If you’ve never been to Manifest before, Manchester’s regular free music festival, then you’re seriously missing out — lucky for you, it’s coming back this winter so you’ve got plenty of time to make it right.
Following a successful season of seven jam-packed events throughout spring and summer, the Manifest live music festival will once again be taking over award-winning bar The Oast House, only this time with a festive twist.
Taking place inside The Oast House’s famous winter hideaway, ‘The Teepee’, which opened for the season earlier this month, the now Manc-favourite event will see bands, solo artists, duos and taking to the stage throughout the day with interludes from resident DJs running into the night.
The first winter Manifest festival will kick off on Saturday, 28 October with a packed roster of musicians playing live from 1pm and well into the small hours — after all, it’s always a party atmosphere around these parts.
Anyone going along can expect a festival atmosphere all day and night with everything from rock, pop, soul, R&B, funk, disco and blues on show.
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Then, as night falls, The Teepee — which has become something of a local institution come the winter time — gets into full swing, with guests gathering around roaring fires and underneath twinkling fairy lights as they drink and dance the night away to the live music being played inside the tent itself.
Once again, the best part about this festival is that it’s completely free to attend and there is no pre-booking required; just turn up (we’d recommend as early as possible as this place gets busy) and enjoy yourself along with hundreds of other Mancs.
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Securing a seat is of course on a first-come, first-served basis but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of room on the terrace and inside The Teepee where people will spend most of their night on their feet anyway. Manifest is a music festival after all we’re talking about Manchester on a weekend — who’s wasting time sitting down?
Manifest, Manchester’s regular free music festival, is back for winter 2023 (Credit: Supplied)
Of course, to fuel all that singing and dancing, you’ll need to get some scran in you. Fortunately, The Oast House’s street food style menu will be on offer throughout and having enjoyed it many times ourselves, we can vouch for it being the perfect way to line your stomach.
From seasonal signature dishes like northern poutine with bone marrow gravy and Shorrock’s Lancashire cheese, katsu chicken fries, chicken or plant-based gyros; stacked burgers, hot wings, hanging kebabs and more, there’s pretty much something for everyone.
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Better still, even if this weekend is too short notice for you and you’ve already made plans, fear not: not only is Manifest returning to The Oast House again on Saturday, 25 November but regardless of whether the festival is one, The Teepee has live Manc musicians playing every single night of the week — again, all completely free to enjoy.
There are plenty of places to enjoy the winter festivities in Manchester during the build-up to Christmas, but The Oast House is well and truly up there with our all-time favourites.
Trust us, even outside The Teepee, the weather won’t put anyone off.
Manchester’s iconic Rylands building is being reborn – and the developers want to hear from you
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s iconic Rylands building, formerly home to the Debenhams department store, is being reborn.
And now the developers working on its new chapter want Mancunians to weigh in on which businesses we want to see in the landmark building.
The transformation of Rylands Manchester will honour the heritage character of the building, which dates back to 1932, but will introduce contemporary design and a list of residents that’s bang up to date for our modern city centre.
The plans include building a four-storey extension with panoramic city views and a bright, central atrium. When it completes, this Grade II-listed art deco building will bring together workspace, retail, and leisure, right at the beating heart of town between the Northern Quarter, Piccadilly, Manchester Arndale, and the central business district.
Standing proudly at the top of Market Street, this next era for Rylands will establish it as an exciting new destination in the heart of town when its phased completion begins from late 2026.
Already confirmed to be moving in is Market Place Food Hall with its first northern location, which has signed on for a 15 year lease to occupy the ground floor of Rylands.
Market Place Food Hall is already confirmed to be moving into RylandsRylands is entering a new era
But now Rylands are putting it back to locals to ask what shops, restaurants, or cafes we’d love to see moving in.
It could be a high street hero you’ve loved for years, an independent business you’ve fallen for, or a foodie spot you return to time and time again.
Your ideas could help to shape the future of this landmark building and make it a destination us Mancs can be proud of.
And if you submit your suggestions in the comments of THIS Instagram post, you could be in with a chance of winning a £100 Love2Shop voucher (make sure you’re following @Rylands_manchester for a chance to win).
Science and Industry Museum announces new major exhibition taking visitors on an ‘epic space adventure’
Emily Sergeant
A major new exhibition taking visitors on an ‘epic space adventure’ is making its world premiere in Manchester next year.
Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos will invite visitors to explore our wondrous Solar System when it launches at the Science and Industry Museum next February.
Fresh off-the-back of the new BBC Children’s and Education TV show, Horrible Science, the ‘thrilling’ new exhibition will encourage visitors to ‘do science the horrible way’, and join both scientists and supervillains to unveil the secrets of space.
The new exhibition will propel families up into space where mystery, intrigue, and rocket-loads of silly and surprising science await. You’ll get to venture through a series of cosmic zones, walk in the shoes of astronauts, explore the life-giving energy of the sun, marvel at mysterious moons, and discover far-off weird worlds.
Left teetering on the edge of our Solar System, explorers will then find themselves staring into the dark depths of space, on the lookout for any extra-terrestrial life that could be staring back.
Whether its sniffing astronauts’ smelly socks, dancing on an alien disco planet, feeling the tremors from a mysterious moonquake, or launching a space rocket, organisers say this new adventure will engage all the senses in a truly immersive experience.
This is the first time Horrible Science has been brought to life as a major exhibition.
The Science and Industry Museum has announced a new major exhibition taking visitors on an ‘epic space adventure’ / Credit: BBC | Science Museum Group
Visitors will get to see familiar characters from the BBC series – like Dr Big Brain, in particular – on their mission to find out more about our fascinating Solar System through interactive experiments, playful challenges, and sensory exploration.
The exhibition is being developed by the Science and Industry Museum in collaboration with producers of the Horrible Science TV show, BBC Children’s and Education, and Lion Television, together with Scholastic, who are publishers of the much-loved Horrible Science book series by Nick Arnold and illustrated by Tony De Saulles.
‘Unmissable’ objects from the Science Museum Group’s world-class space collection will also be on show when the exhibition premieres.
Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos will open at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on 13 February 2026 for an 11-month run before heading down to London, and tickets are now on sale priced at £10 – with family discounts available, and under-threes going free.
Danny Jones -
27th October 2023 
