The trend of supermarkets launching alliterative animal sweet treats is still alive and well it seems.
We’ve had Colin the Caterpillar from M&S and his nemesis Cuthbert the Caterpillar from Aldi – who were embroiled in a copyright war earlier this year.
We’ve had Percy Pig – who has gone beyond bags of sweets and enjoyed forays into ice cream and party sprinkles.
And we’ve even had Sid the Sausage Dog – a foot-long Dachshund-faced chocolate cake.
But now, there’s a new face in the aisles. And it’s causing quite the commotion.
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Asda has announced the launch of Ginny the Guinea Pig – a party-hat wearing rodent made out of soft Madeira sponge layered with fruity raspberry jam and frosting.
People have gone absolutely bonkers for it.
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The cake popped up on New Foods UK earlier this week and social media users have been falling over themselves to tag their pals – with the comments section threatening to burst at 46,000 responses.
So if you want to grab a Ginny the Guinea Pig Cake, it might be worth heading to Asda ASAP.
Alternative Christmas Markets to drink, shop and eat at if you can’t stand the main Manchester ones
Daisy Jackson
The Manchester Christmas Markets are the stuff of legend, drawing thousands to the city every winter – but for those of us who live here 365 days a year, they can be A Bit Much.
Despite being crowned the best festive markets in the UK, a lot of us (especially those of us who work in the city centre and have to run the Market Street gauntlet every day) will be looking for some alternatives.
There are loads of smaller Christmas markets taking place around the region over the coming weeks, offering a much less stressful alternative to the main event.
While the Manchester Christmas Markets have had a big push to include more local indies in its line-up – just look at all this brilliant food and drink – the following spots are packed to the brim with independent businesses and nothing else.
Time to get your Christmas shopping on.
The best alternative Christmas markets in Manchester
Merry Kampus at Kampus
Manchester’s leafy little canal-side apartment neighbourhood near Piccadilly has got a ‘one-stop-Christmas-shop’ running through to the weekend just before Christmas.
The plan is to showcase the best Manc-made presents, with a cosy festive den in The Bungalow operated by the Flat Baker and Ancoats Pop-Up selling gifts and baked treats.
The shop will sell candles and melts, jewellery and ceramics, prints and calendars, vintage clothes and locally brewed beer
The takeover will also include a schedule of weekly workshops and masterclasses, including upcycling, cocktail making, macrame, and embroidery.
The shop will be open 8am-4pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and 10am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays until 18 December – find out more about Merry Kampus here.
Another alternative Christmas Market, again from Ancoats Pop Up, has taken shape in Canton House on Princess Street, right on the edge of Chinatown.
It’s the biggest (and indeed only) indoor Christmas market with more than 50 independent bakers, makers and artists involved.
There’ll be local creatives selling their goodies, a children’s play area, entertainment and a cafe, spread across two floors.
You can find it in the Yang Sing site, open 11am-4pm on 3, 4, 10, 17 and 18 December.
YES
You know what makes Christmas shopping more bearable? Doing it with a pint and a slice of pizza in your hand.
There’ll be a carefully curated selection of Manchester’s coolest indie makers taking over the Pink Room for a one-day mini market.
All the businesses involved are female-owned – you’ll find prop maker and artist Mariel Osborn, clothing brand Grey Milk, sustainable jewellery from SKEN Studios, and floral design studio POWERPLANT, who will sell their Christmas wreaths as well as hosting a couple of workshops).
It’s taking place on Sunday 4 December between 12pm and 6pm.
Open Kitchen
It doesn’t get much more wholesome than this one – Open Kitchen are throwing a ‘Very Merry Open Christmas’ featuring performances from the Halle Ancoats Community Choir, festive food and drink, and a fully ethical, sustainable, independent Christmas market.
You’ll be able to pick up ethically-sourced presents like plants, wreaths, ceramics, jewellery and food items under one roof, while knocking back one of four festive drinks and listening to the beautiful carols.
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Traders involved include BreadFlower, Plant Shop, Tracey Birchwood Jewellery, Stephanie Mann Jewellery, Sue MC Ceramics, Dew Drop Jewellery, the People’s History Museum, and Charlotte Verity Jewellery.
You’ll find all this goodness in Open Kitchen’s cafe space at the People’s History Museum on Tuesday 6 December from 6pm, with performances at 6.30pm and 8pm.
Horse & Jockey Artisan Markets on the Green
Chorlton Green will get a big dose of the festivities this year thanks to the Horse & Jockey pub, which is bringing together more than 50 artisan stall holders on the green outside for a Christmas market alternative.
It’s been four years since the event was able to take place, but it’ll be back with everything from pies and pasties to home furnishings to local gin.
It’s part-run by the Joseph Holt pub in conjunction with the organisation Independent Street.
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Carol singers and local brass bands will provide the soundtrack and the event’s even promising a visit from Dancer and Blitzen.
It will take place on Saturday 10 December between 1pm and 7pm.
Winter Market, Wythenshawe
35 of the best makers Manchester has to offer will be popped under one roof for a Winter Market this weekend.
Running from 10am to 3pm on Saturday 3 December, the event will feature stalls selling everything from candles to hand-crafted bottle openers to personalised baubles.
You can find it all at the Message Enterprise Centre in Sharston and find out more by following Winter Market on Instagram.
The Makers Markets that spring up around Greater Manchester are always an impressive sight, and never more so than at Christmas.
Pulling together hundreds of traders selling all sorts of products, this year’s festive markets include a Victorian Christmas Market Day in Cheadle, plus a huge ongoing market at Quayside in Salford Quays.
You’ll be spoilt for choice.
GRUB’s Sustainable Indie Christmas Market
The lovely folks at GRUB are used to pulling together local food and drink traders, but this weekend they’re boosting the usual offering with other small businesses.
18 stalls will be selling a variety of sustainable gifts, there’ll be a wreath making workshop, plus vegan food from Jeyda’s Turkish Kitchen, Marley’s Pizza, Nina’s Taco Truck and Dohlightful.
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Oh, and mulled wine and boozy hot drinks, naturally.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Shopping
Shoppers report getting stuck for FIVE HOURS in Manchester Arndale car park
Daisy Jackson
Shoppers in the city centre say it took almost five hours to exit the Manchester Arndale’s multi-storey car parks this weekend.
Motorists say they were crawling along in the multi-storey car park for hours on end.
One person slammed the lack of management of the parking complex after spending ‘four hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic’.
Another ‘trapped’ shopper said they arrived back to their car at 5pm but didn’t manage to actually exit the Arndale car park until 9.40pm last night.
@manarndale We currently seem to be trapped in the multi storey parking complex. We arrived back at our car at 5pm and it is now 8pm, we are on level 12. To illustrate how things are going the arrow is over a car which at 5pm was in the yellow square, so 5 spaces in that time. pic.twitter.com/CLp0Yjw5oR
They even helpfully shared a diagram showing that a car in front had travelled only ‘five spaces’ in the space of three hours.
One tweet showed someone timing their journey (or lack of) on their phone, racking up an eye-watering five hours, three minutes and two seconds in the multi-storey.
@MENnewsdesk I think have officially broken the record for the longest time trying to exit the Arndale Car Park on Saturday 26th November. It took us 5 hours 3 minutes to get from Level 12 to the exit. It is not fit for purpose Manchester Council!! FUMING! pic.twitter.com/VK6sTBX9N2
Other images show cars snaked back on the spiralled ramp leading in and out of the space.
They wrote: “Can someone come and help in the Arndale carpark! On floor 11 and we have been static for 1hr. Most expensive carpark I’ve ever been in and now I can’t get out.
One person tweeted: “Never again. A nightmare being stuck in your car park yesterday for 4 hours!!!! Bumper to bumper traffic queues, no management from staff, wasted fuel, extortionate fees! Babies, children, disabled & elderly all trapped. Disgusting (none) management!”
Replying to several people on Twitter, they said: “Hi – we’re sorry to hear about your experience. The car park adjacent to us is owned & managed by @ManCityCouncil.
“We believe the congestion was due to traffic flow on the surrounding streets. If you have any other queries we would recommend you contact the Council directly.”
TfGM’s Head of Highways, Peter Boulton, said: “Manchester is a top destination and with a number of events and the Christmas markets adding to the usual retail and leisure offering, the last couple of weekends have seen increased numbers of people travelling into the city centre by both car and public transport.
“We’d encourage anyone coming to Manchester to think about how they are going to get in, around and out of the city and to plan their journey in advance, avoiding the busiest times and routes where possible.”
The Manc -
30th July 2021 
