A huge bowling alley is coming to Trafford next month, promising the ‘crown jewels of bowling’ with Ten Pin and Duck Pin bowling, plus shuffleboard, quality street food, arcade games and more.
Called King Pins, the giant new venue will open at Trafford Palazzo on 17 July with two independent street food stands, a dessert kiosk and a full-service bar pouring cocktails, homemade slushies and 20 different beers.
Food traders have just been confirmed for the new opening, with city centre favourites PLY and Little Bao Boy both coming on board to serve up Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas and pan-Asian bao buns respectively.
PLY fans can expect to get their hands on all their Northern Quarter favourites, as well as digging into a brand new King Pins pizza topped with hot dogs, crunchy onion and a secret Goldeen barbecue sauce created exclusively for the new opening.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Image: The Manc Eats
There’ll also be a selection of saucy PLY wings coated in buffalo, BBQ and chip shop curry sauce, classic fries, vegan options and a special kids menu, perfect for the whole family.
As for the menu at Little Bao Boy, originally founded in Leeds and voted the city’s favourite takeaway during Covid, expect to find the likes of beef beef brisket and salt and pepper aubergine-stuffed bao on a list that celebrates Asian food with a western, contemporary twist.
Meanwhile, King Pins’ dessert kiosk Royal Treats will serve a huge selection of sweet snacks ranging from donuts and soft serve ice cream to endless bags of Pick ‘N’ Mix.
As for the games on offer, players can try their hands at both Ten Pin and Duck Pin bowling – a variation on the classic using smaller pins and balls – as well as play arcade games, shuffleboard, ice-free curling and air hockey.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
With a whopping fifteen lanes of Ten Pin bowling and six lanes of Duck Pin bowling (a shorter-laned, faster game of bowling that is completely new to the UK), up to 200 people will be able to play at once at the huge new venue when it launches next month.
James Travis, Brand Manager at King Pins, said: “We’re looking forward to finally opening King Pins this summer at Trafford Palazzo.
“The offering at King Pins is like no other, we are all about quality as opposed to outdated family fun. We can’t wait to showcase everything on offer, including a truly state-of-the-art bowling experience and some top-tier local food vendors.
“King Pins will be a place for the whole family to have fun, but equally the space will transform by night into an entertainment venue with music, drinks and bowling which is also perfect for adults looking for something different.”
Carl Fraenkl-Rietti, co-owner at PLY, said: “We are very excited about partnering with King Pins and are looking forward to the launch this summer.
“PLY will be bringing its fun, fresh food to the venue, which is the perfect fit for us. We are all about bringing great vibes, and who doesn’t love playing games, drinking beer and cocktails with a slice of pizza in hand.“
James Ooi, owner at Little Bao Boy, said: “We are very excited to be opening our restaurant in Manchester alongside King Pins, especially after seeing such a huge success at our home site in Leeds and Manchester city centre.
“We can’t wait to start slinging out our Bao Buns from this amazing new venue and we are looking forward to being part of this exciting new launch at Trafford Palazzo.”Designed with all ages in mind, bookings are officially open now for the new kingsized bowling experience. Located close to Legoland® Discovery Centre, SEA LIFE and the forthcoming Nerf Experience, to find out more and book visit the King Pins website here.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Sponsored
Bohemian FC are giving away five of their viral Oasis football shirts
Danny Jones
Irish football club and growing cult favourite footy fashion industry-leaders, Bohemians, recently dropped a limited edition Oasis shirt to celebrate the Live ’25 reunion tour.
Now, if you were at the Heaton Park dates or any of the comeback shows, you will likely have seen a fair few gig-goers donning the Bohemian FC x Oasis kit collab.
In fact, even if you’ve walked through Manchester city centre over the past couple of months, the chances are you passed someone wearing one of these Britpop-inspired shirts, which have quickly gone down as music culture collectables.
And while pretty much every bit of Oasis’ official adidas Originals clobber and countless other bits of merch continue to sell out, ‘The Bohs’ are offering you lucky lot the chance to cop a free kit. If you’re interested, keep reading…
The Bohemians x Oasis collab shirt is one of our favourites of the year. (Credit: Bohemian Football Club (supplied)
For anyone unaware of the background behind this crossover, the Bohemians are a 100% fan-owned, not-for-profit organisation, who also happen to be the oldest club in the League of Ireland.
Based in Dublin, the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division side has remained deeply immersed in the local community and its sporting culture throughout their history, and of late, they’ve been further infusing that heritage with their equally deep connection to the arts.
Over the past few seasons, they blended footy with the music world, releasing several exclusive and highly sought-after kits that all tie back into the club in some capacity, including shirts inspired by Bob Marley, compatriots Thin Lizzy and Fontaines D.C. (equally viral), as well as our very own Oasis.
Liam and Noel Gallagher’s following and its Irish contingent, in particular, are as strong as they’ve ever been, so ahead of the reunion shows getting underway last month, Bohemian FC revealed their special FAI Cup shirt paying homage to the Burnage boys.
Featuring the band’s iconic logo in the traditional blue tones of Dublin City, it went down as an instant hit among Oasis and Bohs fans alike, as well as among footy kit culture connosieurs.
Better still, all the profits from the shirt sales are being split between Bohemian FC and two key charities back in the Emerald Isle and in 0161: Music Generation Ireland and Irish Community Care Manchester, based on Stockport Road – not too far from where the Gallaghers grew up.
Now, although the Manc music legends never played Bohemians’ home stadium at Dalymount in Phibsborough, the Gallaghers remain two of the most iconic green and gold-blooded musicians ever.
Having crossed off Cardiff, Manchester, London and Edinburgh off their Live ’25 reunion tour, their Dublin double-header is up next this August, with two shows taking place at Croke Park, less than a mile from the hallowed ground.
Whether or not you’ve got tickets to see them in the ancestral homeland, or anywhere else for that matter and want to look the part, or just want to wear your colours for as long as Oasis mania lasts, you might as well throw your hat in the ring to win one of five FREE Bohs footy shirts.
As for how to enter, it’s all very simple: fill out the competition form HERE; like and share this post on X (formerly known as Twitter), and follow our Audio North music page, as well as the official @bfcdublin account on Instagram.
Oh, and tagging a friend or sharing a pic of your best Oasis memories wouldn’t hurt either.
That’s it; we didn’t want to make things complicated – this is a giveaway not only in the hopes of scoring our readers with a freebie but a charitable one that helps Irish cousins over the water and here in Manchester.
Comedy nights, run clubs, and resident parties – why The Castings is Manchester’s most social city centre neighbourhood
Emily Sergeant
Manchester is a city full of opportunity – and The Castings is the perfect place to live to experience all it has to offer.
As the bustling hub of the north – and, arguably, the UK’s ‘second’ city, depending on who you ask – Manchester has firmly cemented itself as being somewhere people of all walks of life want to live, thanks to the wealth of live music,sport, nightlife, and so much more.
And for those who want to get amongst it, one of Manchester’s newest city centre neighbourhoods, The Castings, has a social life built right in, ready for residents to make the most of.
Currently rated number one on HomeViews, it has been voted by its residents as the best place to live in the city.
And it recently celebrated its first birthday too, in one of the ways it knows best, of course – with a free party for all residents.
A glimpse into life at The Castings’ stunning lifestyle-led apartments / Credit: The Manc Group
If you were unfamiliar withThe Castings until now, it’s a stunning community made up of 352 apartments to rent in Piccadilly East.
With its range of studio, one, two, and three-bedroom homes, The Castings’ design-led spaces are inspired by industrial shapes, flowing forms, and molten textures.
As well as its stunning apartments, the lifestyle-led development also features a fitness studio, high-spec gym, games room, private dining spaces, a co-working hub, and a 21st-floor rooftop terrace with panoramic views of Manchester.
The Castings is one of Manchester’s most social city centre neighbourhoods / Credit: The Castings
It sits in the heart of Piccadilly East is a neighbourhood often touted as Manchester’s next-generation, and named by The Sunday Times as one ofthe UK’s best places to live and The Castings has been ‘bringing new life’ to this up-and-coming area near Manchester Piccadilly stationever since it launched it last summer.
Even though Piccadilly East – which is conveniently-adjacent to Ancoats, New Islington, and the Northern Quarter – is already home to some of Manchester’s most popular food, drink, and liveentertainment venues, residents at The Castings don’t even need to leave the comfort of their own community to get involved with a wide variety of events and make some new friends along the way.
In just the year since the first residents moved into The Castings, it has hosted everything from live comedy nights to regular yoga and fitness sessions, run clubs, and seasonal resident ‘socials’.
One of the biggest highlights in The Castings’ social calendar so far has to be the recent ‘Spring Social’, which helped welcome the new season in style, complete with an ice cream van, DJs, big Jenga, and lots and lots of pizza, making it a ‘standout’ moment of the year.
If The Castings sounds like somewhere you’d love to live, then the final few apartments are still remaining, and you can head online to book a viewing now.
Georgina Pellant -
8th June 2023 
