A popular street food festival will be returning to Greater Manchester this month, filling a historic square with food traders and live entertainment.
That’s right, Street Eat is coming to Rochdale once again, to supply us foodies with our fix of mouth-watering food and thirst-quenching drinks, all held within the magnificent Rochdale Town Hall Square.
Year upon year, this flavourful festival has shown up and impressed us, guaranteeing itself a spot in our annual diaries as a staple spring-time event.
It truly does deserve all of the praise it gets, with more than 3,000 people showing up last year, all with one common interest – proper good food.
Street Eat is a true celebration of the town’s rich history, diverse arts scene, creativity, talent, variety of cultures and of course – food. Boasting a range of local favourites and stalls including Italian, Spanish, Thai, Indian, English, American cuisines and more, it successfully captures what Rochdale is all about.
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This year, Street Eat is pulling out all of the stops, with stalls like the prosecco bar Sip and Sparkle and multi-award winning independent brewery Wakey Wakey, as well as tapas from La Mancha, pizza from Vicolo del Vino, Indian inspired street food from Bombay Brew, Thai street food dishes from Issan Friends and many more. Whether you’re feeling adventurous and want to try something new, or are there to support your favourite local restaurant, there’s something for everyone.
Street Eat will take place in the Rochdale Town Hall squareThere’ll be food and drink aplenty from local tradersStreet Eat returns to Rochdale in May
If it’s a sweet treat that you’re after, there will also be cookies from Mason’s Creations, waffles and crepes to be found at Brew Box, and sugary classics from The Traditional Tuck Shop, as well as many other dessert stalls to satisfy those sugar cravings.
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Why not check out which of The Manc’s favourites from our Rochdale guide made it onto the festival menu?
The excitement doesn’t just stop with our tastebuds though – Street Eat also hosts lots of free entertainment across a variety of bars and live music stages, which all draw in the crowds and give it a proper festival feel.
This year you can expect a variety of music genres, catering to all ages with everything from singalong classics and pop hits, to Rochdale Music Service’s very own rock bands, brass band and choirs. Not to mention a performance from Turners Dance School to get everyone in the mood for getting their groove on as the music takes us into the evening.
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Street Eat welcomes people of all ages, with lots of free activities to keep the kids entertained too including rides, Punch and Judy shows, face painting and even a caricaturist sketching free portraits.
One thing is for certain – Rochdale Business Improvement District (BID) can put on a good party.
Organiser and BID manager Paul Ambrose said: “Street Eat showcases the vibrant and high-quality food and drink the town has to offer, as well as being a great day out.
“It’s a fantastic event, giving us the opportunity to champion the very best local food and drink. Street Eat brings friends and families together, celebrating our vibrant town centre eateries and showing what a foodie hotspot the town is. We do all we can to make the event as affordable as possible and entry is free.”
Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council said: “This is always such a great day out and Rochdale Town Hall Square is a wonderful setting. Street Eat is a great celebration of the incredible food and drink offer we have here in our town.”
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Great food, drinks, community, music and freeentertainment in the sunshine – sounds like the perfect Saturday to us.
Admission is free and Street Eat will run from 11am to 7pm on Saturday 30 May.
For more on the line-up, head HERE and search #StreetEatRoch on social media.
A dedicated anime, movie and gaming concert with a live orchestra is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
Calling all self-proclaimed otakus, cinephiles and gamers: a huge concert experience will see dozens of musicians bring classic anime, film and gaming soundtracks and scores to life later this year, right here in Manchester.
The city is no stranger to events celebrating these beloved kinds of media, but you’ll struggle to find another bringing all of them together in one place.
Brought to us Mancs by KIN Music Entertainment, a locally founded arts, events and music label, this celebration of all things pop culture – and specifically, the music tied to it.
Entitled ‘The Kin & Fushigi Anime, Film & Videogame Orchestra’, this passionate collective serves as not only a platform for rising artists but also to hear some iconic sonic moments like never before.
KIN have created a large-scale live concert experience which will bring together a 25-piece pop orchestra made up of emerging professional performers and conservatoire graduates.
Aside from the impressive total of people behind this production to begin with, they also form an immersive hybrid orchestral and live band capable of bringing.
Speaking on the upcoming date, KIN Entertainment said in a statement: “We wanted to create the kind of live experience that many anime and videogame fans in Manchester have been waiting for — something cinematic, emotional and community-driven that brings these sound worlds to life with the energy of both an orchestra and a live band.”
Kin was founded by bassist, composer and ensemble performer Alejandro Urbina Diaz, who first brought his talents and wider interests over from Mexico to the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) here in the city centre at the age of 23.
Citing Manchester’s multiculturalism and cosmopolitan cultural fabric as a big part of his inspiration, he and his team have ended up carving out this niche for themselves, and now they’ll be playing this beloved music to Mancs at none other than the O2 Ritz.
Credit: KIN Music Entertainment (supplied via Academy Music Group Digital)
With new arrangements inspired by anime, cinematic and videogame culture, not to mention orchestral and even rock crossover twists – including both vocalist and rhythm sections, by the way – it’s set to be a highly unique experience that most will have never come across before.
This event itself is suitable for audiences aged 14+, although under-16s must be accompanied by an adult, and it’s taking place at the Ritz on Sunday, 26 July.
We’re not going to spoil any more details about the show for you, so which particular pieces of pop culture they reference will just have to be a surprise…
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via AMG Digital)
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You can now get Deep South-inspired BBQ dishes on Manchester’s Deansgate
Daisy Jackson
There’s a brand-new menu of smokehouse-style BBQ dishes being served up on a sunny terrace on Deansgate.
Motley, the neighbourhood bar and restaurant on the corner of John Dalton Street, has added an authentic smoker to its kitchen.
That means they’ve got a whole load of new dishes, slow-cooked over hickory wood, that are bringing a taste of a Deep South BBQ to Manchester city centre.
The smokehouse-style meats are all seasoned in-house and cooked for hours, for a perfect fall-off-the-bone experience.
It might be an authentic American smokehouse menu, but it’s firmly British too, with most products locally sourced.
You can now get Deep South-inspired BBQ dishes on Deansgate / Credit: The Manc Group
Motley are calling on local suppliers like Althams Butchers (established since 1856) for their meat, plus greengrocers R Noone and Son, and Cheshire Farm for their real dairy ice cream.
Signature dishes on the new menu at Motley include slow smoked brisket, seasoned in Motley’s signature rub before being slow-smoked for more than eight hours.
There’s also a beef short rib with a chimichurri sauce, and a pork belly strip that’s seasoned with sage and onion and finished with a panko breadcrumb crust.
And for the veggies, there’s a vegan smoked veg kebab with courgette, mushrooms, bell pepper, sweet corn and red onion drizzled with homemade BBQ sauce.
Motley has added an authentic smoker to its kitchen / Credit: The Manc Group
Prices across the board start from just £16, served with beef dripping fries, rainbow slaw, pickles and homemade beef gravy.
As for small plates, you can expect short rib bonbons, homemade corn bread, spicy chicken wings, bang bang cauliflower, mac and cheese, and frickles.
House favourites like steak, vegetable hash, salads, and burgers will remain on the Motley menu.
Victor Gonzalez, food and beverage manager at Motley, said: “Our new signature smoked dishes are all crafted and seasoned in-house then slow cooked for hours over hickory wood to create rich and smoky melt-in-your mouth flavours.
“From our slow-smoked brisket to our home-made sides, everything has been carefully crafted to bring an authentic taste of the deep south to Manchester and we can’t wait for guests to try it.”
Motley can be found at 2 John Dalton Street on the corner of Deansgate in the city centre.
Lydia Mastrolonardo -
14th May 2026 
