Belting out Christmas karaoke classics at an après ski-style village, throwing axes that look like candy canes, and feasting on new foods are just a handful of the things you could be getting up to over the next few festive weeks.
And all of this is on offer just in one place too.
Great Northern is a historic Grade II-listed leisure complex that’s home to some of the best-loved restaurants, bustling bars, eclectic independent businesses, and unique activity opportunities in the heart of Manchester city centre all year round, so if you’re looking for somewhere to escape the cold and get into the festive spirit, then you know where to head on down to.
Here’s our picks for four of the best places to go for a proper festive day out at Great Northern before we say goodbye to December.
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Throw candy cane-themed axes and feast on festive food
Whistle Punks
Merry Axemas / Credit: Whistle Punks
Fancy throwing some candy cane-themed axes and sipping on some mulled wine this Christmas?
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A trip to Whistle Punks at Great Northern is always an unforgettable experience, with each 70-minute session designed to make both newcomers and axe-throwing pros alike excel, with lots of top tricks taught to you by instructors, all before you take part in head-to-head tournaments to decide who is the throwing champ in your group.
But through the Christmas period, everything is just that little bit more festive.
Not only is there mulled wine on offer, plenty of mince pies and pigs in blankets to feast on, and special prosecco receptions available for those who enjoy the high life, but the axes you’ll be throwing are also red and white striped like candy cane, just to the whole thing even more Instagrammable.
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Tickets to Axemas at Whistle Punks Manchester start from £22 per person, and you can find out more and book your session here.
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Say hello to Santa, belt out Christmas classics, and do shots off a ski
Bar Hütte
Have you seen that popular après-ski village Bar Hütte is back?
Back and better than ever this year, with 15 cosy Alpine cabins dotted across the Great Northern square courtyard bringing a lively, festive, and vibrant atmosphere to the city centre, Bar Hütte is a great place for both families and groups of friends to head on down to at any time of the week during the festive season right through until the New Year.
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Inspired by some of the coolest après ski bars in Europe, Bar Hütte has everything from live music and free-flowing festive drinks, to the chance to try out the bar’s legendary ‘shot skis’, as well sing-along to all of your favourite tunes inside a private wooden karaoke cabin that’s festooned with twinkling tights.
The Gingerbread Old Fashioned, The Alpine, and Bar Hütte’s famous mulled wine are just some of the festive themed drinks and cocktails that can be brought to you by your very-own hütte host, all while you belt out Christmas karaoke classics.
Bar Hütte is also the only bar in the UK to serve up authentic Bombardinos – a warm Advocaat-based drink topped with cream that’s especially popular in Italian ski resorts.
For the little ones looking to say hello to the big red man himself, the family-friendly Santa Claus Club gives you the chance to meet Santa and get a picture with him, all before singing-along in a karaoke hutte for one hour, sipping on hot chocolate, and playing with some free colouring pads.
You can find out more about everything happening at Bar Hütte this year here.
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‘Get galactic’ and skate the day away
Paradise Skate World
Get Galactic / Credit: Paradise Skate World
Paradise Skate World is one of Manchester’s newest roller rinks.
A hugely-popular addition to the Great Northern Warehouse this year, Paradise Skate World is currently hosting a series of ‘Get Galactic’ parties every Saturday throughout December, and it means families and groups of friends can head on down and have a cosmic Christmas celebration.
With the party starting at 6:30pm and running through to 9:30pm, the skating isn’t all the fun you have to look forward to.
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While making your way around the rink, you’ll also get to enjoy a live DJ, make the most of a glitter face painting station, and try out a brand-new selection of Christmas cocktails and mocktails – including this year’s special, the ‘Intergalatic Reindeer’.
Make suer to keep an eye out too, as alien elves will also be rocking around the rink.
What better way to finish off your festive day out than with a proper Polish festive feast at Platzki
A fixture in the city since 2018, this popular Deansgate spot with a gorgeous plant-filled terrace that backs onto the Great Northern Warehouse, prides itself on providing an interesting list of Polish wines and vodka, alongside an ever-evolving menu filled with traditional dishes like dumplings, pork neck and meatballs – all served on beautiful Polish-made plates imported from abroad.
Serving up a new Ukrainian-inspired breakfast menu from 10am every weekend throughout the festive season, as well as lunch from 12pm-5pm, and the main evening menu from 5pm-9pm, Platzki is a real gem in the heart of Manchester city centre.
If you’re a fan of Polish cuisine, or you’re keen to try something new, then Platzki is well worth a look in, and we can’t recommend it highly enough here at The Manc.
Find out more about everything happening this Christmas at Great Northern here.
Featured Image – Great Northern Warehouse
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A huge Stanley Chow exhibition featuring inflatable portraits of Manc icons is coming to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Some of Manchester’s most famous faces are about to get even bigger, with a new Stanley Chow exhibition coming to town this summer.
And rather unusually, the artist’s portraits will be inflatables…
The huge new MCR Made exhibition is set to take over Manchester Arndale from 3 August all the way into the autumn.
Shoppers and locals will be able to admire 13 portraits of Manc icons, which will be up to six metres in length, whether it’s Oasis legends or Suffragettes, football heroes or creative pioneers.
The gigantic inflatable Stanley Chow portraits will be suspended right across the iconic shopping centre for an art trail that celebrates the figures who have shaped the city.
The impossible-to-miss exhibition features famous faces from the worlds of music, sport, science, politics, art and culture.
Along the trail you’ll spot the likes of Liam and Noel Gallagher, Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden, Emmeline Pankhurst, Alan Turing, L.S. Lowry, Lemn Sissay, Caroline Aherne, Aitch, and a host of other trailblazers, all in Stanley’s signature and distinctive style.
MCR Made showcases the work of legendary local artist and illustrator Stanley Chow in an exciting new way, encouraging exploration through photo opportunities and a social media competition.
Stanley Chow said: “The Arndale Centre for me is my Mecca, and I’m sure it is for so many people from Manchester. I’m old enough to remember when it first opened as a shopping centre nearly 50 years ago, and I haven’t stopped coming here since.
Inflatable portraits by Stanley Chow will take over Manchester Arndale this summer
“I’m a proud Mancunian, so I was very flattered and touched to be asked to do this. Art needs to be seen everywhere, and not always necessarily in a gallery. I can’t think of a better place for as many people as possible from all walks of life to be able to see my work presented this way.”
David Allinson, Centre Director at Manchester Arndale, said: “Manchester has always been a city that outperforms and exceeds expectations. Through music, sport, science, politics, creativity and innovation, Manchester’s influence is recognised around the world, and MCR Made celebrates the icons whose talent, ambition and determination helped build that reputation.
“The exhibition feels particularly at home inside Manchester Arndale, itself a Manchester institution that has been woven into the city’s fabric for almost five decades. The shopping centre provides the perfect backdrop for celebrating Manchester, its creativity and the iconic figures behind its global reputation.”
Manchester Arndale will also be giving visitors the chance to own a piece of MCR Made, with 26 limited edition A4 prints signed by Stanley Chow up for grabs. Two prints of each icon have been produced, with winners allocated their artwork at random. To enter, simply follow @manchesterarndale on Instagram and like the competition post.
MCR Made will run at Manchester Arndale from 3 August – 24 October, and is totally free to visit.
P1 Fitness – The Manchester gym that strikes the perfect blend of PT and group-based coaching
Danny Jones
We here at The Manc team are trying to get fit; it can be hard to find time for the gym when you’re busy, not to mention staying in shape when you’ve got a food scene as good as Manchester’s, which is exactly why P1 Fitness Studio is a perfect match for us.
Maybe you’ve fancied giving a personal trainer a go, or even tried a class or two, but perhaps the schedule, the price, the location or some other factor meant it wasn’t for you.
Whatever your reasoning, if you’re the kind of person who can admit they need a bit of a kick up the backside to get their arse in gear and actually stick at this gym lark, we can assure you this is an ideal place to build the right kinds of habits.
And trust us, they’ll keep pushing to make sure it sinks in.
Top-end facilities, secure lockers, every bit of kit you’ll ever need and much more (Credit: The Manc)
Aside from the anti-ego environment in general – you won’t catch anyone staring at themselves in mirrors here – it’s also just nice to be around people with similar lifestyles.
Boasting tonnes of positive reviews online, P1 Fitness is a place for busy professionals who aren’t willing to let work and all other time-consuming parts of ‘adulting’ be an excuse to not carve out less than an hour to better themselves.
And for most people, that really is all it takes to start seeing a difference; two 50-minute sessions might not sound like a lot to some, but the effort you put in during the group workouts is more than enough to get the benefit.
They focus on quality, not quantity, making sure every day that you turn up is worthwhile, and no drop of sweat is wasted.
Better still, they keep the numbers low and even break off into smaller groups to explain and tailor workouts to suit each person.
It’s not just weekly blocks stuck on a wall that you have to stick to: everything is flexible, and they do try and give everyone as much one-on-one attention as possible from the P1 staff.
Here’s what some other members have had to say in their recent testimonials:
“The biggest difference isn’t that I’m fitter and stronger. It’s that I don’t have to think about it anymore. Before P1 I’d spend all week telling myself I needed to go to the gym, then I’d be too tired, it’d be busy, I didn’t know what to do, and I’d end up doing nothing and beating myself up about it.
“Now I just turn up twice a week. Someone tells me what to do, I get coached to do it right, then shower, go back to work and my fitness takes care of itself. It’s one less thing I have to worry about.”
Louise
“I genuinely thought I hated gyms. In fact, when I saw one, I used to cross the street to avoid it… Turns out I hated the ‘usuall’ gym experience. Wondering what I was supposed to be doing, fighting for equipment in the crowd and being self-conscious about my form.
“At P1, I simply walk in, everything’s ready – someone coaches me through the session, we have a laugh in the group, and before I know it I’m finished. I actually look forward to training now, which is crazy.
Damien
One of our very own, Lonnie, says it’s given him a sense of “structure, routine and a community” in the gym like never before, and added that “it’s become that third space where people can come together to better themselves in a fun and unique way.”
Abby is ever the hard-working, friendly face; her husband and fellow co-owner, Peter, is a ‘BFG’ who will always push you to your limits but knows when not to beast you; Ben is a great instructor with a great way of breaking down movements, and Mel is the smiling assassin who is as dedicated as she is smiley.
Then there’s Katie, who is somehow juggling a PhD and working at P1 part-time, all whilst being an absolute Duracell bunny of a trainer. All in all, you couldn’t ask for a better team.
Best of all, you can choose when to register for a session based not only on who you prefer working with, but whatever time suits you; you can even put your name down as last-gasp as you like – in fact, we’ve turned up with five minutes’ notice on more than one occasion.
It’s also great to see that they’re more than happy to roll out a mat or pick up a weight and properly get stuck in there with you.
Put simply: much like you, all of these guys have their own special traits, but one thing they do all have in common is an incredible amount of drive and passion for the work they do, not to mention the knowledge and experience to back it up.
We’re not going to give you any harder of a sell than that; all we’ll say is that we’re feeling more positive about our current fitness journey than we have in a long time, and if you want to make similar progress, P1 might just be for you.
So, if you are truly looking to get fitter in a setting where consistency, accountability and community thrive, consider this your sign to finally get serious.
You can find out more and enquire about joining right HERE.
You won’t find a friendlier team. (Credit: Supplied)
Emily Sergeant -
16th December 2022 
