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.
Massive rock, paper, scissors tournament with BIG pizza prizes takes over Trafford Centre this week
Emily Sergeant
A thousand free pizzas will be up for grabs to celebrate one of Greater Manchester’s newest restaurant openings this week.
That’s right – award-winning Neapolitan pizzeria Forbici is officially opening at the Trafford Centre.
From 11am until 12:30pm this Wednesday (5 August), Forbici will be giving away up to 1,000 full-sized pizzas, so visitors to the shopping centre will have the chance to taste what has recently been declared one of the best pizzas in the world without needing to spend a penny.
Following the opening of its first site on Cross Street in the city centre last year, before expanding over to Sheffield, this new 7,000-capacity Trafford Centre space at The Orient will be Forbici’s third restaurant in the UK and the second in Greater Manchester.
Crafted with signature three-generation ‘biga dough’, slow fermented to create a light, airy crust, alongside carefully sourced Italian ingredients, it’s no secret that Forbici offers some of the finest pizza in town.
Forbici is opening at the Trafford Centre this week / Credit: The Manc Group
And staying true to its name, every pizza is cut with scissors before being served.
The celebrations will then continue on Friday (August) as Forbici’s newest restaurant transforms into the home of Europe’s biggest Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament hosted by Manchester’s viral foodie content creator, Zack Hipps.
Across four sessions, you’ll have the chance to test your luck, speed, and strategy in a bid to be crowned champion – with tournaments taking place every hour from 11:30am.
Inspired by the pizzeria’s name, Forbici – which is, of course, the Italian word for ‘scissors’ – competitors will go head-to-head in fast paced knockout battles throughout the afternoon, with prizes up for grabs at every session and the winner of each game getting to take home a year’s supply of Forbici pizza.
There’ll also be a couple of exclusive local-themed pizza specials to celebrate the new opening too, including Forbici’s indulgent Manchester Tart pizza, and the Lancashire Hotpot pizza, which combines Fior di Latte, slow-cooked Lamb Ragù, and cracked black pepper on Forbici’s signature Biga base.
The Manchester special pizzas are also available at Forbici’s city centre restaurant as well, so you can feast wherever you find yourself.
Toni Dennan at Forbici said: “We’re incredibly excited to bring our innovative pizza craft to the Trafford Centre. To celebrate, we’re giving away 1,000 pizzas, inviting guests to experience Forbici on us.”
“Forbici is all about pushing pizza craft to new heights,” commented Forbici’s Toni Dennan. “Opening at Trafford Centre gives us the opportunity to share our passion for proper pizza with even more people.”
Simon Layton, who is the Centre Director at Trafford Centre, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Forbici to Trafford Centre, offering an innovative pizza concept to shoppers and leisure seekers alike. With a huge giveaway and exciting Rock, Paper Scissors tournament, Forbici’s opening week is not one to be missed and we look forward to welcoming customers down to the centre to celebrate its arrival.”
Forbici Trafford Centre is opening this Wednesday 5 August, and bookings are now live online here.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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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.
Lydia Mastrolonardo -
14th May 2026 
