A three-day outdoor festival full of food, drink, and live music is set to return to a hidden street in Manchester city centre in just a couple of weeks time.
Back by popular demand after what was a successful run in 2021, city centre dining and leisure destination, The Great Northern Warehouse, has announced that it’s hosting its three-day outdoor festival, Deansgate Mews Festival, once again in 2022 – with live music, market traders, Al Fresco dining, and so much more on the lineup.
Just as the name suggests, the street festival will take over Deansgate Mews – a hidden street nestled just above the city’s main thoroughfare, Deansgate from Friday 20 – Sunday 22 May, with the final day of the festival coinciding with the Great Manchester Run.
The festival is completely free to attend, and will celebrate all the eclectic independent food and drink businesses on the street.
Over 40 different music acts are also on the lineup this year, and it features local acts such as South By Zero, The France, and Uno Mas, who will all be taking centre stage to entertain guests over the three-day “sunshine celebrations”.
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As well as the returning Lion’s Den outdoor stage, also new to the festival this year will be a second stage located within live streaming and music recording specialists, Low Four, which has an lineup of Dirty Freud and Ad Hoc Records – representing the likes of Agadir and Parapet EP – and a disco DJ set from Marple band, Dutch Uncles, from 10:30am-5pm on Sunday 22 May.
Over 40 different music acts are on the entertainment lineup this year / Credit: Lion’s Den Manchester (via Facebook)
When it comes to what’s on the summer-inspired food and drink menu, festival-goers can expect to tuck into treats from Deansgate Mews’ newest restaurant, Another Hand – which is known for its locally-sourced produce and seasonal cocktails.
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The Mews Bar will also be serving up some of the finest of wines paired with meat and cheese sharing boards across the festival, and for the Saturday and Sunday, you can make the most of the spritz menu offering 2-4-1 on selected spritzes, and 50% off flatbreads too.
And if the selection of food, drink, and live entertainment wasn’t brilliant enough as it is, there will also be pop-up Gift Emporium selling a range of unique and quirky gifts across the three-day festival, with local Manchester brands including floristry specialist Bahflorals, Dolly Florence selling artwork and paintings, and independent clothing brand Elize Clothing.
The festival will celebrate the eclectic independent food and drink businesses on the street / Credit: Another Hand | The Mews Bar (via Facebook)
“Following on from last year’s success, we are delighted to bring you the return of Deansgate Mews Festival, and we anticipate it will be bigger and better than ever,” said Mark Schofield – Centre Director at The Great Northern Warehouse.
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“Our ambition with the festival is to invite local people along to enjoy a free weekend of music, accompanied by fantastic outdoor dining, drinks and shopping.”
You can find out more about the Deansgate Mews Festival 2022here.
Manchester’s biggest free music festival is back this Easter bank holiday weekend
Danny Jones
Sunnier days are well and truly on their way and better still, that means Manchester’s biggest free music festival and one of the best event series on the annual calendar is returning: that’s right, it’s time for Manifest 2024.
Back and bigger than ever, Manifest over at The Oast House in Spinningfelds returns this Easter Sunday and we cannot wait to get soaking in the sun, tunes and good vibes.
The biggest and most popular free music festival you’ll find anywhere in Greater Manchester, Manifest has been going for a few years now and it’s become such a staple of the warmer months here in the city centre that we don’t consider spring/summertime as having even started until it rolls around again.
Set to deliver an all-day line-up of live music with various acts playing from Sunday, 31 March at 1pm onwards and well into the early hours of Monday, 1 April, we can’t think of many better ways to spend the bank holiday.
Taking place on The Oast House’s large outdoor terrace complete with its dedicated stage and the big beer garden providing both coverage and plenty of room for Mancs to turn it into one giant dancefloor, thousands turn up to this series of events every year now.
Kicking off this season’s festivities on Sunday, 31 March, the first Manifest event of 2024 has a packed roster of musicians lined up including bands, solo artists and duos, as well as interludes from their resident and ever-reliable DJs.
Guests can expect not only a vibrant party atmosphere all day and night but tastes of pretty much every genre, from rock, pop and soul to R&B, funk, disco and blues.
Again, part of the reason this music festival series has become so popular is that it’s completely free, with space inside the venue dished out on a first-come, first-served basis. There were plenty of queues at every single date last year, so we recommend getting there early. Seriously, it packs out quickly.
You’ll have everything you need to keep you sorted throughout the day when it comes to food and drink too, by the way.
The Oast House’s street food-style menu will also be on offer for those looking to line their stomachs during the festivities.
We’re talking katsu chicken fries, Northern poutine with bone marrow gravy and Shorrock’s Lancashire cheese, chicken or plant-based gyros, stacked burgers, hot wings and hanging kebabs. We’ve tried it all and trust us, some seriously good scran this.
Festivalgoers can also keep cool with plenty of cold pints and house-made cocktails, including twists on the classics such as Watermelon Margaritas, Passionfruit Coladas and Pink Gin Punch. Phwoar.
The best part is, even if you’re already busy this weekend (obviously, scrap your plans and come here), you’ll have plenty more opportunity to enjoy Manifest this year with the free music festival returning every bank holiday weekend throughout the spring and summer.
There’s also set to be an extra few Saturday Manifest dates this year which are still yet to be confirmed but we’ll keep you posted as and when we know more – see you there, Manchester!
And to keep track of the other latest music news going on here in Manchester, keep your eyes peeled over on The Manc Audio.
You can take the kids to meet Kung Fu Panda in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
If you’re looking for something a little different to entertain your mini Mancs this weekend, then how about taking them to meet Kung Fu Panda?
In case you hadn’t heard, the fourth installment in the beloved DreamWorks Animation film franchise, Kung Fu Panda, has just been released today, and there’s no better way to celebrate the long-awaited new flick than taking the kids down to meet the legendary Dragon Warrior himself right here in Manchester city centre this weekend.
Po will be setting some time aside from his busy schedule of Kung Fu mastery to make his way over to Manchester’s landmark entertainment complex, Printworks, this Saturday (30 March) for a very-special meet and greet.
He’ll be meeting his Manc fans every hour, on the hour, from 11am right through to 3pm, and families will need to head to the ‘Printworks Pumpyard’ to grab a selfie with the popular character.
You can also expect loads of FREE giveaways to be up for grabs throughout the day too.
“We are always looking for exciting new experiences for families at Printworks, and are thrilled to bring the fun of Kung Fu Panda to our venue,” commented Kristian Brennan, who is the Marketing Manager at Printworks, ahead of this weekend’s meet and greet.
You can take the kids to meet Kung Fu Panda in Manchester this weekend / Credit: Printworks (Supplied)
“As part of the recent re-launch of Printworks following extensive refurbishment, Kung Fu Panda 4 has been the first commercial partner to take space on the giant ceiling screen amongst a host of unique content.
“This partnership will spark a whole host of entertainment, fun and adventure with our young visitors, and we can’t wait to welcome them this Bank Holiday weekend.”
And then, once you’ve met the main man (or main panda, we should say), you can even extend your bank holiday family fun by sitting down to watch the film itself, as Kung Fu Panda 4 finally arrived on the big screen at Vue in Printworks.
Manchester’s landmark entertainment destination Printworks is the place to meet Po himself / Credit: Printworks
It means that, for the first time in almost a decade, you’ll get to see comedy icon Jack Black return to his role as the world’s most unlikely kung fu master.
With regular screenings available to book throughout the Easter school holidays, families are encouraged to grab some popcorn, kick back, and get ready for a hilarious butt-kicking experience.