Manchester’s Night Time Economy Advisor Sacha Lord has today launched a Christmas campaign to help save local hospitality businesses.
With rocketing energy bills and food prices caused by inflation compounded by two years of closures during the height of the pandemic, many bars and restaurants have already closed their doors – and more are warning that they are on the brink of following suit.
In response, Manchester’s night tzar and Warehouse Project founder Sacha Lord has launched a new campaign that he hopes will encourage people to put money back into their favourite pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes this Christmas.
Working alongside hospitality businesses from across the Greater Manchester region, his team has coordinated a new campaign that will see people encouraged to buy vouchers for local Manchester businesses as Christmas presents this year.
Sacha Lord pictured outside the old Sankey’s Soap, first opened in 1994 then revived by Sacha Lord and partners in 2000. It closed its doors in 2006. / Image: Sacha Lord Instagram
Manchester steakhouse Hawksmoor will be taking part in this year’s Christmas voucher scheme. / Image: The Manc Eats
These vouchers can then be redeemed over the Christmas season or during the quieter winter months, bringing much-needed revenue into an industry that is currently in dire straits.
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Sacha Lord, the city-region’s Night Time Economy Adviser, said: “Treating loved ones to a night out not only gives them memories to cherish, but will go a long way in supporting local landlords and independent venues across Greater Manchester.
“We all know the difficulties that our favourite restaurants, bars, theatres and hotels are going through, and January is always the bleakest time of the year for the sector.
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“Not only is footfall typically down as people choose to save and stay indoors, but as a result staff often find they aren’t booked for as many shifts as normal.
Today, we’re asking the public to Give The Gift of Going Out.
Let’s stop buying those unwanted Xmas gifts that end up in the cupboard.
“By buying a voucher or putting a deposit down now, we can support the sector through the difficult post-Christmas period, and move away from gifting presents that just sit unwanted in the cupboard.
“What better way to help your favourite venue, and the local workforce, than gifting a loved one an evening out this Christmas.”
Venues confirmed as taking part so far include Hawksmoor, Platzki, Cane & Grain, Abeja Tapas Bar in Stockport and Cocoa Cabana Chocolatiers in Ancoats and Didsbury.
Further businesses taking part include Alex’s Bakery, The Barking Dog Urmston, Atlas Bar, Three Little Words, Albert’s Schloss, Calcio! sports bar, 53Two, Riva Altrincham, A Tavola Gastronomia Siciliana in High Peak, WOOD Manchester and Con Club in Altrincham.
A number of cultural institutions are also getting involved, from The Royal Exchange and The Palace Theatre, to The Opera House and The Stoller Hall all contributing vouchers to the scheme. More are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
Feature image – Sacha Lord / Darren Robinson Photography
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Fontaines D.C. announce massive return to Manchester on new European tour
Daisy Jackson
Fontaines D.C. have just announced their biggest headline tour to date, including a massive arena gig here in Manchester.
The wildly popular Irish rock band are set to play a whopping 20 arena shows across Europe and the UK this autumn.
The tour has been announced in celebration of their upcoming fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber, which is set for release this October.
Fontaines D.C. will hit the road just five days after the album drops, kicking off their European tour in Lisbon on 21 October.
Then they’ll make their way over to the UK, with shows in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.
Fans in their home country of Ireland are told to stay tuned for live news very soon.
As we speak, Fontaines D.C. are warming up to play one of the country’s biggest festivals, with headline slots at Reading & Leeds Festival.
They’ve already released Marianne, the first single from their new album, and frontman Grian Chatten says of the album: “The album itself is a dopamine chamber. You step inside and we test these different mind- or mood-altering pieces of music on you.”
The new record has been recorded between London, the English countryside, and Palermo, where Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions.
He said: “There’s a poignant sense of us being on the brink of some other kind of form of humanity, or non-humanity.”
Tickets will go on general sale at 10am on Thursday 3 September, with pre-sale live from 10am on Tuesday 1 September.
You can access tickets for Fontaines D.C. in Manchester HERE.
Fans who pre-order Dopamine Chamber from the official store by 6pm on Monday 31 August will gain access to the UK pre-sale.
Fontaines D.C. UK tour dates in full
Friday 20 November – Liverpool, UK – M&S Bank Arena
Saturday 21 November – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Sunday 22 November – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Tuesday 24 November – Leeds, UK – First Direct Bank Arena
Wednesday 25 November – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Georgina Pellant -
24th November 2022 
