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
MediaCityUK makes huge pledge to Salford Youth Zone
Danny Jones
MediaCityUK has committed a sizeable new pledge to nearby Salford Youth Zone, becoming a key patron for the increasingly important community cornerstone.
Initial work on Salford Youth Zone (SYZ) only began back in 2023 but is already promising to become an important outlet for so many through the borough.
Set to open later this summer and now with backing from none other than the hugely influential entity that is MediaCityUK, SYZ’s inaugural year will hopefully get off to a wonderful start.
As its own city with the national media hub boasting a huge reputation of its own, its great to get more eyes on and profile behind the project.
Teaming up with Salford Council and Empower Youth Zone (EMPOWER) – the youth work charity behind the already established HideOut Youth Zone in Gorton and the soon-to-open SYZ – MediaCity has become the latest and one of their most generous patrons yet.
Pledging a huge donation of £100,000, MediaCity will be supporting the charity at large with an extensive volunteering and business support programme over the next four years at the very least.
As a Landsec Futures employability partner and influential hub for the creative industries in the UK, MediaCity are looking to work closely with SYZ and its partners to provide greater access in creative spaces and with local businesses.
Landsec (who have recently acquired full ownership of the MediaCity brand) are equally committed to creating places that deliver lasting positive impact for both communities and the environment.
As per an official announcement of the partnership, “It joins the growing EMPOWER patron community, funding vital services that enable young people to break down barriers, unlock potential, and build brighter futures.”
Salford Youth Zone – situated adjacent to Belvedere Road and Broadwalk in Pendleton – is set to open seven days a week, deliver more than 200 volunteering days each year, as well as offer completely free membership to support thousands of young people in the city and across Greater Manchester.
For those who have come across the exciting new ‘FRAMELESS’ exhibition over in Salford Quays, this comes not only in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery but SYZ itself in one of its first big activitations for 2025.
Here’s a whistle-stop tour of the £6.2 million youth centre and activities space.
Speaking in an official statement, MediaCity Managing Director Martin Chown said of the welcome new partnership: “Salford is an important part of our journey, and deepening our roots here reflects our commitment to enriching the communities we’re part of.
“Partnering with EMPOWER will help us continue to drive forward a thriving creative community while s upporting talented young people. MediaCity has become a cornerstone of Salford’s identity, helping the city attract leading businesses and driving investment into the city.
“It’s a bridge between Salford and the creative industries, and we want to ensure local people feel like a career in the creative industries is within their reach. EMPOWER’s arrival in Salford will make a material difference to young people and the wider community, so we’re proud to be supporting the team.”
Adam Farricker, CEO of Empower, went on to add: “Our partnership with Landsec is another powerful step towards our mission to support young people across Greater Manchester. MediaCity sits at the heart of the city, and we want our young people to feel connected to its energy and community spirit.
“Young people are full of potential but often need the right support to overcome the barriers they face and truly believe in themself. Together, with the MediaCity team and Landsec, we’re working to ensure every young person, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to grow, succeed, and move towards a better future.”
With the recently unveiled ‘Content Studio’ to boot, it’s happening in Salford and another exciting event is also heading back to MediaCity this season.
Beloved Danish lifestyle and home decor store Søstrene Grene to open new site in Stockport
Emily Sergeant
Stockport has been given the ‘Grene’ light, as a beloved Danish lifestyle and home decor brand is opening in the town’s centre.
Known for its contemporary – yet surprisingly affordable – home decor, furniture, and stylish lifestyle products, stepping foot inside a Søstrene Grene is store is arguably unlike any other experience on the high street, thanks to its unique layout and winding aisles making it feel like you’re discovering something new around every corner.
Founded in Aarhus in Denmark back in 1973 by Inger Grene and Knud Cresten Vaupell Olsen, Søstrene Grene – which translates as the ‘Green Sisters’ – is now led by Grene’s sons, Mikkel and Cresten Grene, making sure that while the brand continues to grow internationally, it still stays true to its family roots.
Søstrene Grene will be taking over a spacious 4590 sq ft unit formerly occupied by JD Sports inside Stockport‘s Merseyway Shopping Centre, and it’s already being described as an ‘exciting milestone’ moment for the Greater Manchester town.
Søstrene Grene will be opening a new site in Stockport / Credit: The Manc Group
Shoppers will be able to experience a signature immersive shopping experience when the brand opens in Stockport.
Think soft lighting, classical music, and a distinctive labyrinth-style layout designed to surprise and inspire at every turn – everything Søstrene Grene is known and loved for.
Central to Stockport’s £1bn regeneration plans, Merseyway is playing a key role in the town’s vision of a ‘thriving and vibrant’ town centre, and Søstrene Grene’s opening will be a huge part of that alongside other major projects including new cultural and creative space Stockroom, and the Merseyway Innovation Centre offering flexible working spaces and offices to support local businesses.
The beloved Danish lifestyle and home decor store is known for its affordable prices / Credit: The Manc Group
“We are looking very much forward to opening our first store in wonderful Stockport,” commented Søstrene Grene Group’s CEO, Mikkel Grene.
“This opening will further solidify our presence in Greater Manchester, where we already have many loyal customers. The location in Merseyway Shopping Centre is superb and this new store will be the first in the area to showcase our newest shopping concept where we have worked especially on evoking the visitors’ senses.
“We want our visitors to feel like entering a Søstrene Grene is like taking a break from an often-hectic everyday life and we cannot wait to spread this feeling amongst shoppers in Stockport.”
Søstrene Grene is opening in Stockport later this year.
Georgina Pellant -
21st September 2022 
