The north’s leading beer festival is heading back to Manchester city centre this summer, ready for a weekend dedicated to all things craft beer – and we’re talking all-your-beer-is-included levels of craft beer here.
The Manchester Craft Beer Festival is set to take over Depot Mayfield for its fourth year, bigger and better than ever.
The cavernous space will be home to expert-led talks, tastings and tours, as well as live Euros screenings.
Some of the world’s best breweries and most dynamic brands from across the planet will be joining in with the fun this July, with more than 65 breweries and 500 beers to taste.
Local names like Cloudwater, Track, Marble, Northern Monk, Bundobust, Sureshot and Seven Brothers are all lined up, as well as British craft names like Deya, Verdant, Siren, North Brewing, and plenty of heritage brands.
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The Manchester Craft Beer Festival is returning for 2024. There’ll be talks and tastings at Depot Mayfield for the The Manchester Craft Beer Festival 2024
And for those who want to drink something other than delicious back-to-back beers, there are plenty of other drinks on offer, like Pimentae’s pre-batched margaritas and loads of other spirits.
A portion of the festival’s floor will be taken up by a Food Block Party, again showing off plenty of local favourites.
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Almost Famous will be serving their legendary burgers, Bundobust will have Indian street food, MorMor will supply Middle Eastern-inspired meals and Voodoo Rays are bringing giant NY-style pizza slices, along with ramen joint Bone Daddies making their Manchester debut
Channel 4’s Mark Dredge, who is Sunday Brunch’s beer expert, and Craft Beer Channel’s Jonny Garrett will be speaking at the huge event as part of the addition of talks, tastings and tours.
As the Manchester Craft Beer Festival coincides with the Euros, matches will be screened inside, so you can Harry Kane the beers while watching Jack Beerlish bring it home.
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Manchester Craft Beer Festival will have a food block partyYour ticket includes a glass and all your beers
The whole thing will be soundtracked by an acoustic music stage, as well as DJs playing throughout.
And new for this year will be a complimentary trade exclusive session, allowing those who already work in the industry to come along for free.
Thousands of beer-lovers and industry experts are expected to flock to Manchester from across the country to attend one of the UK’s biggest and boldest beer experiences, created by We Are Beer.
Mark Dredge said: “I’m thrilled to be participating in this year’s Manchester festival, to talk all things beer, a topic I am well versed in after writing eight books about it, working internationally as a beer judge, and talking about it daily!
“I’m a big fan of the festival and what they do so I’m delighted to be on board to bring an educational element to the festival where guests can learn a little more about the background and creation process behind what they are sipping, and why it tastes the way it does – a bit of beer education essentially.”
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Co-founder of We Are Beer and Director of Manchester Craft Beer Festival, Greg Wells, adds: “It’s been a disheartening year for Manchester’s beer scene so far with closure of the beloved Indy Man Beer Con Fest and the unfortunate debut of the International Brewing and Cider Festival, but we’re pleased to announce our return and bring more of what has been loved in the past three years.
“With even more breweries and experiences on offer and larger capacity this year, we’re buzzing to be back to satisfy all the beer lovers out there.”
The Manchester Craft Beer Festival will take place at Depot Mayfield on 5 and 6 July.
The Friday afternoon trade session will run from 12.30pm to 4.30pm, with public sessions 6pm to 11pm on Friday, and 11.30am to 4.30pm then 6pm to 11pm on Saturday.
Tickets start from £52, which includes all your beers and a special glass, plus access to all the talks, tastings, and tours, and are available here.
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You can upgrade to special packages and even full weekend tickets too.
The new restaurant loyalty scheme with amazing discounts and a massive prize up for grabs
Daisy Jackson
A new loyalty scheme has launched at some of Greater Manchester’s top restaurants which promises to ditch the ‘tired points system’ in favour of much better discounts and offers.
Club IR comes from Individual Restaurants, the group behind Piccolino, Riva Blu, and Restaurant Bar & Grill, with 32 restaurants across the UK.
And with the new loyalty scheme, they’re offering members exclusive deals and experiences, such as a round of drinks on your birthday and special discounts running throughout the week.
For a limited time only, anyone who signs up to Club IR (which is completely free, by the way) will be in with a chance to win a £250 voucher to dine, along with a bottle of Champagne.
Club IR discounts that are available at its beautiful, newly-refurbished Piccolino restaurant and across all venues include 15% off dining on Mondays and Tuesdays, 50% off all wine and champagne on Wednesdays, and sharing roasts on Sundays with a complimentary dessert for members.
Newly-launched is Club Friday, where Club IR members can get two courses and a drink for £25 every week at Piccolino.
Dishes on the exclusive menu include arancina and calamari fritti for your primi course, and a huge list of pizzas and pastas for secondi, like salami and nduja pizza or tagliatelle alla bolognese.
There are also steak and Malbec evenings for just £35 on Thursdays at Restaurant Bar & Grill locations (the nearest to Manchester is the stunning Opera in Chester).
Club IR actually has three tiers of membership available, from Club to Black to Diamond, with different benefits and money-can’t-buy experiences for each tier.
There are VIP events aplenty, like parties, top sporting events, and once-in-a-lifetime trips to top culinary destinations.
Club IR’s bespoke approach has been created following research into customer appetites, which has found that we all much prefer a variety of offers and discounts instead of a points-based loyalty programme.
It has an easy-to-use app that gets members easy access to offers, updates and perks.
If you sign up for Club IR now, you’ll be entered into a competition to win a £250 voucher to dine at the restaurant, plus a bottle of champagne.
Manchester’s premier bowling alley where there’s way more to do than just bowl
Daisy Jackson
Most of us know that Tenpin is the best and biggest bowling alley in Manchester, with 14 lanes to show off your skills.
But did you also know how many other activities there are within this huge entertainment complex at Manchester Printworks?
This massive hub of fun opened back in 2020, promising to create a space where visitors can drink, eat and play all under one roof.
With its prime location near Manchester Victoria station and being right on the edge of the Northern Quarter, it’s become something of a local landmark.
And inside, it’s not all just about the bowling – though with colour-changing LED lighting, huge scoring monitors, and interactive lanes, the bowling experience is pretty impressive.
If you’re wanting to pack some more activities into your evening, here are five other things you can do at Tenpin in Printworks in Manchester.
Pool and table tennis
You can play pool at table tennis at Tenpin Manchester Printworks as well as bowling
Show me a better noise on the planet than the clunk of a pool ball sinking into a pocket…
That’s right – you can’t, which is why you’ll always find The Manc team stood around the nearest pool table having a bit of a friendly (ish) competition.
Tenpin has several pool tables and table tennis tables too, and you don’t need to book these in advance – just rock up and bring your best game face.
Arcade games
There are loads of arcade games to play at Tenpin Manchester Printworks
The childish glee you can get from mashing buttons on a bright, glowing arcade machine is unmatched, and at Tenpin they have loads to choose from.
From racing simulators to dance mats to air hockey tables, there are plenty of activities to entertain you in the state-of-the-art arcade area.
Dare you to try and beat our high score on Pac-Man…
Karaoke
There are private karaoke rooms you can book outAnd a fully-stocked bar
Ready to show your mates your best vocals? Start warming up your best Adele impression because Tenpin has its own private karaoke rooms you can book.
You can reserve each room for up to 10 people then flick through a comprehensive list of ballads, chart-topping pop songs and rock anthems.
Love or loathe karaoke, you’re guaranteed a few laughs.
Beer pong
Beer pong tables at Tenpin
Who doesn’t love a game of beer pong?
At Tenpin, they have specially-made beer pong tables where you can get competitive trying to sink balls into each other’s American-style red cups.
It’s just £2.50 to get the table set up, then add whatever booze you want to play with on top of that.
We’ll leave you to argue about the rules amongst yourselves…
Feast
Food and drink at Tenpin Manchester Printworks
You’re going to need your energy to get round all the activities at Tenpin, and to us, that means snacks.
The menu here is packed with classic American-style food, from loaded nachos to chicken wings to pizza.
There’s also a Munchies menu filled with fries, mozzarella sticks, mac and cheese bites, onion rings and more, with a three-for-£13/99 deal.
AND you can get delicious cocktails from the two bars inside the venue.
To book your activities at Tenpin Printworks Manchester, head here.
Daisy Jackson -
25th May 2024 
