Today is National Chocolate Day and if there’s one thing we can unite and all get behind, it’s a love of chocolate, right?
We really hope you said yes to that.
National Chocolate Day couldn’t be a more perfect excuse to properly treat yourself, so if you’re looking to mark this indulgent day in style this year, then there’s plenty of ways to get involved here in Manchester, or right from the comfort of your own home.
Here’s a few of the best products, workshops, courses and hampers that we’ve found online.
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Chocolate Making Workshop
Manchester
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Fancy feeling like a master chocolatier with this incredible chocolate workshop for two?
Right from a central Manchester location, you can be tutored by professionals in the delicate art of piping, cutting, dipping and decorating chocolate. The day will start with a fascinating history lesson, before you taste a wonderful selection of hand-crafted chocolates and then have a go at creating your own personalised giant chocolate button and scrumptious fresh-cream truffles that you can take home as a fabulous memento of the day.
There’s currently a special offer running on this workshop, meaning it’s available to book for just £70 (for two people) on BuyAGift.co.uk, and if you’re looking for something extra special, you can upgrade to a ‘Luxury Workshop’ for a further £20 too, so it’s definitely worth taking advantage of whilst you can.
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Any bookings will be valid for 10 months.
You can find out more and book on to the Chocolate Making Workshop – Manchesterhere.
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Online Chocolate Making Course
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If you were intrigued by the above workshop, but would much prefer to become a master chocolatier from the comfort of your own home, then this engaging course will teach you how to make your own delicious chocolates online instead.
You will get to delve into the fascinating history of this indulgent sweet treat, as well as learn to make and decorate your own chocolate truffles. This online experience will also teach you the art of tempering chocolate, the secrets to perfecting and layering caramel, how to mould chocolate, make elegant chocolate bars and more.
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If you want top tips and advice for making chocolate to a professional standard in your own kitchen, then this is the course for you.
This virtual one-to-one course is now available to book via BuyAGift.co.uk for £25.
You can find out more and book on to the Online Chocolate Making Coursehere.
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Make Your Own Chocolate Pizza
PrezzyBox
Sure, the smooth, creamy loveliness of chocolate isn’t really the first thing that comes to mind when you think about pizza.
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But who says that combining two great foods doesn’t create perfection?
This Make Your Own Chocolate Pizza kit comes with everything you need to create your very own chocolatey masterpiece. All you’ll need to do is melt the delicious chocolate buttons and pour the molten goodness into the base mould, then sprinkle it with some creamy white chocolate ‘cheese’, add chocolate beans, jelly beans or anything else you might have onto your pizza base to create a heavenly treat made to order.
It’s retailing at £12.99 + delivery on PrezzyBox and you can get your hands on it here.
Prefer to treat yourself to a slice without all the hassle of making it yourself first? Don’t worry, there’s also a pre-made 10″ Chocolate Pizza on PrezzyBox too that looks just as indulgent.
PrezzyBox
This Chocolate Pizza is perfect for anyone who’s partial to a few chocolates every now again, or for someone who’s a full blown chocoholic. The ‘pizza’ base is made from the finest Belgium chocolate, topped with all sorts of delicious treats from vanilla fudge and white chocolate curls, to jelly beans, raspberry pieces and chocolate orange slices.
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Basically, you can’t really go wrong with it.
It’s retailing at just £15.99+ delivery and you can get your hands on it from PrezzyBox here.
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Chocolate Letterbox Hamper
Prezzybox
There’s only one thing better than a chocolate bar – a hamper that’s ‘chocked’ full of it, and if there’s only one thing better than a hamper full of chocolate, it’s a hamper full of chocolate that can be delivered right to your front door.
The ultimate indulgence.
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This Chocolate Lover Letterbox Hamper features a selection of artisan chocolate treats that are perfect for any sweet-tooth, including x1 Willie’s Cacao Milk Of The Gods Rio Caribe Chocolate Bar, x2 Monty Bo Jangles Nutty Truffles, x1 Brodericks Nutty Crunchie Caramel Munchie, x1 Gnaw Fudge Crunch Chocolate Bar, x1 Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Co. Chocolate Coffee, x1 Great British Biscotti Chunky Belgian Choc and x1 Hiederegger Marzipan Stick ‘N’ Go.
It’s retailing at £17.99+ delivery and you can get your hands on it from PrezzyBox here.
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Personalised Cadbury Hamper
Prezzybox
There really isn’t a more appropriate way to mark National Chocolate Day than with a hamper full of Cadbury’s chocolate, right?
Even better – a personalised Cadbury Chocolate Hamper.
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The hamper contains x5 Dairy Milk bars, x1 Wispa bar, x1 Twirl, x1 Crunchie, x1 Dairy Milk Caramel bar, x1 Double Decker bar, x1 carton of Cadbury Heroes, x1 box of Milk Tray, x1 pack of Oreo biscuits, x1 pack of Golden Oreo biscuits and x1 Toblerone.
Praise the chocolate Gods.
It’ll set you back £29.99+ delivery and you can get your hands this Personalised Cadbury Hamper from PrezzyBox here.
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One of the biggest and best new beer gardens in Manchester drops just in time for the World Cup
Danny Jones
You heard us right: what could very well be Manchester’s favourite new beer garden has just landed over in St John’s, and all can envision is non-stop sun, suds and sporting action all summer long.
This, my friends, is ‘The Green’.
Capturing a kind of mix between the simple combo of wide open space, booze and hopefully sun on the Stevenson Square we all know and love, with a bit of the Boxpark fanfare that will make it perfect come World Cup, we’re big fans of what they’ve put together here.
It’s also worth noting that this place is significantly bigger than you’ll find in most corners of central Manchester, complete with plenty of room to perch, from the rows of deckchairs to even tiered step seating that runs along the edge.
There’s new artificial turf laid down, complete with fresh wooden borders, lamp lighting, big benches perfect for squeezing plenty of mates on each side, as well as a decent number of small parasols. There are even QR codes to save time ordering at the bar.
Speaking of, the bar is already full up and running with a very solid lineup of summery drinks, for beers and fruity ciders to Aperol and plenty more. You are paying the expected St John’s prices, but when the rays hit just right, the footy’s on and you’re with your mates, you won’t hear us complaining.
Not just batch stuff being proud from the tap either – they’ve got cocktails, creative twists on frozen margs and lots of other stuff still in the pipeline.
But understandably, the instant start of the show is that large screen, which has already got us dreaming of the World Cup and tournament season year in year out, for that matter. And when we say large, we really mean it…
Just picture the scenes…
The lawn itself is plenty long, and the massive monitor is high up enough on the old studio wall that not a single soul will be missing a second of that action.
Be it the footy, Wimbledon, F1, rugby – whatever the discipline happens to be, we can’t wait to find any excuse to watch it all here (weather permitting). Only a short distance from Deansgate, Spinningfields, Castlefield and more, we feel like this spot is about to blow up.
You’ll also be glad to know that while you can’t take food and drink from other venues around the beer garden itself, they’ve got a food lineup all of their own coming very soon, centring around Manchester locals and regional indies. That’s what we like to hear.
It’s just what that Grape Street area needed, and regardless of whatever potential seasonal shifts it might need to make, we hope it stays here for a very long time. Good vibes all-round.
Stage and Radio issue defiant statement in response to concerning development plans
Danny Jones
Manchester centre bar, music venue, and nightlife institution, Stage and Radio, has shared an impassioned and defiant statement in the face of proposed plans to be built next to the venue.
And when we say next to, we mean next door – and by that we mean practically on their doorstep, not to mention that of other local businesses.
Situated within one of the city’s most important creative and cultural hubs, in the form of the Northern Quarter, the gig space, club and popular meeting place finds itself under serious threat.
Speaking in the accompanying caption, they said: “Comment below and we’ll DM you a link to take action (It’s also in our bio!).”
They go on to say, “We’re urgently asking for the public to support Stage & Radio by voicing concerns by 10th June 2026 about a future development going up within a few meters of the venue.”
Unsurprisingly, the post has been met with an outpouring of not only shared rage, frustration and confusion, but more importantly, they’ve received a huge amount of support in the comments, too.
Fellow Manc favourite nighttime venue, Hidden, added, “Sit tight @stageandradiomcr you’re not going anywhere; meanwhile, several people across multiple sites have simply written, ‘Stage and Radio 4 Life.”
New developments and residential ventures continue to pop up all over the city and surrounding regions, as they always will, and Manchester City Council has stressed that this latest development – an eight-storey residential block by This City – will not be under threat.
Leader of the Council Bev Craig said: “Music and arts venues like Stage and Radio are the soul of our Northern Quarter. Music is woven into the very fabric of Manchester, it’s part of what makes our city so great. It is not under threat on my watch.
“Across the country we are seeing too many venues close down, in Manchester we want to protect and nurture them. That’s why we have worked in partnership with the Music Venues Trust in recent months to provide almost £250,000 in grant funding to support small venues and operators in an increasingly difficult economic climate.
“This is a vital lifeline for many smaller grassroots businesses, and we know that without them there won’t be the next big star.
“Cities are always changing, especially when new affordable homes are being built, but let me be unequivocal – Stage and Radio is not under threat. They were here first, and our Agent of Change principle defends that.
“Any new development nearby will have the top level of sound proofing and the onus is on the council as the builder not the music venue. We are also working with the venue to consider what investment our This City housing company can make to the venue building to limit sound escaping.
“I’ve offered to meet with the venue operators personally to give my commitment that venues like theirs help create the artists of the future and make our music scene what it is today.”
As for Stage and Radio, we’ve had the pleasure of spending a fair few late nights there (not to mention well into the early hours of the next morning) over the years.
Releasing a direct statement to The Manc and Audio North, they told us: “We are deeply concerned about whether residential flats positioned directly beside an established grassroots music venue can realistically provide appropriate residential amenity and conditions suitable for long-term human habitation, while also protecting an existing venue from future conflict.”
S&R also noted these circumstances are not entirely unlike those that have jeopardised the future of fellow NQ neighbours and live music venue, Night and Day Cafe, in recent times.
The countdown is now ticking away for Stage and Radio – quite literally, as you can see by the banner now showing on the homepage of their website.
If you want to help save not just this venue but the culture, community and artistic scene it stands for, you can sign the protest petition and get involved in the fight right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
7th July 2020 
