Trending

Manchester’s Christmas lights will be switched on by NHS key workers tomorrow

The annual Christmas Light Switch-on event starts the festive season with a bang.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 1st December 2020
Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council has confirmed that the Christmas lights in the city centre are to finally be switched on by NHS keyworkers tomorrow.

As England’s second national lockdown comes to an end this week and the country returns to the regional tiered system, Manchester is still set to welcome the festive season with a little help from NHS and social care heroes across the region.

The annual Christmas Light Switch-on event is usually one of the biggest parties of the year, attracting thousands of people into the city to start the season with a bang.

But of course, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has meant the usual celebrations had to be cancelled this year, so three NHS heroes will have the honour of pushing the button on this year’s lights instead.

They will also be joined by some of Manchester’s frontline health and social care workers.

ADVERTISEMENT

The small and socially-distanced event will take place at Manchester Cathedral on Wednesday 2nd December at 6.45pm, and will be live on BBC Radio Manchester, BBC North West Tonight and live streamed on social media for people to enjoy safely from home.

Interviews with the NHS staff chosen to switch on this year’s lights will also appear on BBC Breakfast and on social media.

ADVERTISEMENT
Geograph / David Dixon
Manchester City Council

Manchester’s 12-metre high, selfie-loving Santa – which returned for the second year to St Peter’s Square this week – will be joined once again by a trail of large-scale light sculptures across the city in Piccadilly Gardens, St Peter’s Square, and New Cathedral Street.

There will also be the traditional crib in St Ann’s Square, and a Christmas tree by the Cathedral.

Speaking on this year’s special, socially-distanced switch-on, Cllr Pat Karney – Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council – said: “Christmas will finally arrive in Manchester this week after a slightly longer wait than usual.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Although the festive season will feel a bit different this year, we still can’t wait to push the button on our Christmas lights with the help of our NHS and social care heroes.

“The Christmas Lights switch-on has always marked the start of Christmas in Manchester and this year will be more important than ever. Christmas is a really important time for the city’s businesses and we will be doing everything we can to ensure people can visit the city centre safely and give businesses the support they need.”

You can find more information via the Manchester City Council website here.

Trending

Didsbury favourite Rustik has confirmed its will sadly be closing this month

Danny Jones Danny Jones Rustik West Didsbury closing for good end of the month

West Didsbury favourite Rustik has sadly announced it will be closing for food after a decade at the end of this month.

The beloved Burton cafe and bar has been a staple of the tight-knit foodie neighbourhood since 2015, but now the independent Irish eatery has confirmed that the business will be shutting down permanently in less than a fortnight.

Confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, 17 September, the casual Manc restaurant and hangout informed their loyal followers of the unfortunate news.

Unsurprisingly, their social media has been awash with condolences, collective sadness and support for the local institution.

Posting across all of their accounts, Rustik wrote: “After an unforgettable 10 years on Burton Road, the time has come to close our doors. It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come — never in a million years did we imagine Rustik would grow into what it became.

“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to every single one of you who walked through our doors and supported us along the way. We poured everything we had — our time, our energy, our lives into making Rustik a space for everyone. And what a ride it’s been.

“From the chaotic, beautiful brunch shifts to late nights dancing on tables to ‘Wagon Wheel’, pushing through the challenges of COVID and helping our community with meals during hard times— we’ve done it all, together.

“To our amazing staff, past and present: thank you for your hard work, your dedication, and the love you brought every single day. You helped build something truly special, and we’ll never be able to thank you enough.

“To the incredible musicians who filled our space with life — keep doing what you do. The noise complaints? 100% worth the unforgettable nights.”

On a personal note, we’d like to thank them for their cult classic pub quizzes, which were some of the best in Manchester and regularly packed out every week. If you know, you know.

@the.manc Pub quiz and 80p wings – what a sick night!👏🏻😎 #themanc #rustik #didsbury #greatermanchester #westdidsbury #pubquiz ♬ Sunrise – Official Sound Studio

The team go on to detail that the official closing date is Tuesday, 30 September, reiterating that it is “business running as usual until then” and urging fans to “come down, grab your last Rustik fix, and raise a glass with us one final time.”

Signing off with an emotional farewell, they add: “Lastly, a message close to our hearts: please support your local cafes, bars, and independents. Hospitality is tough right now, and they need your support more than ever.

“Thank you for the most incredible decade of our lives. It’s over and out from us.”

It goes without saying that we’re gutted to see Rustik go and know how much it meant not only to the Burton Road community, but also to the Didsbury community, Chorlton and many other Greater Manchester natives.

Award-winning chippy in Prestwich announces heartbreaking restaurant closure
Saying goodbye to these places isn’t getting any easier.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group/Rustik West Didsbury (via Facebook)

Trending

Villanelle debut: Liam Gallagher’s son’s band release their first track – here’s our review

Danny Jones Danny Jones Villanelle debut song 'Hinge' first single track review

Liam Gallagher’s son, Gene, and his band Villanelle, have officially released their debut single to the masses, and since we’re still very much immersing ourselves in everything even remotely to do with Oasis, we thought we’d give this first track a review.

Now, if you’re expecting a familiar Britpop vibe like his dad and uncle used to bash out back in the day, you’d be very wrong…

It’s one thing to settle into something similar to what you’ve grown up around and try to continue a lineage if you’re from a successful family – especially with a legacy as important and influential as the one left by Liam and Noel – but we’re glad to report they’ve done something pretty different.

24-year-old Gene Gallagher and his bandmates Ben Taylor (guitar), Jack Schiavo (bass), and Andrew Richmond (drums) haven’t just tried to do an impression of Oasis; instead, they’ve found their own sound, and while it does give somewhat of an old-school flavour, it’s not what we expected.

It takes literally milliseconds for you to click into realising the vibe they’re going for.

‘Hinge’ is a simplistic but hard-hitting, grungey and dark debut from Villanelle, who, despite having played a number of in-progress songs live over the last year or so, have only just dropped their first studio single.

In fact, they’ve actually taken the admittedly bizarre and unorthodox first steps of having already played live with Liam Gallagher on the Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour before they actually released anything people can easily listen to outside of their live performances.

Nevertheless, the young four-piece introduces Villanelle as the latest post-punk outfit amidst the ongoing revival of the classic rock genre.

That is to say that punk is a tried and true classic style of music, not that these lads are trying to sound like The Rolling Stones…

Anyway, we’re getting sidetracked: Villanelle draw plenty of influences from both original and contemporary examples of this sonic subculture, and while it isn’t explosive per se, ‘Hinge’ is short, direct and hits the same formulaic notes.

It’s also fair to say you can hear a bit of the recognisable LG whine in Gene’s vocals at times, too. Listen to it in full down below and see if you agree.

Even the basic found-footage style video fits into the same category.

To call it straightforward isn’t intended as any kind of a diss, by the way – some of our favourite tunes and best artists spearheading the renaissance of the punk scene write like this.

What we will say is that it looks like bloody good fun to both play and listen to in a small, sweaty room, with plenty of pits and people bouncing off the walls.

Gallagher Sr. might be surprised to see his son going for a slightly heavier, more hardcore route with his sound, but he can’t accuse him of forgetting his roots as the child of a ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.’

The boys are actually hitting the road this winter, including a date at The Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter, if you fancy grabbing a ticket.

You can grab your tickets to see Villanelle on tour HERE, and in the meantime, let us know what you think of their debut track down in the comments.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)

More Trending

Business

Manchester United announce record revenue despite on-pitch struggles

Johnny Marr features on collabs for new Gorillaz album The Mountain

Art & Culture

Johnny Marr teases his work on upcoming Gorillaz album

FIFA confirm new international breaks schedule explained

News

FIFA confirm new changes to international breaks – and many fans are divided

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches