A brand-new comedy festival is set to arrive in Manchester this week, and there’s some seriously famous names gearing up to bring the laughs.
Laughterama is an all-new five-night festival that’s set to combine a packed lineup of some of comedy’s multi-talented names, with a handful of the city’s best-loved bars and traders from right across the street food scene.
A new venture from the sibling team behind a series of successful comedy festivals running annually across London and the South, comedy fans heading on down to Castlefield Bowl for Laughterama 2022 this week can expect a mix of the biggest names in stand-up to take to the same stage as some of the brightest new talents.
James Acaster, Aisling Bea, and Rosie Jones are just some of the famous names on the lineup.
Laughterama is taking over Castlefield Bowl in Manchester city centre from Wednesday 21 – Sunday 25 September 2022, and it’s promising to be “a seriously good time in the heart of the city”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Here’s everything you need to know.
The lineup for the brand-new Laughterama 2022 festival / Credit: Laughterama
Lineup & Stage Times
The Laughterama 2022 lineup is absolutely packed with heavy-hitting names and upcoming top talent set to make the people of Manchester laugh across the five-day festival.
ADVERTISEMENT
Here’s the lineup and stage times for each day of the festival:
Wednesday
Festival opens at 6pm and show begins at 7:30pm.
David O’Doherty
Rose Matafeo
Lou Sanders
Josh Jones
Daniel Kitson
Thursday
Festival opens at 6pm and show begins at 7:30pm.
ADVERTISEMENT
Nish Kumar
Simon Amstell
Amy Gledhill
Mike Wozniak
Catherine Bohart
The unflinchingly funny Jamali Maddix will be taking to the Castlefield Bowl stage / Credit: SuppliedThe “comic shooting to fame” Celya Ab, and the joyous Rosie Jones are on the lineup / Credit: SuppliedThe hilarious Kiri Pritchard-McLean will also be making an appearance / Credit: Supplied
Friday
Festival opens at 6pm and show begins at 7:30pm.
Milton Jones
Reginald D Hunter
Hannah Platt
Stephen Bailey
Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Saturday
Festival opens at 2pm and show begins at 3pm.
Phil Wang
Aisling Bea
Fatiha El Ghorri
Rhys James
Ian Smith
Festival opens at 6pm and show begins at 7:30pm.
Josh Widdicombe
Ivo Graham
Tadiwa Mahlunge
Esther Manito
John Robins
Sunday
Festival opens at 3pm and show begins at 4pm.
Dylan Moran
Tim Key
Fern Brady
Huge Davies
Maisie Adam
Festival opens at 6pm and show begins at 7:30pm.
ADVERTISEMENT
James Acaster
Josh Pugh
Celya AB
Rosie Jones
John Robins
You can find out more about the full Laughterama 2022 lineup here.
Some seriously famous names are gearing up to bring the laughs at Laughterama 2022 / Credit: Supplied
Food & Drink Traders
As well as catching some uproarious stand up sets, those heading to Laughterama 2022 will also get to feast on some of Manchester’s best street food throughout the event.
Alongside some established food favourites, the festival has also booked up and comer Thief Street, Mexican taco truck Nina’s, top-end kebab kitchen Eat Like a Greek, and beloved bagel company Triple Bagels.
Meanwhile, those with a sweet tooth will be catered to with pancakes from Eat Dutch Lekker or a range of sugary treats from Ravenous Fudge.
Festivalgoers will get to feast on some of Manchester’s best street food throughout the event / Credit: Supplied
Here’s the full lineup of traders:
ADVERTISEMENT
T’arricrii
Eat Like a Greek
Eat Dutch Lekker
Triple Bagels
Thief Street
Ravenous Fudge
Mi & Pho
Nina’s Taco Truck
Find out more about all the food and drink traders at Laughterama 2022 here.
How to get to Laughterama 2022
Laughterama 2022 is taking over Castlefield Bowl in Manchester city centre.
With the unique venue being in the heart of the Castlefield district, this means that the closest train station is Deansgate, the closest Metrolink stop is Deansgate-Castlefield, and there are several bus stops nearby – although, the venue is within walking distance from several of the city’s other major public transport stations.
There is no event parking, but there are many car parks in close proximity.
Festival organisers ask that all festivalgoers check tickets for information about the gate opening and show start times.
ADVERTISEMENT
You’re also asked to just bring one medium sized bag per person to the event, as this will greatly assist with security checks, and there are also set to be no cloakroom facilities at the festival either so personal belongings will need to be kept with you at all times.
You can plan your trip on the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) website here.
Laughterama is taking over Castlefield Bowl in Manchester city centre / Credit: Supplied
Weather Forecast
As anyone who is familiar with Castlefield Bowl will know well, the venue is an open-air arena with the majority of seating uncovered, which means that all festivalgoers are advised to keep the classic Manchester weather in the front of their minds, and check the weather forecast ahead of time so that you dress accordingly.
Although it could be a little too early to tell, especially as weather is forever changing, at this point, it looks like we’re in for a mixed bag of weather conditions across the five days of the festival.
On Wednesday, you can expect a dry day with cloud cover and temperatures ranging from 11°C-20°C, and then on Thursday, some rain showers are expected, but Friday looks to see the sun poke through the clouds with temperatures in the region of 11°C-19°C.
ADVERTISEMENT
On Saturday, we’re in for another dry and cloudy day with highs of 19°C, and then to round-out the festival on Sunday, some showers are expected, once again with highs of 18°C / 19°C.
Find out full advanced weather forecasts for Manchester on the Met Office website here.
It’s promising to be “a seriously good time in the heart of the city” / Credit: Supplied
Tickets
Like the sounds of what you’ve heard? Fancy nipping down this week?
Given the immensely-talented lineup of comedy names at Laughterama 2022, and the fact that tickets have been on sale for a good couple of weeks now to popular demand, some of the events and days are unfortunately completely sold out, and there are only a limited number of tickets left on the days that are available.
Tickets will set you back just £25 each, and you can find out more about which shows on the lineup are still available to catch on the Laughterama website here.
ADVERTISEMENT
___
Featured Image – Lloyd Winters (via Supplied)
Sponsored
Tiffany & Co opens glittering new store within Selfridges at the Trafford Centre
Daisy Jackson
One of the world’s most famous jewellery brands has opened a dazzling new store at Selfridges, as the Trafford Centre welcomes Tiffany & Co.
This heritage brand now has a presence on the lower level of the luxury department store, selling its most recognisable items.
The glittering new Tiffany & Co space is just beside the San Carlo champagne bar.
And although it’s tucked right in the heart of Selfridges, Tiffany & Co has gone to the effort of recreating the iconic windows from the New York flagship store, building a blue mosaic wall with window displays inside.
Shoppers will be able to perch on plush cream-coloured stools to try on items from its four Icons collections – HardWear, Lock, T, and Knot – before carrying your purchase off in that instantly-recognisable Tiffany blue bag.
Founded more than 180 years ago, Tiffany & Co is synonymous with New York City but loved globally.
The heritage brand’s T collection was inspired by the grid system of the streets and avenues of Manhattan, it helped to design the dollar bill, and also designed the invites for the opening of the Statue of Liberty.
Tiffany & Co at Selfridges Trafford Centre in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
The Tiffany setting was the first engagement ring to have the diamond displayed on the band (which is now the standard) rather than embedded within the band – even the emoji on all our phones is a ring design invented by Tiffany & Co.
It was the first jewellery designer to bring 925 sterling silver to the USA and it remains proud of its silver pieces.
This is also the only jewellery name with full traceability of its diamonds, and rejects a whopping 0.04% to ensure only the highest-quality gems are used in its jewellery, cutting them for beauty rather than size.
Tiffany & Co at Selfridges Trafford Centre in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
The brand has a lot of famous names associated with it – Dua Lipa has been proudly wearing Tiffany & Co jewellery on her tour and public appearances, Lady Gaga launched the Hardwear collection, and Miley Cyrus wore the ‘Elsa Peretti’ Bone cuff to receive her first Grammy Award.
Beyonce’s cowboy hat and even her in-house ear monitors for her Renaissance Tour were even created with Tiffany.
Tiffany & Co is also the creator of possibly the world’s most famous piece of jewellery, The Tiffany Yellow Diamond necklace, worn by only four women – Lady Gaga, Audrey Hepburn, Mary Whitehouse, and Beyonce.
The new Tiffany & Co Manchester is now open in store at Selfridges at the Trafford Centre.
VK has launched a divisive new festive alcopop flavour
Danny Jones
Beloved British drinks company VK has just launched a brand-new festive flavour for Christmas 2024 and let’s just say it’s proved to be a divisive one.
Known as one of the most popular alcopop producers in the UK, their Blue, Tropical Fruits, Black Cherry and numerous other flavours remain a popular beverage of choice across the country, be it at the pub, a house party or a cheekyChristmas tipple.
That being said, this holiday season VK are mixing things up even more than usual with an eye-catching returning flavour combo that has already got people talking – not least because they’ve hired the biggest digital billboard in Manchester to let people know about it.
As you can see, in typically bold fashion, VK’s marketing team not only took over one of the biggest digital billboards in Europe to promote this year’s festive flavour for 2024 but they’ve also made a cheeky nod to a beloved Christmas icon, posing the question ‘Who the VK is Terry?’
Oh, and as for the big fella in orange, no, he’s not called Terry – why’d you ask?
Follow VK’s TikTok and other social accounts to keep up to date with all of his shenanigans:
In all seriousness, taking inspiration from the much-loved chocolate orange flavoured and shaped confectionery that many people gift, receive and devour in spades every Christmas, VK has bottled the classic combo for their seasonal special and created a divisive Christmas alcopop.
The lightly carbonated bev remains the number one RTD (ready-to-drink) brand among students and is popular among various other demographics too, especially since there’s a flavour to suit pretty much everyone’s tastes.
However, the question is besides being a conversation starter, does liquid chocolate orange go down nicely and is it worthy of finding its way into stocking fillers this year?
The limited edition seasonal specialCredit: The Manc Group
Holly Bolus, Senior Brand Manager for VK, commented: “This activation is part of our new, bold marketing strategy, leveraging VK’s reputation for creating memorable experiences for our audience.
“Our brand ethos is all about fun and personality, so what better way to lean into this than with a tongue-in-cheek OOH campaign?”
VK Chocolate Orange is now available in their VK mixed pack for a limited time only. Get yours from Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Home Bargains and B&M – plus you could even get your hands on a free Christmas jumper too.
Targeting students and young adults who are looking for festive pre-drinks and party essentials, historically, VK’s seasonal flavours have a high rate of sale, making this year’s return even more significant for the brand.
Emily Sergeant -
20th September 2022 
