The world’s biggest chicken wing festival is coming back to Manchester this weekend, bringing some of the UK’s best street food traders with it.
Moving into the Trafford Centre for 2022, on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September Wingfest traders are gearing up to serve a whopping 200,000 wings over a two-day period.
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Playing host to chicken aficionados from near and far, the event will hold a number of cooking demos and eating competitions over the coming weekend, including a famous hot wing challenge so brutal participants are required to sign a waiver in advance.
Food and drink
Image: Wingfest
Image: Wingfest
This weekend, you’ll find 20 different street food traders, restaurants, BBQ teams and pop-ups from across the country serving up their signature bites at Wingfest – be they deep-fried, spicy, baked, sweet or sticky as all hell.
All wings are priced at £1.25, and will be sold in individual joints to allow voters to try as many wings as possible from each of the traders who will accept both cash and card.
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Elsewhere, you’ll find bars selling different bourbons and beers. Please note, all bars at the event will be card only.
Water refill points will be available on site, and allergen information will be available from the traders on the day.
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Competitions
Image: Wingfest
Image: Wingfest
The UK’s finest chicken experts will be showcasing their culinary skills by means of cooking demos and a festival-wide competition – all bidding to be crowned the Wing King or Queen.
This year’s trader competition is split into two categories: The Best Buffalo Wing and The Best Wild Wing.
The first, rather self-explanatorily, will see food traders battle to have their spicy sauce crowned the best, whilst the wild category will encourage chefs to let their creativity run wild with different flavours and toppings.
In total, 8,000 lucky chicken wing fans will have the opportunity to cast their vote for their favourite wings across the weekend.
True wing aficionados should also consider taking part in the very saucy wing eating competition, where brave and hungry individuals compete against one another on the main stage to see who can eat the messiest wings.
The ‘Get Heated’ lava wing challenge hosted by, The Food Review Club and Clifton Chilli Club will be causing carnage, with only the brave entering the UK’s hottest wing challenge.
Ticket holders can sign up to take part on the day,announcements will be made from the main stage when the sign up is open.
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Entertainment
Image: Wingfest
Image: Wingfest
Alongside a range of different traders to sample, cooking demos to visit and eating competitions to watch, there will also be axe-throwing stations, fairground rides and live music on hand throughout the weekend to set the party atmosphere.
Manchester Wing Fest-goers can dance along to killer DJs, live blues and brass bands, with a chicken wing in each hand, as the festival stretches late into the night.
Read more: The world’s biggest chicken wing festival is coming back to Manchester
How to get tickets
Taking place across Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September 2022, those heading down can expect a day full of chicken-eating, as well as plenty of music and entertainment. Tickets are priced from £20 and can be purchased here. Saturday tickets are sold out but there are still tickets available for Sunday.
Feature image – Wing Fest
News
A Greater Manchester town could be set to get a train station for the first time in 60 years
Emily Sergeant
It’s been a whopping six decades, but the residents of one local town could soon be able to hop on a train out of there.
That’s because a planning application for a brand-new £32 million station in Golborne – which would connect the Greater Manchester town, in the Wigan borough, to the rail network for the first time in more than 60 years – has been submitted to Wigan Council, meaning connectivity is finally one step closer to becoming reality.
In case you didn’t know, Golborne currently has no direct bus, train, or tram services to Manchester, and Leigh is the biggest town in England without a rail station, while the wider area is the largest and most-populous area in Greater Manchester not connected to the rail network.
The milestone aims to boost access to jobs and opportunities for people in the town and the wider Wigan borough.
NEWS: Greater Manchester on track with plan for first new rail station in over 20 years. 🚉
✅ 90%+ public consultation support for Golborne station in Wigan ✅ Planning application in to @WiganCouncil ✅ Local area improvements and walking and cycling links
According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the Golborne station scheme forms part of a wider ambition to bring eight commuter lines into the Bee Network by 2028 – of which “significant investment” has been put into.
The application includes plans for a new accessible two-platform rail station, including step-free access throughout with a footbridge across the tracks and lifts to both platforms, a new hourly service between Wigan and Manchester Victoria, and onwards to Stalybridge, an improved town centre car park, and also new walking and cycling links to the town centre.
The submitting of the proposals comes after nearly 3,000 people had their say on the station earlier this year, with more than 90% of respondents supporting the plans.
A CGI of what the proposed new Golborne station could look like, if plans are approved / Credit: TfGM
If the plans are approved by Wigan Council, work on the site should begin in 2026, according to TfGM, with the new station scheduled to open in 2027.
Mayor Andy Burnham called the submitting of the proposals a “transformative step” for the region.
“It has taken a huge effort to get us to this point,” he explained. “But we have finally reached a major milestone on the journey to reconnect Golborne to the rail network for the first time in over 60 years.
“The proposal is based on extremely sound evidence and huge progress has been made with a planning application being submitted and overwhelming support from local residents.”
Featured Image – TfGM
News
Police issue statement after remains of young baby found in Salford field
Daisy Jackson
Police have issued a statement after the remains of a young baby were tragically found in Salford yesterday.
Emergency services were called to the scene near Ashtons Field after a dog walker made the shocking discovery.
The baby – who is being called Baby A – has not yet been identified and police are now investigating ‘who this baby could be, how long they have been here, and how they have sadly died’.
GMP are appealing for anyone with any information to come forward so they can ‘find answers for this baby’.
Chief Superintendent Neil Blackwood held a press conference near the scene on Ravenscraig Road last night.
He said: “Tragically, today, we have found what we believe to be the remains of a young baby on Ravenscraig Road, near Ashtons Field in Little Hulton.
“We have a scene in place, and you will likely see an increased presence of officers in the local area while we carry out enquiries to understand the circumstances.
“At this stage, we are following several lines of enquiry, and we are working with local partner agencies to understand who this baby could be, how long they have been here, and how they have sadly died. We are now calling this baby, Baby A.
“All of this is extremely sensitive, and this investigation needs to be handled with the utmost care it deserves, and it is going to take time.
GMP press conference after remains of baby found in Salford
“We know that this news will devastate our communities, and while we do not have all the answers to these questions yet, I want to reassure residents that we will do all we can to find out what has happened here. The most important thing for us right now is to find answers for this baby and I would urge anyone who has any information at all to get in touch with us.
“Even the most minor detail could be crucial to our investigation. If you have seen anyone in the area over the last few days, or know who the parents could be, please call us as soon as you can.
“As soon as we are in a position to confirm further details about the circumstances, we will do so.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting log 1319 of 20/11/24. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Georgina Pellant -
21st September 2022 
