30 food and drink stalls will be popping up across Stockport during the first weekend of September as the town hosts a sprawling Food & Drink Festival featuring cuisine from around the world.
Running over three days from Friday to Sunday (3-5 September), the event will feature dozens of vendors and a variety of entertainment.
Two outdoor kitchens are being set up on stage in Mersey Square and Market Place for the occasion – with chefs Aldo Zilli and Jean Christophe Novelli performing cooking demos, with a food and science demonstration led by the BBC’s Stefan Gates.
Entertainer Mr Bloom will be performing at Stockport Plaza, with pop-up entertainment at the Peel Centre and activities including a beach and a Fruit Trail in Merseyway.
👉 Food & Drink Festival – September 3 – 5
➡ Over 30 Food & drink stalls across the town centre
➡ 2 outdoor kitchens with celebrity chefs Aldo Zilli, Jean Christoph Novelli & Stefan Gates performing live
Alongside the eateries, bars, market traders and independent business in Market Place, a variety of independent businesses specialising in local food, drinks, arts and crafts will also be starring at the festival.
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Robinsons Shire Horses will also be making an appearance at The Baker’s Vaults and the Red Bull.
Councillor David Meller, Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration at Stockport Council, said: “I’m delighted that we can welcome the Food and Drink Festival back to the town centre to showcase our flourishing food and drink offer, which clearly shows real confidence in Stockport and our ambitious plans for the future.
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“Events like this are key in attracting more visitors to Stockport and give a real boost to the local economy. So whether you’re a seasoned foodie or want to bring the family along for a free day out, there’s loads going on to tickle your taste buds.
“Our local businesses have really struggled due to the impact of COVID, so what better way to show your support!”
Greater Manchester clubs and Kellogg’s team up for free kids’ football camps this summer
Danny Jones
A whole host of Greater Manchester clubs are teaming up with cereal brand Kellogg’s this summer to hold tens of thousands of free football camps for kids this summer.
Joining the nationwide initiative alongside dozens of other teams across the country, local sides including Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers, Salford City and more will be taking part in a glorious sporting summer helping the opportunity to stay active and entertained during the holidays.
Kellogg’s Football Camps and similar schemes from the company have been running for many years and this latest edition is set to be the biggest yet, with 300,000 completely free days of footballing fun set to be offered out to children aged 5-14 all over the UK.
With the multiple clubs from in and around the region enlisting their help, not to mention Euro 2024 and the Olympics just on the horizon, it’s going to be a great couple of months for the little ones.
With the likes of Stockport County, Wigan Athletic and other nearby organisations such as the Foundation 92 (the educational charity arm formed by the Man United’s Class of ’92 group) getting involved, the physical activity-driven programme will be a great outlet for kids this school break.
This fresh push for physical activity comes after recent research found that 90% of parentsin the North West would like their child to experience less screen timeand take part in more outdoor activities and 7/10 of mums and dads from the region feel there aren’t enough accessible activitieslocal to them.
Entry for the Kellogg’s camps kicked off this month and will run until 24 June, with around 2,500 places released every week. The sessions themselves will run throughout July and August 2024 as well as a handful in June and September.
To mark the occasion this year, they also revealed the world’s longest football scarf featuring a total of 74 different teams from England, Wales, and Scotland, measuring approximately 100m long.
The vast majority of parents polled said they felt participating in team sports can help build crucial life skills and that’s exactly what the campaign is hoping to achieve. Brilliant stuff.
Kellogg’s has long held not only a local connection to Greater Manchester but a partnership with English football in general (if you have one of those old footy cereal bowls you know all too well), so it’s nice to see them still getting involved and help parents keep their kids occupied for a little while this summer.
The sign-up process is pretty simple: merely grab a promotional box of the brand’s cereal which millions of British kids already eat for their cereal, scan the barcode to validate the purchase and then select your desired club via email to book your kids onto the free football days. You can see the T&Cs HERE.
As it happens, they aren’t the only food brand offering similar sporting freebies this year:
Featured Images — Supplied/Bolton Wanders FC (via X)
Stockport
Dave Challinor labelled ‘top class’ after touching tribute to late young fan as Stockport County secure League Two title
Danny Jones
Stockport County manager Dave Challinor is being labelled as “top class” after he decided to dedicate his team winning the League Two title to young fan George Thompson, who sadly passed awayin 2021, honouring him in a truly touching tribute.
The former defender, who made a century of appearances for the club back in his playing days before ultimately returning to Edgeley Park as head coach back in 2021, saw his high-flying and free-scoring side seal the League Two title in a 5-2 win over Notts County on Tuesday night.
Promotion was already secured this past weekend but Challinor has insisted from the start that his squad only wanted to go up one way: as champions. More importantly, he wanted to provide the fans and one local family in particular with something extra special to remember.
With a trophy lift and more jubilant scenes still to come this Saturday, the 48-year-old made sure to mark the celebrations in the best way possible by asking lifelong supporter and father Dave Thompson if he could borrow a very meaningful flag that has become so important to the entire County fan base.
There’ll be more to come but bloody hell. When your manager comes over asking for your boy and takes him to dance with the champions.
After the final whistle blew and the team went over to celebrate in front of the travelling fans who made the weeknight journey to Meadow Lane in Nottingham, the manager wasted no time in picking out Dave in the crowd and carrying the flag made in memory of his late son George over to his squad.
George Thompson was a loyal County fan and regular matchgoer who tragically died after being hit by a train back in October 2021 at the age of just 18, only a month before Challinor was given the job.
The young fan struggled with mental health for several years before his death and had already been rushed to hospital once after previously trying to step in front of a train in September. He had described lows as being like battling through “thunderstorms” and sadly decided to take his own life.
Ever since his dad has been helping raise money for mental health and suicide prevention causes such as the Mentell Charity formed by fellow Stockport locals. In August 2023, Dave and his other son Will set themselves the challenge of boxing for as many minutes as possible over 24 hours in honour of George, who loved combat sports.
The Thompson’s boxing challengeGeorgeCounty x MentellCredit: Family handout/Dave Thompson (via X)
A gut-wrenching local story that the Hatters have taken deep into their hearts, the personalised St George’s Cross is carried to virtually every County game and to see it held aloft by the players clearly hit home for all those involved, let alone just the Thompsons.
Reacting in the immediate aftermath as Challinor came over to grab the flag, George’s dad simply said: “I have no words. If you saw the end, then you know”.
Not only was it a championship-sealing win but Notts County also happened to be the last away game the youngster ever attended, with Dave going on to thank the Chester-born coach for “creating something so, so special” and a moment he’ll never forget.
As expected, the heartfelt gesture moved countless SK natives and more, with people labelling the moment “superb”, and “Just beautiful” as well as having brought them to tears, not to mention hailing Challinor as “absolutely top class” and “a special man in charge full of empathy and decency”.
In his own words, “Cheers,thank you.” Doesn’t quite seem enough but to you DC, @1DaveCon@clinthill29 Lord Stott, Sir Steve Bellis and all of the players and staff, as a family we are forever with you. Thank you for tonight. I’ll never forget that moment. G would have loved it. pic.twitter.com/HrjYi5Q4Zf
As for the man himself, he has come out to declare winning League Two with the Hatters as “the greatest achievement” of his career to date, crediting the likes of club legend Paddy Madden – who scored his second hattrick in four games – and fan Graham Allsopp, who currently lives in France but sent him a ‘lucky gold pen’ at the start of the season which has clearly worked wonders.
That’s now two promotions with County for Challinor and seven promotions all-told as a manager, with this being his first-ever EFL title and County’s first in the football league since 1967. Quite the achievement indeed for a club that languished in non-league for over a decade.
You can watch his post-match interview after County’s in full down below and we look forward to seeing them back in the third division next season.
🗣️ "To lift the trophy in front of 10,000 fans will be a great place to be"
✅ Champions ✅ Madden hat-trick ✅ Third title in five years
The Manc -
12th August 2021 
