A new late-night market is coming to Manchester city centre’s new waterside neighbourhood Kampus this June, bringing with it a host of indie street food traders.
The new monthly night market will see Kampus buzzing with much-loved artisan brands, packing out the garden and Little David Street for the perfect laid-back summer evening of food, drink and music.
Open from 6-10pm, it will kick off on Thursday 9 June – bringing down Portuguese custard tard purveyors Just Natas, Japanese street food traders Osaka Local, and Afro-British fusion chefs Bon St Local.
Just Natas will be in attendance at the first Kampus x Ancoats Pop-Up night market. / Image: Just Natas
Elsewhere, there will be art on display from local print artists and a selection of drinks from local distillery Witch Kings Rum.
The limited run of summer night markets will continue throughout the summer – staged on Thursday 14 July, 11 August and 15 September.
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The announcement follows the runaway success of a previous collab between Kampus and Ancoats Pop-Up, which saw a weekend day market on the last Sunday of the month already drawing thousands to Kampus, opposite Manchester’s Canal Street.
Osaka Local will be at the night market with its gorgeous okonomiyaki pancakes. / Image: The Manc Eats
Speaking on the new event series, Alice Longson, of Ancoats Pop-Up, said: “This is our first ever night market and we’re chuffed to be bringing something new to Manchester’s thriving independent scene. T
“The Kampus garden is a hidden oasis, it’ll be the perfect place to spend a really chilled evening sampling some of the city’s best street food indies and supporting artisan makers.
Image: Supplied
“Our monthly weekend markets have proved a hit at Kampus and this is a lovely, limited run for the summer to showcase our city’s best creatives on the, hopefully warm, summer nights.”
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Adam Brady, of HBD, added: “This summer feels like a real celebration at Kampus. It’s our first proper summer without social distancing restrictions and we’ve a massive programme of pop-ups, events, exhibitions and openings.
“With our residents now fully immersed in neighbourhood life, it’s brilliant to be adding more to the experience of what it’s like to live here, as well as become one of the must-visit destinations in Manchester.”
Feature image – Supplied
City Centre
Everything you need to know about St. Patrick’s Day at Mulligans, Manchester’s biggest Irish party
Danny Jones
With Manchester’s deep-rooted connections to Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day in the city centre is one of the biggest parties of the year, so it only makes sense that thousands spend it at the ultimate Irish bar: Mulligans.
And no, we’re not exaggerating; hordes of punters pass through this pub over the full Paddy’s Day weekend, which this year lands on a Monday, but you’ll still see countless people filing in and out of the place from Friday onwards.
Considered by many as Deansgate’s crowning glory, this legendary venue is a pure gold-grade bar serving the best Guinness outside of Ireland. It’s a reputation we don’t need to bang on about too much, they built it up themselves over so many years that you’ll all have heard it by now.
While Manchester has some of the best Irish pubs around beyond those you’ll find in the Emerald Isle (yes, we firmly believe that), you won’t find anywhere in town putting on quite as big a St. Patrick’s Day celebration as Mulligans. Here’s what they’ve got on offer:
Paddy’s Day at Mulligans of Deansgate
Well, the obvious place to start is with what’s behind the bar, i.e. lots of whiskeys, lager, spirits and, of course, they’ve got the best Guinness in Manchester – scratch that, the ‘best outside of Ireland.’
Mulligans averages 13,000 pints of ‘The Black Stuff’ every week and they’re expecting to pour well over 4,000 pints of the stuff from their total 24 taps on Paddy’s Day alone, each as perfect as the last.
So, what time is the party getting underway? The answer is obviously all weekend as many people may not have booked Monday, 17 March off itself but, for those who have, they’ll be opening from 11am.
However, we hope we don’t need to tell you that there’ll be queuing from the crack of dawn, so the earlier you get there the better. It’ll cost you £20 to get in, by the way, so have your card/cash ready.
For context, we got there 10:30 a couple of years back and still weren’t guaranteed to get in, we just waited patiently and prayed to St. Patrick himself.
As for what time they’ll be closing on Monday, Mulligans is staying open until 1:30am as more than 1,200 guests are expected to visit the pub throughout the course of the day.
Entertainment
One thing that Mulligans is famous besides the obvious rivers of black gold and good craic is virtually non-stop live music throughout the week and Paddy’s Day is no different.
Instead, they try and cram as much of it into 24 hours as possible.
Now featuring two floors for the first time on Ireland’s national holiday, there is set to be an incredible lineup of eight different live bands performing throughout the day, playing everything from classic Irish reels and covers to get you up and dancing, as well as plenty Manc anthems to play to the home crowd.
2025 also marks the first St. Patrick’s Day at Mulligans to make us of the recently renovated first floor, which has seen the pub more than double in size, and the capacity along with it.
The expanded space, complete with timber-beamed vaulted ceilings, a mezzanine-level performance area and two brand-new bars, sets the stage for an unforgettable day and night of high-energy live indie bands, while Irish folk tunes will fill the downstairs.
Between the beloved exposed brick walls, cosy snugs, Guinness memorabilia galore as well as room to dance a proper auld jig upstairs and down, it won’t just be Mulligans at its very best but akin to being in the heart of Dublin itself for the big day.
Plus, since it’s a bunch bigger now, you stand an extra chance of getting in – or at least less time spent in the queue with all the other die-hards.
We often get people asking why all the faff surrounding Mulligans and all we can say is if you haven’t been before, you’ll only really know once you’ve been.
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Pádraig Brady, owner of Mulligans, said: “St. Patrick’s Day is always special at Mulligans, but this year will be extra special with the new space upstairs.
“We have gone above and beyond to provide an extensive live music schedule that will guarantee an unbeatable atmosphere all weekend. And – as always – we’ll have measures in place to make sure every single pint of Guinness served is nothing short of exceptional.”
There’s no booking and no advance ticket purchase available either; everyone lines up the same and is guaranteed the same unbelievable night. Trust us, it’s worth the wait. But don’t worry if you’d rather skip the queueing and try somewhere else, there’s still plenty of good Guinness to be found in the city centre.
Popular Manchester comedy festival returns with impressive lineup of local talent and ‘cult sensations’
Emily Sergeant
A popular comedy festival is returning to our city with yet another impressive lineup of local talent and ‘cult sensations’.
That’s right… some of the UK’s best comedy names are coming to Manchester.
Following the success of events held the last two years, renowned production company, A Lovely Time, has once again put together an absolutely jam-packed lineup of television names, internet sensations, hotly-tipped newcomers, and even critically-acclaimed comedians for a weekend full of comedy shows in the heart of the city centre.
Taking place at Fairfield Social Club – which is tucked away down at the Green Quarter – the weekend-long festival, aptly called A Lovely Weekend, will kick off on Friday 6 June.
You can expect three full days of laughter at the hands of an expertly-curated lineup, who’ll mostly be staging ‘work in progress’ shows and sets.
Popular comedy festival A Lovely Weekend is returning to Manchester this summer / Credit: Kristyna Baczyna | Caro Ferretti
This year’s festival is bringing 19 new shows to the mix, including the likes of Edinburgh Comedy Award winners John Kearns and Jordan Brookes, and local talent done-good Rachel Fairburn and Josh Jones, as well rising stars Sharon Wanjohi, Ayoade Bamgboye, and Molly McGuinness.
Plus, you can also catch cult sensations like Mark Silcox and the formidable Frankie Monroe, making for a truly unmissable weekend of comedy.
“It’s such an honour to bring this amazing lineup of comedians to Manchester, which is quickly becoming the most exciting city for comedy in the UK,” commented festival organiser John Stansfield ahead of this summer’s event.
Co-organiser Chris Cantrill, who is also a comedian himself, added: “As a comedy fan I have to say I cannot wait for this year’s festival. It feels positively decadent.”
A Lovely Weekend 2025 will take over Fairfield Social Club from Friday 6 – Sunday 8 June, and tickets are on sale now – with tickets to individual shows, and specific day and weekend-long passes all available to get your hands on.
Georgina Pellant -
20th May 2022 
