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A ‘magical’ chocolate factory experience is opening at the Trafford Centre

The Chocolate Factory lets you take a trip through different worlds "filled with new discoveries".

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 3rd March 2022

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An immersive chocolate factory experience is opening at the Trafford Centre today, and it’s ready to make all your “sweetest dreams come true”.

After enjoying success in Madrid, Barcelona, and London, The Chocolate Factory has now made its way over to us in Manchester, and it’s described as being a “theatrical candy-themed experience” where you’ll get to explore a variety of colourful rooms, take some magical selfies, and most-importantly, satisfy your sugar cravings and eat some delicious sweets.

Set on the ground floor of the iconic shopping centre, The Chocolate Factory lets you take a trip through different worlds, with every room “filled with new discoveries”.

According to the description for the event – which is organised by events company, Fever – during your stay in this “unique wonderland”, you’ll visit a variety of rooms with all kinds of Instagrammable themes.

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Some of the rooms include the Chocolate Town, the Cupcake Room, the Ball Pit, and Cloudland.

The Chocolate Factory is described as being a “theatrical candy-themed experience” / Credit: The Chocolate Factory

Each room is full of selfie opportunities and countless enchanting backdrops.

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Finally, you’ll arrive inside the show-stopping Chocolate Factory itself, where you can tuck into all the tasty treats you’ve been admiring throughout the tour.

Think chocolates, lollipops, gummy bears, and so much more.

The Chocolate Factory experience is a fully-accessible event, is ideal for people of all ages, and will be open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday throughout March and April.

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During your stay in this “unique wonderland”, you’ll visit a variety of rooms with all kinds of themes / Credit: The Chocolate Factory

While children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult, there’s free entry for children under two, and tickets are now available for both children and adults starting at £13.50, as well as a number of family and group bundle offers.

You can find more information, and book tickets here.

Featured Image – The Chocolate Factory

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Festive pop-up cafe filled with hundreds of dogs in Christmas jumpers is coming to Manchester

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Are you a dog person? Love seeing lots of little pups in the same place? Looking for your dog to make some four-legged friends?

Well you’re in luck, as the Pup Up Cafe is heading back out on a tour of the UK next month, and if the concept of the popular event wasn’t already flipping cute enough as it is, this time around, it’s a Christmas-themed edition, and it’s sounding set to be the perfect festive day out in the city with your fur baby.

If you’re looking to get in the Christmas spirit early, then both the ‘Jingle Paws’ all-breeds and dedicated ‘Dashing Dachshund’ pop up cafes – or we should say ‘pup up cafe’ – are returning to Manchester in late November.

The adorable events will be filling a popular city centre venue with loads of dogs to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

A festive pop-up cafe filled with hundreds of dogs in Christmas jumpers is coming to Manchester / Credit: Supplied

Last year, hundreds of different dogs visited the cafe to join in on the festive fun, and this year is expected to be no different, as the event organisers have secured a large city centre space for all the dogs to roam free.

Whether you’re a dog owner yourself, or just a big fan, everyone’s free to attend to mingle with many furry little friends, take part in a range of seasonal activities, and stock up on canine-related goodies as early Christmas presents.

There’ll be ball pits, toys, and tunnels for all the zoomies, while the pups themselves can enjoy unlimited dog treats and free puppuccinos.

With up to 50 dogs allowed per session, and festive fancy dress very much encouraged, each pup will get a Christmas present on arrival at the party, and will even have the chance to win some extra prizes if they’re the best dressed.

A dedicated photographer will be getting snaps of each session and there’ll be loads of Christmas props to use in the pictures.

So, if you fancy joining The Pup Up Cafe when it arrives in Manchester for Christmas on Sunday 23 November, then tickets will set you back £12 if you’re a dog owner, and £15 if you’re just a dog person who’s keen to go along for the fun anyway.

Read more:

The party is happening from 10am-1:30pm, with different morning and afternoon sessions happening all throughout the day.

Grab tickets here.

Featured Image – Supplied

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A local Manc content creator is looking to set a world record by running around Old Trafford

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man United fan runs laps around Old Trafford for charity in world record attempt

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 toast reaching 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.

Manchester United’s Stadium Sleep Out returns for 2025
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.

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Featured Images — Peaks and Pubs (supplied)/The Manc Group

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