Parklife has announced it will have an alcohol-free bar on the festival site for the first time ever this June, welcoming Love From to the fields at Heaton Park.
The huge Manchester festival confirmed that Love From, the city’s only booze-free boozer, would be joining its list of vendors.
It’s the first time in Parklife’s 14-year history that it will have an alcohol-free bar on site, a move with festival boss Sacha Lord says is ‘exciting and important’.
Love From first opened its doors as a pop-up at Kampus in January, where it’s since been granted residency.
Founded by Karl Considine, Love From has long maintained the ‘cutting out isn’t missing out’ and has provided a space that offers all the best bits of a classic cocktail bar, minus the hangover.
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Parklife will be the local bar’s biggest event to date (and they don’t come much bigger than this).
It’s hoped it can spread the importance of the Love From messaging among the young crowds who flock to the festival every year, breaking boundaries around drinking culture as it goes.
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To celebrate this milestone achievement, Love From has even taken over the huge billboard at Victoria Warehouse, and will be collaborating with Parklife to give away to VIP weekend tickets through Instagram.
Founder of Parklife festival and Night Time Economy Advisor for Greater Manchester, Sacha Lord commented: “We’re really excited to be bringing Love From to Parklife festival this Summer.
“Working with local brands is always exciting, but specifically working with Love From as a result of the impact they are having in the alcohol-free space is a really important part of running an inclusive festival.”
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Founder of the Love From bar, Karl Considine, said: “Personally this is a real pinch me moment for a few reasons, even though I don’t drink I love house music, and I am excited to be able to bring my business to Parklife.
“It is wild to me that Love From is only a few months old and here we are working with one of the biggest festivals not just in the UK, but in Europe.”
Karl Considine, founder of Love From, on announcing his alcohol-free bar will be at Parklife festival
It’s also been reported that almost half of young adults (44%) regularly drink no- or low-alcohol drinks.
Sacha continued: “From my own experience through my work for The Warehouse Project, we are seeing first hand how younger audiences want different experiences which includes more propensity to drink no and low drinks.
“Hospitality has to adapt our industry to suit current societal changes, there is a huge resurgence in the non-alcoholic market and we have watched Love From do incredibly well in this space.
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“Working with Love From was no brainer for us and we hope it is the start of a long term partnership!”
Karl concluded: “The fact that a festival like Parklife recognises not just that sentiment of ‘you don’t need to drink to have fun or join in’, but also that they’ve recognised the changing behaviours in drinking culture amongst younger generations is amazing to see.”
Sacha Lord set to back local hospitality again with money behind the bar of one Greater Manchester pub
Danny Jones
Local figure Sacha Lord is once again looking to help support Greater Manchester’s food and drink scene once again this spring by putting a total of £2.5k behind the bar of one lucky pub.
Well, let’s be honest, we’re about to be the real lucky ones.
It’s far from the first time that the Night Time Economy Advisor has done this, having previously put sizeable sums towards shared tabs on a few ocassions over the last few years.
Lining up his next handout for this coming early May bank holiday (perfect timing), it’s going to be a super and potentially very sloppy Sunday…
Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester.
Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.
Sharing the video above online earlier this week, the 54-year-old simply wrote, “Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester. Bank Holiday Sunday, 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
The message is as straightforward as ever: “Support your local pub.”
Now obviously, the fact that people can reply with their go-to boozers and help influence the decision is one thing – something that has certainly always created an attraction each time he’s done this – but it’s also just a good way of marketing these watering holes to begin with.
Whether or not someone’s favourite public house tucked away in one of the 10 boroughs, or their bar of choice here in Manchester city centre, ends up being selected or not, it’s obviously great publicity having their names plastered on a notable social media account.
This is especially so when you see how much the post itself ends up being reshared and the overall exposure Lord ultimately lends them via creating such a big crowd discussion.
Here’s hoping we get proper beer garden weather over that long weekend.
It’s also worth noting that the further support stunts like this have helped garner support for other regional businesses – in particular, indies that are battling the cost of living crisis and so many other challenges within the sector – has proved crucial for some places to stay open to begin with.
A good example is the Thirsty Korean, who teamed up with the Altrincham-born entrepreneur to cover hundreds of bills back in 2023, and has now been able to expand into a larger venue down the road from their original Chorlton location.
The obstacles facing the hospitality industry remain varied and numerous, but gestures like this can go a long way to helping prop up those who need it.
A huge new Irish bar has opened in Manchester city centre (yes, another one)
Daisy Jackson
There’s another new Irish pub in Manchester city centre, this time on one of our busiest nightlife strips, Peter Street.
Katie O’Brien’s has officially thrown open the doors to its enormous two-storey venue, taking over and transforming the former Peaky Blinders bar.
Inside, there are three bars pouring both Guinness AND Murphys, a huge elevated stage on its own mezzanine level, which will host live musicians seven nights a week, and walls packed with decor transporting you to the Emerald Isle.
The makeover they’ve given this massive unit really is quite something, creating all sorts of cosy corners and snug areas where you can nurse a pint of stout.
Faux fireplaces, leather booth seating, and low ceilings all set the tone for a relaxed pint in the snugs.
Or if you want something a little livelier, head to the heart of the bar, where you can dance the night away to the live entertainment above your head.
Manchester’s Katie O’Brien’s is set to be their largest Irish bar yet, with existing locations all over the UK, including in Leeds and Sheffield.
Their rapid expansion has now brought them to the heart of Manchester, where they’ll be neighbouring bustling nightlife spots like Albert’s Schloss, Manahatta, and Impossible.
Katie O’Brien’s has opened on Peter StreetIt’s taken over the old Peaky Blinders barCosy snugs in Katie O’Brien’sIt serves both Murphy’s AND Guinness
The venue has taken over what was once the Peaky Blinders bar, which shut down back in March.
The previous occupier had themed its venue and menu around the hit gangster show, with cocktails named after characters.
They wrote at the time: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we unfortunately have to announce the closure of Peaky Blinders Manchester with immediate effect. On behalf of our entire team, we are truly thankful to every guest who has stepped through our doors since opening in 2018.
“We are devastated it has had to end this way, but grateful for the journey. Thank you so much for your continued support over the years. It’s been a blast, Manchester!”
Katie O’Brien’s is open now on Peter Street in Manchester.
Daisy Jackson -
14th May 2024 
