Bongo’s Bingo, a craft beer festival, and a big Jubilee-themed street party are just some of the things to expect when Cheshire Fest returns next month.
Taking place at a brand-new Knutsford location, Cheshire Fest will return after a two-year hiatus this Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend from Thursday 2 – Sunday 5 June, with everything from live music, a Big Top circus, a street food fair, a wide range of family-friendly entertainment, and a headline performance from Liverpool band The Zutons on the lineup.
This year, the festival will take place at The Lambing Shed at Moseley Hall Farm in the heart of the Cheshire countryside, with four days of celebrations planned in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.
Festival organisers say the 2022 lineup is “definitely the best we have ever had”.
Cheshire Fest prides itself on having “a real community feel”, thanks to partnering with a number of local businesses, and organisers say it’s the perfect festival for families and groups of friends to get together post-pandemic to enjoy some amazing music, great food and drink, and enjoy socialising again.
Here’s everything you can expect over the four-day festival.
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Cheshire Fest will return this Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend / Credit: Cheshire Fest
Thursday
Kicking-off on Thursday 2 June in the picturesque Cheshire countryside, the ever-popular Bongo’s Bingo will be taking place inside a Big Top Tent, and the iconic Jonny Bongo himself will host the show – with the usual crazy prizes, spontaneous dance-offs, rave intervals, and “magic moments of nostalgic escapism”.
It’s already being hailed as the “definitive bingo experience”.
Friday
The Cheshire Craft Beer Fest will take over the festival on Friday 3 June from 4pm-11pm, with a celebration of the best beers and street food all on the agenda, as well as an eclectic lineup of local live music artists and DJ sets.
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Once again, the event will be held in the Big Top Beer Hall with tables, seating, and solid flooring to dance the night away.
Tiny Rebel, Beavertown, Vocation, Batch 95, Neighbourhood, Swinkles, and Donkey Stone are some of the breweries set to offer up fresh brews across the extended weekend.
Then, as the evening draws in, the live music will be provided by Judge Jules with his 10-piece live band, and there’ll also be a DJ set from Take That’s Howard Donald, as well as Radio 1’s James Cusak spinning classic dance tracks on the decks.
Cheshire Fest prides itself on having “a real community feel” / Credit: Cheshire Fest
Festival organisers say the 2022 lineup is “definitely the best we have ever had” / Credit: Cheshire Fest
Saturday
Then, on Saturday 4 June, the festival welcomes Liverpool indie band The Zutons, and a duo of DJ sets from two local legends – Hooky (Peter Hook) of New Order, Joy Division, The Light and Hacienda Club, and Clint Boon of 90’s Manchester band Inspiral Carpets.
As the party continues, 90s house music queens, Angie Brown and Rozalla, will be performing live on stage, before trio K-Klass headline with a closing set of hits.
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LDF DJs & Friends will also be taking over the Tipi Disco.
And if all of that wasn’t brilliant enough as it is, on top of all the music, there will also be a big selection of bars, serving everything from craft beers to gin and prosecco, as well as a street food village, an artisan market, plenty of kids entertainment, and a fun fair too.
Sunday
Sunday 5 June is Jubilee Family Day.
To celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne, Cheshire Festival will become one giant street party on Sunday, with a whole programme of family entertainment including – the Greatest Showman Show by A Million Dreams, amazing circus skills from Nula Hula, Mark The Storyteller, and a magical giant bubble show from eBublio, with all the colours of the rainbow floating through the fields.
To cap off the day, cover bands will be playing greatest hits from across the decades – with The Cavern Beatles, Planet Abba, Manytones, and U2UK.
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The festival will take place at The Lambing Shed at Moseley Hall Farm in the heart of the Cheshire countryside / Credit: Cheshire Fest
The first phase of tickets for Cheshire Fest 2022 have already sold out, but the second release is now on sale, and you can get your hands on tickets for either individual days or the whole weekend.
Starting at just £8.50 for children and £16.20 for adults, you can get tickets here.
Featured Image – Cheshire Fest
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Rochdale’s incredible fire festival will bring blazing sculptures and fiery displays to town this month
Daisy Jackson
Rochdale will be filled with dazzling pyrotechnic displays later this month when the Ignite Fire Festival returns to town.
The spectacular free event will see the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town Hall – which reopened to the public earlier this year – transformed with fiery displays, blazing sculptures and illuminated installations.
The smash hit event debuted last year, attracting more than 10,500 people, and this year’s will be even bigger with three nights of magical family entertainment.
And the festival will culminate on the Sunday with the Rochdale Christmas lights switch-on.
Ignite Fire Festival comes from Walk the Plank, the outdoor arts specialists behind some of the UK’s biggest and best outdoor arts events, who have called upon artists and pyro technicians to create the many installations on show.
Between 5pm and 8pm each night, visitors will be able to walk past fire-based sculptures like goblets of fire, a daisy chain of flaming flowers, a fire bird with blazing eyes, and smaller birds circling a flaming nest – to name just a few.
There’ll also be sculptures that twist, flap and erupt with balls of fire, and ‘In The Balance’ will be a festival highlight, where rotating globes of flame seemingly defy the laws of physics.
Ignite Fire Festival is back in Rochdale this month. Credit: Supplied
Each evening, a fire drawing designed and made by local residents will be ignited alongside flaming hot performances from some of the UK’s top talent including Flame Oz – a thrilling fire dancing and juggling show.
There’ll also be performances from Liverpool’s Bring the Fire Project, local favourites Skylight Circus Arts, and street theatre and interactive arts group Travelling Light Circus.
Visitors should look out for Drum Machine, a 20-strong drumming collective, The Fire Man Dave performing a live fire show with fire eating and juggling, and Astro Aliens, a trio of cosmic beings that will entertain all ages.
The incredible event, sponsored by car supermarket The Trade Centre UK, is set to take place between Friday 22 and Sunday 24 November.
Ignite Fire Festival takes place in the gardens opposite the Rochdale Town HallThere’ll be performers as well as pyrotechnic sculptures. Credit; SuppliedIgnite Fire Festival is back for a second year. Credit: Supplied
After exploring the gardens, you’ll be able to pick up hot food, mulled wine and other seasonal drinks served each night.
On Sunday, Father Christmas will be in town to switch on the Christmas lights at 5.30pm in front of the town hall.
Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council said: “Last year’s Ignite Fire Festival and Christmas Light’s Switch On was a fantastic event and an instant hit with audiences from across Greater Manchester.
“It’s an exciting and unique event and the perfect addition to our big switch-on, providing family entertainment across the weekend.”
Mark Bailey, founder and owner of sponsor Trade Centre UK added: “Our partnership with Ignite Fire Festival and the Rochdale Christmas Lights Switch On is a fantastic opportunity to give back to a community that has welcomed us so warmly.
“At Trade Centre UK, we believe in more than just selling cars; we believe in being part of the fabric of the local area. Supporting events like this, which bring people together to celebrate in the heart of Rochdale, aligns perfectly with our core values of community and connection.”
The event is free, and no tickets are required. Ignite is organised by Rochdale Borough Council in partnership with Walk the Plank and Culture Co-op, a ‘Creative People and Places’ programme, funded by Arts Council England.
Find out more and plan your visit to Ignite Fire Festival HERE.
Science and Industry Museum to transform into immersive ‘Light Lab’ as part of 2024 festive events programme
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most popular museums will be transformed into an immersive ‘Light Lab’ for the festive season.
As the temperatures begin to drop and Christmas creeps closer, this is your chance to escape the cold and brighten up the winter holidays with an adventure though light and colour, as the Science and Industry Museum has now unveiled its upcoming festive events programme.
You can also explore a gaming extravaganza, and be engrossed by festive-themed science shows at the city centre-based museum this December.
Back by popular demand, after enchanting visitors of all ages in previous years, the museum’s free Light Lab will be making a return for 2024 – with everyone invited to discover the secrets of light through illuminating activities, special shows, and immersive experiences.
The Science and Industry Museum will transform into immersive ‘Light Lab’ this winter / Credit: Jason Lock (via Science Museum Group)
As Greater Manchester is known for its grey winter days, a series of illuminating experiments will bring colour to your lives in the interactive Light Lab, where you can explore a hall of mirrors, discover how to bend light, and even take a dance break in the rave room, before taking a journey from the Sun back to the Earth during special science shows led by the museum’s team of expert Explainers.
You’ll be able to discover how light travels through our atmosphere, explore the science of solar flares, and even marvel at a mesmerising display of the Northern Lights – with real NASA footage of the Aurora Borealis.
If all that exploring has got you tired out, then you can slow things down in the Recharge Retreat and get comfortable with a picture book, or explore the relationship between colour and mood and why nature is so important to our health.
You can escape from the cold, and learn a thing or two while you’re at it / Credit: Science Museum Group
But if you’re looking for a change of pace, you can also enjoy the museum‘s ultimate gaming experience, Power Up, to immerse yourself in a whole host of different digital worlds by working your way through five decades of video games, or learn about how what we eat can have a huge effect on our brains and bodies at the Operation Ouch! exhibition.
Then, for something a little different all together this festive season, you can grab a ticket for the first of the 2024 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures being screened live at the museum on Tuesday 10 December, ahead of the broadcast on the BBC.
The Winter Holiday Programme at the Science and Industry Museum runs from 14 December 2024 through to 5 January 2025.
Emily Sergeant -
28th April 2022 
