of Radium and Jersey Street (M4 6JG) closed – going on to become an unsuspecting office development – this will be the first event of the aforementioned next chapter in a flagship venue.
Promising a limited capacity of no more than 500 people, Sankeys is set to make its landmark return on
“We will only be open one night a week on Saturday. There will be no VIP or phones allowed on the dancefloor — everyone is a VIP. People need to stop taking pictures and start dancing to the beat.”
Hordes of clubbers, ravers, students and more are already signing up for early access and general admission tickets for the first two nights on Friday and Saturday, 30-31 January 2026 go on sale at 9am this Friday (28 Nov).
Get ready to grab yours HERE and party like it’s, well, 1994, 2017 – take your pick.
Manchester set for its busiest weekend of the year with people urged to ‘plan ahead’
Emily Sergeant
Manchester is gearing up for what’s set to be its busiest weekend of the year, and people traveling into the city centre are being urged to ‘plan ahead’.
It’s officially a month to go until Christmas Day is here, and with the festive countdown now well under way, especially with Black Friday coming up at the end of this week (28 November) too, shoppers will be eager to bag a bargain and get some Christmas gifts for their loved ones – heading to the city centre shops or Christmas Markets.
This weekend, and Saturday (29 November) in particular, is traditionally one of the busiest of the year, and even saw the highest footfall in the city centre last year.
As well as people heading to the city centre to shop, there are also several other events happening across the weekend.
Manchester City host Leeds in a 3pm kick-off at the Etihad Stadium, while Bad Omens, and Sonny Fodera play Co-op Live on Friday and Saturday night respectively, while Wolf Alice are also set to return to Manchester for a Black Friday performance at the AO Arena.
Manchester city centre is set for one of its busiest weekends of the year with Black Friday shopping, festive markets, football at the Etihad, and major gigs at Co-op Live and AO Arena.
To keep the city moving, We're offering: ✔ Park & Ride carparks with shuttle buses ✔… pic.twitter.com/zy0bnWCDDw
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), Manchester City Council, and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are all working together to manage the volume of people expected into the city centre this weekend – but even despite their efforts, people are still being urged to plan ahead, especially when it comes to transport.
Anyone looking to beat the traffic is encouraged to make use of the Bee Network, with trams and buses being both the quickest and cheapest way to travel this weekend.
TfGM says roads are expected to be ‘very busy’ during peak times this weekend, so it’s important that anyone planning to make their way into the city centre by vehicle avoid the busiest periods if they can.
The busiest times are predicted to be 3pm to 7pm on Friday, 4pm to 9pm on Saturday, and 3pm to 6:30pm on Sunday.
Manchester is set for its busiest weekend of the year with people urged to ‘plan ahead’ / Credit: Manchester City Council
Some of the extra measures currently in place to help people get in an around the city centre this week include free pop-up park and ride services, later trams and all-night buses, dedicated matchday shuttle buses, and changes at key locations to help improve congestion.
It’s also worth noting that some TfGM staff are currently taking part in strike action until this Friday (28 November) meaning some facilities – such as ticket offices and toilets – may be closed, however bus and tram services will run as normal.
“The countdown to Christmas is now in full swing and Black Friday weekend is always sure to be one of the busiest times of the year for the city centre,” commented Danny Vaughan, who is TfGM’s Chief Network Officer.
“Public transport will be the best way to get around, save money, and avoid getting stuck in traffic [which is why] we’re providing 1,000 additional parking spaces with our pop-up park and rides, putting on late night services, and running as many buses and trams as we possibly can.
“We want to help people enjoy everything the season has to offer, so please remember to plan your journeys and leave yourself plenty of time to get where you’re going.”
Get all the latest travel updates this weekend on the Bee Network website here.
Georgina Pellant -
8th July 2021 
