An American tourist’s chaotic trip to Manchester has gone viral after he documented the whole thing in a TikTok vlog.
Adeib El Masri, a successful LA-based photographer and TikToker with more than a million followers, said that our city was like ‘a different world’.
He has previously been documenting his experiences of visiting London, including several vlogs about the British weather.
Over the course of two days spent up north, Adeib appeared baffled by the concepts of queueing, fairgrounds, and people being nice to each other.
His pair of heart-warming videos have amassed more than half-a-million views at the time of writing.
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At St Peter’s SquareAt the Trafford CentreInside Dog BowlAmerican photographer Adeib El Masri documented his trip to Manchester in a two-part vlog. Credit: TikTok, @adeibb
In the first instalment, Adeib films himself at Manchester Piccadilly, saying: “I’m in Manchester. It looks kind of the same except all the buses are free apparently.”
From his taxi, he adds: “Everyone is so much nicer here, I can already tell.”
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He then takes a trip to ‘Trafford Mall’, where his visit to the cruise ship-inspired food court The Orient prompts him to say: “This mall has the most Vegas vibes ever. Like ever.”
On his second TikTok vlog, he praises Manchester for being ‘so pretty’ while walking through Chinatown, and says we have our ‘own Big Ben’ in the Kimpton Clocktower.
Adeib and his friends tried to go for afternoon tea at an undisclosed location, but were turned away for not booking 24 hours in advance (‘very pretentious’, he says) and end up visiting a local Costa instead.
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He then documents his trip to a fairground, where everything about the experience seems to delight and confuse him.
He says: “So guess who’s at a carnival! So it’s not a carnival, it’s a parking lot.
“There’s a child running the stands. I’m very confused.
“Moral of the story, check where the funfair is, it could be a parking lot that isn’t a real funfair.”
Fairground disappointment aside, he does concede: “You know what, Manny is a 10 out of 10, d’you know what I mean.”
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He later says, on a visit to Dog Bowl: “To save the day I decided to go bowling. Bowling is not available. It’s fine,” before heading to Nando’s.
Once safely back in London, he updated his followers with this: “Manchester was like a different world. Everyone is much nicer, like genuinely out-of-their-way nice, which is bizarre.
“Literally nothing went right in Manchester. I was there for like a day and a half, I almost got deported. Let’s just not get into it.
“Will I be returning? Probably not.”
Featured image: TikTok, @adeibb
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A local Manc content creator is looking to set a world record by running around Old Trafford
Danny Jones
A local content creator, who specialises in running/hiking content (and sandwiches), is looking to raise money and potentially set a world record by jogging around Old Trafford.
Oh, and by jogging, we mean running – for a really, REALLY long time…
If you’ve never come across his channel before, let us introduce you to local influencer and videographer Sam Matthew, a.k.a. ‘Peaks and Pubs‘.
Boasting plenty of fans on both Instagram and TikTok within the world of trail running, the outdoors community and beyond, he’s set to toastreaching a very specific achievement by “turning a milestone into a mission” and doing laps around Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club.
As explained in the video, he’s now surpassed 74,310 followers, i.e. the same capacity of supporters you can fit inside the Theatre of Dreams itself.
We know, it’s distance running and feats of endurance aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they are a great way of raising money and awareness, not to mention possibly getting yourself in the official Guinness Book of World Records.
Explaining the challenge in the caption of the video, Sam writes: “There’s now enough of you lot following this daft account of mine on here to fill a stadium I’ve adored since I was a little boy. And that genuinely means so much to me.
“So why not celebrate the occasion by punishing my legs and raising money for good causes along the way? Donations are, of course, the aim, but I understand that not everybody is in the position to do that, so any engagement on this post is hugely appreciated.
“I mean it from the bottom of my heart that you lot genuinely make this all happen for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful that I get to do silly stuff like this on a random Wednesday [29 October]. Giving off pure ‘your unemployed friend on a Wednesday’ vibes, but I love it!”
Raising money for the club’s in-house Manchester United Foundation, which has already shown its support for the upcoming ultra-marathon distance event, they are also looking to generate crucial funds with the return of another annual charity event too.
The Foundation does some incredible work all year-round, if you’d rather swap running around Old Trafford for sleeping.
Once again, Sam will be kicking off the serious step-count from approximately 9am this Wednesday (28 Oct), he’s estimating it’ll take him around a whopping nine and a half hours, “with plenty of breaks for food and fluids”, thank god.
As the man behind most of the Bada Bing videos, we expect plenty of butties to fuel the running.
Furthermore, although he’s set to take on the distance solo for the morning, he’s invited as many people who fancy getting involved to come and join him for a lap or two from 12 noon onwards; hopefully, he’ll see the Guinness people popping along to see if he registers a world record while he’s at it, too.
We hope there are a few pints at the pub waiting for you at the end, as always, Sam.
Featured Images — Peaks and Pubs (supplied)/The Manc Group
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A live Shaun the Sheep stage show and circus is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
Brace yourselves, because one of the best fun-for-all-ages events is coming to Manchester: the official Shaun the Sheep stage and circus show is coming to Factory International.
This isn’t just one to keep the children entertained; we already know plenty of big kids who grew up on Shaun, Shirley, and the rest of the sheep are already thinking about grabbing tickets.
Created by Nick Park, the same man responsible for Wallace and Gromit, this live stage production and incredibly practical circus show of the beloved British cartoon is already critically acclaimed.
Now set to make its full European debut right here in our city, Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show teams up with leading performance company Circa to bring the TV show to life this winter.
‘It’s gonna be un-BAAA-leivable’.
Conceived not only by the award-winning minds at Aardman Animation, but the experienced performers at Circa, this ‘in the flesh’ (and wool) interpretation of the slapstick CBBC classic will not only delight younger audiences, but bring plenty of energy to keep the adults entertained too.
Promising a “live circus performance, simultaneously blurring the lines between movement, dance, theatre and circus for a visual spectacle packed with wit”, you can expect acrobatics and circus skills.
Stunts will include the likes of tumbling, juggling, aerial hoop, aerial silks, trapeze, Spanish web and Chinese pole, just to name a few.
And, of course, there’ll be plenty of Aardman’s signature heartwarming comedy in W&G, Chicken Run, Arthur Christmas, Flushed Away and more.
Naturally, all the usual suspects will be on show to: Shaun, Bitzer, The Farmer and the rest of the Flock – and yes, in case the trailer didn’t give it away, they are people who are not just dressed up as adorable real-life lambs but bouncing, flipping and flying all over the stage.
Coming to Aviva Studios this festive period, it’ll be taking place in The Hall: one of the venue’s largest and most dynamic rooms, with the state-of-the-art building famously able to alter the size of individual stages and spaces depending on the event.
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Factory International, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Circa and Aardman to present the European premiere of this fun-filled show at our home in Aviva Studios.
“Circa presents award-winning circus performances to audiences across the globe, and their collaboration with Aardman Studios creates a unique offering for families, circus fans and everyone who loves Shaun the Sheep“
Running from Tuesday, 11 December 2025 until Sunday, 4 January 2026, they’ve also ensured affordable admission from just £10; you can grab your tickets now.
Daisy Jackson -
23rd September 2022 
