We all got pretty good at quizzes over lockdown when seeing friends and family over Zoom for a trivia session when that was pretty much all we were allowed to do.
But nowadays we can take on the Great British pastime that is the mighty pub quiz in an actual pub again — hoorah!
There are loads of pubs and bars in the city centre as well across Greater Manchester that will let you flex your brains while nursing a pint, so we thought we’d give you a rundown of our top 10 pub quizzes.
Here are some of the best pub quizzes in Manchester — in no particular order, of course, because we don’t like to play favourites too much.
Our beloved GRUB host a monthly ‘Fizzy Quizzy’ night across its indoor and outdoor spaces where you can wrap up warm and get competitive under the stars, or pull up a bench inside their Green Quarter event space.
The famous Fizzy Quiz promises plenty of rounds to test all that useless trivia living rent-free in your head and the usual good vibes GRUB guarantees on any usual visit.
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Prizes include a gallon of lager — good luck lugging that home (try and resist the urge to just crack it open right then and there — a magnum of prosecco and more. Quizzes take place on the fourth Wednesday of every month and start at 7:30pm sharp.
Hosted every Tuesday night from 7:30pm, the ‘Pencils Down’ pub quiz over at Northern Quarter favourite, The Pen and Pencil, is an absolute classic. It’s just £1 for entry and you can obviously feast on all the food scran and proper fancy cocktails while you’re at it.
Hosted by John Stansfield, a.k.a. ‘Quizimodo‘ of Trof and Brewski fame too (you can have those two bonus Manc pub quizzes for free) this quiz is a real headscratcher but definitely worth it because it’s also winner-takes-all.
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Plus, they even throw in a prize for the best team name — we suggest John Trivialta and Otrivia Newton John for your teammate. You’re welcome.
Speaking of NQ institutions, they don’t get much better, busier and more nostalgic than the ‘Quizzly Bears‘ quiz night over at the hallowed student stomping ground that is the Abel Heywood.
Rolling all the best topics into one — we’re talking Harry Potter, Friends, Game of Thrones, Disney and plenty more — this Manc favourite pub is guaranteed to be full house every time because it’s probably the most popular and, for many, arguably the pub quiz in Manchester.
Avengers assemble! Get the best of the best and book your tickets now; it’s one ticket per team with teams of up to six people, with quizzes on pretty much every other week, loads of prizes up for grabs, free popcorn and a themed cocktail menu. Check out their socials to find out about the next one.
Put your money where your mouth is, or just eat their incredible food — you know, either’s good. Either way, The Bay Horse Tavern serve some truly tasty scran right throughout the quiz, so if someone’s shouting wrong answers you can just shove some baked camembert in their mouth.
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There’s a cash prize and a bar tab up for grabs every Tuesday at 8pm, but you can always get there early and make the most of the every weekday happy hour from 4-7pm before coming back the following day for 50% off food. Why not?
Be careful, though: there is much competition with many snubbed quizzers vowing to return for their rightful prize. Many members of The Manc office included…
Once upon a time, there was A Place Called Common and third Wednesday of the month, two blokes called Alan and Josh hosted a quiz show-themed quiz, and they still do to this day.
They go more casually by just Common these days, but you can still expect the same laughs and good vibes in this cosy NQ venue, which remains a great place for a fun and easy evening with friends. Oh yeah, and there’s happy hour to keep you busy too. Sold.
Running from 7pm until late, you don’t even need to book a table: you can walk in with free entry and up to 10 teammates; grab a delicious pizza from everyone’s favourite Nell’s and sit down to quiz, it’s that easy. The quiz world is your oyster here and prizes are ripe for the picking.
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6. Seven Brothers — Ancoats, Media City and Middlewood Locks!
You’re getting three in one here with the ever-reliable Seven Brothers puz quiz — yes, we know it’s technically spelt SE7EN BRO7HERS but sometimes our brains struggle to process it.
Hosted by Joe over at the Ancoats site and Charlie over in Media City and Middlewood Locks (busy man), this thing only sets you back £1 per person for entry, it’s a max of six people per team and there’s plenty of prizes to be won.
Oh yeah, and there’s obviously all the delicious beer and food for you to fill your face with whilst you inevitably wait for your mates to turn up in time for the 8pm start. You know who you are…
Moving even further away from the city centre now, we have Rustik’s quiz night over in West Didsbury next, one that we truly think is one of the area’s hidden gems.
As you can see, while it’s never empty whenever we go along on a Wednesday night, we’re still blown away by how many people still don’t know about this absolutely wonderful little spot and its brilliant take on the pub quiz format.
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Up there with one of the best pub quizzes anywhere in Manchester, for our money, and hosted by the lovely Frankie, you can enjoy 80p chicken and vegan wings, plenty of booze and hopefully some prizes coming your way.
The finest pub quiz in all of West Didsbury starts at 8pm every week. You heard us. Great vibes, a cool venue and a very competitive crowd what more could you want on a work night?
Mary & Archie‘s pub quiz is your chance to win some serious cash in hand for just £1 per person whilst having a ruddy good time, so let no one stand in your way and manifest destiny.
This place serves up some proper tasty burgers including a home-baked falafel burger that we can wholeheartedly recommend. Trust us, it’s a top evening out and you won’t regret giving it a go.
Our penultimate stop on our Greater Manchester pub quiz crawl is The Parrs Wood‘s ‘Hot Spot Quiz Night’ is a seven-round ‘professional’ quiz but don’t let the name intimidate you, it’s hosted in a friendly style, so you can put those claws away.
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Not only does it make for a fun evening out in this local community pub but it’s all done on your phone via the SpeedQuizzing app. Fancy. We’d recommend rounding up a group of your smartest friends though, because this quiz can be pretty tough at times.
Starting at 7:30 every Tuesday night, you can have 10 people on your quiz team and there’s even a ‘Play Your Cards Right’ jackpot accumulator game to try and win as well. Prizes included money off your food and drink and, I mean, come on, who doesn’t like a certificate officially confirming that you’re smart?
Last but certainly not least is the old Chorlton Tap over in, well, Chorlton. If you didn’t guess that bit this whole quiz thing might not be for you…
Taking place every Monday from 8:30pm (we can’t think of a better way to start a week), this suburban hotspot hosts a brilliant pub quiz and, recently, they’ve even been testing out a raffle on the same night, where every order of drinks will earn you a ticket and you can win even more free booze.
The winner is chosen by the quizmaster, of course, so stay on their good side and it would be a waste to come without trying some of their utterly amazing steaks, wines and ever-changing tasting menus. That’s how you kick off a week!
And that’s all your time, folks! Pencils down, answer sheets in feel to check your phone and start talking trash to your mates in another team across the room.
We hope you had fun taking a little tour of The Manc‘s top 10 best places for a pub quiz in Greater Manchester and, fingers crossed, you go away and win something.
Even if not, at least now you have a list of places to spend a fun weeknight getting overly competitive over pointless trivia — and we’ll be right there next to you, giving you daggers…
Chester Zoo’s sellout 10k charity run returns this summer with three new routes
Emily Sergeant
Chester Zoo has announced that its popular Run For Nature is back again this summer, and this year, there’s three new routes to run.
The UK’s biggest charity zoo saw success with similar sold-out events in 2023 and 2024, and is now looking for 2,500 runners to sign up for one of the North West’s most unique athletic experiences when it returns later this year – with all funds raised from the popular event going towards efforts to protect highly-endangered giraffes in Africa.
Participants will this year take on a brand-new route winding through more of the zoo than ever before, and enjoying glimpses of elephants, lemurs, and other incredible species along the way, before heading out into the picturesque Cheshire countryside.
Chester Zoo is inviting runners of all abilities to take part this year, as there’s a new 5km run added to the usual 10km route, and even a one-mile ‘Zoom’ fun run for kids aged four-15.
With only 2,500 places up for grabs, organisers say the event is expected to sell out quickly, just like it has the past two years, as runners race to support a very special cause.
All proceeds from this year’s Run For Nature in September will go directly towards protecting Nubian giraffes in East Africa – a species which has seen drastic population declines in the wild due to habitat loss, poaching and conflict with humans.
Chester Zoo’s sellout 10k charity run is returning this summer with three new routes / Credit: Chester Zoo
Runners will receive a wooden medal at the finish line and free entry to the zoo for the remainder of the day, so they can relax and celebrate their achievement among 30,000 amazing animals.
If that didn’t all sound brilliant enough as it is, top fundraisers from the day will also be in with a chance of winning some exciting prizes too, including annual zoo memberships, animal adoptions, and even special behind-the-scenes zoo experiences.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing back Run For Nature for a third incredible year,” explained Sarah Jones, who is the Fundraising Lead at Chester Zoo.
“We’ve now doubled the distance runners spend inside the zoo, so they’ll pass by even more iconic animals, [making it] a really special experience you won’t get anywhere else.”
Run For Nature is back at Chester Zoo this Sunday 21 September, and you can find out more and sign up to take part here.
Featured Image – Chester Zoo
Things To Do
Olly Murs at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more
Thomas Melia
The ‘Troublemaker’ himself Olly Murs is ready to cause some more chaos, and this time he’s returning to Manchester with throwback boyband, Blue.
X Factor and British star Olly Murs is embarking on his latest UK arena tour, which feels more like lads on tour with a helping hand from UK boyband, Blue.
Back in the late noughties, it was hard to escape the blazer-wearing, trilby-wearing popstar as he was dropping back-to-back bangers like ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ and doo-wop inspired ‘Dance With Me Tonight’.
Now, this cheeky chappy is embarking on the ’15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025′ tour, where he’ll be belting out all those classics as well as some more recent tunes too.
Olly Murs is coming to Co-op Live in Manchester this week.Credit: Marcos Moreno via Wikimedia Commons
Are there tickets left for Olly Murs’ Co-op Live gig?
There are just a few tickets left for Olly Murs at Co-op Live, so make sure you bag yours before your ‘Heart Skips a Beat’.
To see a range of tickets and prices in all sections of this impressive new entertainment venue, Co-op Live, tickets can be found HERE.
Plus, even if you miss out on the Co-op Live, we wouldn’t worry too much, because the British popstar is also coming to AO Arena later this month near the end of his tour with tickets HERE.
Olly Murs 2025 tour – ’15 Years Of Hits’ setlist
This Essex chap might have a solid setlist which he follows night in and night out, but he’s no stranger to being a bit ‘Unpredictable’ – I mean, he’s bringing a flamethrower on stage…
After being on our screens and airwaves for almost two decades, it’s no surprise that this setlist is lengthy, totalling at just over 20 songs, give or take the 80s medley weaved into the mix.
Who doesn’t love a bit of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ paired alongside Murs’ stacked setlist?
Troublemaker
Right Place Right Time
Please Don’t Let Me Go
Thinking of Me
Oh My Goodness
Heart Skips a Beat
Kiss Me
Army of Two
Hand on Heart
Up
Die of a Broken Heart / I Found Her / Dancing on Cars / I Hate You When You’re Drunk (Marry Me Medley)
Seasons
You Don’t Know Love
I’m Your Man / Never Gonna Give You Up / Livin’ On a Prayer / Beat It / Careless Whisper / I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) / I’m So Excited (80s Medley)
Dear Darlin’
Years & Years
Never Been Better
Wrapped Up
Save Me
Dance With Me Tonight
What are the stage times for Olly Murs in Manchester?
Olly Murs sporting his usual blazer and top-hat style back in 2013.
Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm, meaning concertgoers can be ‘Wrapped Up’ in the Essex popstar’s hits without having to worry about getting home too late. It’s a school night after all!
Doors for Olly Murs’ ‘15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025’ are scheduled for 6:30pm, with a kick-off time of 7:30pm and support from 2000s UK boyband, Blue.
The BRIT Award winners, Eurovision-performing and one-time chart toppers, are back together once again and about to take us back to pop school as we re-learn the words to boyband textbook classics, including ‘All Rise’, Best in Me’, ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’ and more.
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, fortunately, it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre; they run until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there are limited parking spaces available at the venue but these must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are also designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Dolly Busby -
27th July 2023 
