Manchester is set to host the first-ever international Brewing & Cider Festival, it has been revealed.
Set to take place in March next year, the two-day ticketed event will showcase the best beers and ciders from around the world.
It is being organised by the world’s most historic international beer and cider competition, The International Brewing & Cider Awards – a 137-year-old organisation known as the ‘Oscars’ of the brewing and cider world.
For the past decade, the event has been held at The National Brewery Centre in Burton-Upon-Trent, but as of 2024, it will relocate to Depot Mayfield – offering. a rare opportunity to taste a vast range of award-winning local, national, and international beers and ciders.
For the first time in its 137-year history, the Awards will be accompanied by a public festival – something that represents a significant milestone in the Awards’ commitment to promoting and supporting the brewing and cider industries.
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Founded in 1886, The International Brewing & Cider Awards takes place every two years and has been the gold standard in rewarding the passion and craftsmanship of breweries and cidermakers across the world.
The Awards are judged by a panel of worldwide judges, who are all practicing brewers and cider-makers considered experts in their field.
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This one-of-a-kind Festival aims to bring together beer and cider enthusiasts, industry professionals and the general public for a weekend filled with great beer and cider, live music, and mouthwatering street food.
Speaking on the event Ruth Evans MBE, Director of the International Brewing & Cider Awards and organiser of the Festival, said: “We are thrilled that, 137 years into our history, we are hosting our first ever International Brewing & Cider Festival and bringing our world-renowned Awards to Manchester.
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“The International Brewing & Cider Awards is the most historic international competition of its kind, and it is important that we innovate and expand, and our move to Manchester and the introduction of our Festival is part of that evolution.
“The city has a rich history in brewing and an up-and-coming cider scene making it a fitting location for our expansion. Our ethos has always been to support the brewing and cidermaking industry on a not-for-profit basis and celebrate the best beers and ciders from around the world, providing the recognition they truly deserve.
“The Festival provides a fantastic opportunity for us to celebrate the incredible talent of brewers and cidermakers and to share their passion with the public. The move to Manchester also allows us to forge valuable new partnerships with local organisations and community stakeholders, as well as extend the knowledge and appreciation of a win at the competition.
“We hope this festival becomes a tradition, opening to the public once our Awards concludes on the Friday – this is a hugely exciting time for us and we are very excited to be descending on Manchester in March.”
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Tickets to the International Brewing & Cider Festival will be available for purchase from November on the official festival website here.
Harry Styles announced as latest performer at the 2026 BRIT Awards
Danny Jones
Yes, in what is set to be his Co-op Live debut (yes, the venue he’s literally invested in), Harry Styles has been confirmed as the latest blockbuster performer at this year’s BRITs.
The lineup for the 2026 BRIT Awards was already pretty stacked, but this just takes the cake.
Not long after FINALLY announcing his fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally and releasing the new lead single, ‘Aperture’, the Cheshire-born singer-songwriter is coming to the Co-op Live arena for the very first time as part of the ceremony’s live music lineup.
Absolute scenes. Screaming, crying, throwing up.
we've got news… Harry's coming home 💋🪩@Harry_Styles will be making his live TV performance debut of music from his new album 'Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.' at The BRIT Awards 2026
Watch the performance live Saturday 28th February on ITV1 & ITVX in the UK and on… pic.twitter.com/Aax3lV03xM
The 31-year-old former One Direction member turned solo artist and global megastar recently revealed a raft of live shows this coming May (and there’s been plenty of discussion surrounding ticket prices), but he’s sadly overlooked Manchester for now.
However, anyone who already secured a seat at the first-ever BRITs here in Manchester will no doubt be doing cartwheels now following the announcement.
As if that wasn’t a mega enough name, he will be joining the likes of the wonderful, already award-winning and fellow multi-time nominee, Olivia Dean.
As quite literally two of the biggest musicians on the planet right now, we couldn’t pick a better roster if we dreamed it up ourselves.
Speaking of Ms Dean, she is also one of several acts confirmed to be playing a series of intimate acts across the country – and her’s is right here in Manchester.
You can see the full lineup of gigs HERE – all we’ll say is that there’s some seriously big hitters playing very small capacity venues on this list.
What a great few weeks for music, eh?
Taking place on Sunday, 28 February, public tickets for the show unfortunately sold out some time ago for what will also be his first-ever live musical TV performance.
Perhaps his booking is at least partly why we haven’t got a standalone Harry Styles Manchester gig on the ‘Together, Together’ tour, but we’re still keeping everything crossed that he’ll announce a second leg of shows here in the UK.
You’d think he’d fancy properly headlining the gaff he helped pay for, or maybe a return to the Etihad Stadium across the way, right?
Find the complete shortlist of nominees, as well as the rest of the live music lineup for the 2026 BRITs ceremony here in Manchester, down below; and if you see on screen trying to clutch at Harry’s ankles, we’re sure you’ll understand…
Featured Images — Leticia Moraes (via Flickr)/Press shots (supplied)
News
Tyson Fury has officially revealed his comeback fight after coming out of ‘retirement’ once again
Danny Jones
Tyson Fury has officially announced the opponent for his comeback fight after yet again returning to professional boxing.
Fury supposedly ‘retired’ for seemingly the umpteenth time last January following his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk the month prior, and some even believed it might have actually been his final outing.
Nevertheless, ‘The Gypsy King’ said he was coming out of retirement once more earlier this year, and now his next match-up has been confirmed.
Revealing the other contender as Aslanbek Makhmudo, the fight will be aired live on Netflix only.
Tyson Fury is coming home.
TYSON FURY vs. ARSLANBEK MAKHMUDOV. Saturday April 11 from the United Kingdom — and LIVE only on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/ib7KjT3xIt
Partnered exclusively with boxing magazine, Ring, the bout between Fury and Makhmudo is the latest big fight night to be picked up by the streaming giants.
The most recent example was, obviously, Anthony Joshua’s brutal knockout of influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul this past December.
Makhmudo, just a year younger than his opposite number, is a fellow experienced heavyweight based mainly out of Canada with a decent pedigree of his own.
The Russian, simply known as ‘The Lion’, has a record of 21 wins – more than half of those coming by KO.
With that in mind, he presents a potentially exciting prospect for the famous Manchester fighter, who hasn’t won a proper competitive fight since the defence of his WBC belt against Derek Chisora in December 2022.
Similarly, this should at least see two very well-seasoned pros going head to head.
Many fight fans would argue that there haven’t been enough proper big heavyweight dates since Fury vs Usyk, and even then, we are still yet to get a date for the all-but fully confirmed final fight of the trilogy.
Fury himself did state that the conclusion of their clash is scheduled for this April, but nothing official has been set in stone by any promotion or venue and the new date means it’s even less likely to be any time soon; meanwhile, plenty are still hoping for AJ vs Fury.
The 37-year-old will take on Makhmudo on Saturday, 11 April, and you can bet the world will be watching.
Georgina Pellant -
4th September 2023 
