A huge new festival-style temporary outdoor venue that’s three times the size of Albert Square is preparing to open in Manchester city centre.
In an attempt to provide an outdoor summer destination for those looking for a safe and fun night out as lockdown eases even further over the next couple of months, local theatre and arts centre HOME Manchester is launching its latest venture, Homeground, on a disused patch of land close to the First Street venue itself on Friday 28th May.
Building on a ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ theme, Homeground is set to boast theatre shows on two stages, alongside pop-up street food vendors, comedy clubs, DJ sets and more.
Partnering with other cultural institutions such as Frog & Bucket, Contact Theatre, and Trans Creative to bring a programme of events to the city centre, the first two Homeground shows to be announced are Filter’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – which was first seen at Latitude Festival – and a brand-new production of Alice in Wonderland, which has been created by Stockroom Productions especially for Manchester.
We're super excited to be able to finally announce our brand new outdoor venue for culture, cocktail and food! Introducing Homeground. Located on First Street and featuring a 400-seat socially distanced theatre. Opening Friday 28 May! Find out more here: https://t.co/XUlS8qvvfepic.twitter.com/9JUeauJUHq
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – a remixed and reworked version of Shakespeare’s tale of young lovers and warring fairies – will run from 3rd June – 26th June.
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The brand-new production of Alice In Wonderland – running from 15th July – 7th August – features classic anthems and catchy new songs, and will follow Alice and her little brother Lewis as they tumble into an alternative world full of magic and mayhem as Manchester turns to Madchester.
Tickets for both shows will be just £10 for adults.
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A second stage, to be known as ‘The Manchester Stage’, will feature DJ slots that have been curated by DJ Paulette, as well as a Manchester Folk Festival takeover and several other free events.
Street food venders will include cocktails by Wolf at the Door, Tibetan Kitchen, Black Market Espresso, and Basilico pizza.
Speaking ahead of the launch of Homeground, Dave Moutrey – Director and CEO at HOME Manchester – said: “As we start to emerge from the strangest year many of us have ever experienced, arts and culture play a vital role in the recovery of the country [so] I’m delighted to announce Homeground.
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“[It will be] a safe and enjoyable space for the people of Manchester to have fun, reconnect and celebrate the city’s artistic talent in all its forms”.
HOME Manchester & Homeground / Drew Forsyth
The site has been designed by Cordelia Ashwell, of Decordia Events, who added: “The idea behind the overall site design grew from a collaboration with HOME’s Curator, Bren O’Callaghan.
“From the outset, we felt that rather than try to disguise the brownfield nature of the site, we would lean into the detritus that accumulates in pockets of the urban fabric [so] influenced by scrapyards, the neon graveyard of Las Vegas and remnants of stories that attach themselves to architectural salvage, we settled upon a method of display popularised by the Victorians and in municipal museums – the Wunderkammer, or Cabinet of Curiosities.
“In this way, seemingly random and otherwise ordinary objects become extra-ordinary.
“Bren and I have been hunting down key iconic artefacts, some of which we think the public will recognise, and others may come as a bit of a surprise”.
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More shows and events will be announced over the coming months.
You can find more information ahead of the venue’s launch on Friday 28th May via the HOME Manchester website here, and by following @homegroundmcr on Instagram.
Here’s our petition for ‘Wonderwall’ to become England’s new football anthem
Danny Jones
All things considered, England have made a great start to the 2026 World Cup, pitching themselves as one of the great entertainers this tournament, and the scenes of the supporters and players alike serenading an entire stadium with ‘Wonderwall’ after the full-time whistle gave us chills.
So why not time for a change?
After all, that feels a lot like what this World Cup squad is about: a new manager, new teammates, not clinging to the previous ways of playing – and perhaps it’s time to put ‘Sweet Caroline’ to one side.
Now, we’re by no means saying that we’re ‘done’ with the John Denver anthem that has been reborn as a Three Lions anthem, but look at how good it was watching England belting out Oasis with the fans.
“Today is gonna be the day that England beat Croatia 4-2”, as BBC’s Match of the Day cleverly quipped.
Obviously, we’re biased as Mancs, but we also think there’s something special about having that particular track feel so good to hear again.
As much as we love Oasis, for a long time, it felt like we couldn’t enjoy arguably their biggest-ever single anywhere near as much as we once did.
We assume it’s something akin to hearing ‘Mr Brightside’ non-stop for what felt like millennia, and in truth, hearing those repetitions of “ba, ba, ba… SO GOOD, SO GOOD!” over and over again at sporting fixtures beyond just national team games has taken the magic out of it at times.
Perhaps it’s just a case of saturation in certain settings and songs simply being overplayed – FIFA’s co-hosts over in the US certainly helped see to that when it came to ‘Wonderwall’ for a long time.
On the other hand, it feels like we’ve now come full circle; singing those famous lyrics at the top of our lungs in a sea of Mancs and fans travelling from all over to Heaton Park for Live ’25 last year felt better than ever, and like we’d all remembered how great a tune it’s always been. So did this…
In fact, this felt so emotional that you’ve got people who aren’t even English praising both those on the pitch and up in the stands for the moment online.
Even the admittedly rather American Man vs Food himself, Adam Richman (though he does have British ancestry), felt compelled to write a moving response on social media: “Shut up. You’re the one that’s crying. Bravo, England.”
He’s far from the only one who was left bowled over by the atmosphere – us included.
And in case you’re wondering just how strongly we feel about this one, you can sign a literal petition we’ve made for ‘Wonderwall’ to become the new England World Cup anthem for 2026 right HERE.
Featured Images — Oasis/ITV Sport (screenshots via YouTube)
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Two Greater Manchester towns among 16 UK locations set to get new Aldi stores this year
Emily Sergeant
Aldi is set to open 16 new stores over the coming months as part of its continued expansion across the UK, it has been confirmed.
For thousands of residents in two Greater Manchester towns, they could be about to get themselves a new local supermarket, as Aldi – which currently has 1,080 stores nationwide – has revealed the locations where its new stores will be opening up before the end of the year, and our region is well represented.
Aldi says it has a long-term ambition to operate 1,500 stores across the UK, helping more communities access its award-winning quality products at ‘unbeatable’ prices.
And these 16 new stores are set to work towards that ambition.
Watford and Hoxton in London, Balsall Common and Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, Malton in North Yorkshire, and even the Isle of Wight are just some of the locations across the country where new Aldi stores will be opening up, alongside the two Greater Manchester stores.
Two Greater Manchester towns are set to get new Aldi stores this year / Credit: Aldi UK
Here in Greater Manchester, it’s been confirmed that Hattersley and Wigan are the two areas chosen by Aldi for new stores.
The announcement of the 16 new store locations follows the opening of Aldi’s new Salford Quays store last month, and also forms part of the budget retailer’s planned £370 million investment into new stores during 2026.
It also comes after Aldi increased pay rates for store colleagues earlier this year following a £42 million investment in pay during 2026.
Full list of new Aldi stores opening in 2026
Hattersley, Greater Manchester
Newport, Isle of Wight
Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham
Newport, South Wales
Orpington, London
Hoxton, London
Ashford, Kent
Watford, London
Rayleigh, Essex
Balsall Common, West Midlands
Marble Arch, London
Malton, North Yorkshire
Port Talbot, Wales
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
Wigan, Greater Manchester
Sudbury, Suffolk
“At Aldi, we’re committed to making high-quality, affordable food accessible to everyone, which is why we continue to invest in expanding our store network across the UK,” commented Jonathan Neale, who is the Managing Director of National Real Estate at Aldi UK.
“Our £370 million investment in new stores this year will help us bring Aldi’s unbeatable value to even more communities, supporting local economies through our industry-leading pay for colleagues.”
Emily Sergeant -
8th April 2021 
