What's On

An immersive drive-in Christmas experience is coming to Manchester’s EventCity

ChristmasCity is coming to Trafford Park this winter - with Christmas movies, festive entertainment and Father Christmas himself...

The Manc The Manc - 11th November 2020

An immersive Christmas experience is coming to Manchester’s EventCity this winter – as ParkNParty hosts a glorious festive helping of drive-in entertainment.

Christmas movies, live performers and Father Christmas himself will all be at Trafford Park from Friday 4 December – with people invited to drive through Santa’s workshop, watch the elves at work, and enter the ‘snow valley’ before settling in for a movie.

ChristmasCity – from the same company behind the wildly successful drive-in event ScareCity – will run right through until New Year’s Eve, delivering a huge selection of outdoor screenings to guests in their own cars.

Each ticket provides visitors with the chance to journey through a trail filled with surprises, live actors and festive characters – with special events designed for both adults and younger audiences.

ADVERTISEMENT

ChristmasCity has two types of events to choose from – ‘Nice’ or ‘Naughty’.

‘Nice’ events have been created for all the family to enjoy. Films screened will include Home Alone, The Polar Express, Elf, and The Grinch, whilst kids will have a chance to post a letter to Santa in the mailroom and explore the North Pole from the safety of the car.

Santa’s elves will be on hand performing acrobatics and tricks – with a special message from Father Christmas, too!

ADVERTISEMENT

‘Naughty’ events are strictly for adults – which is easy to see why from the sounds of what’s involved…

Aside from 18-rated movies (such as Die Hard and Bad Santa) playing on screen, ChristmasCity is also promising appearances from “scantily clad elves and maybe even Santa himself after a few festive drinks…”

Naughty, indeed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Some screening highlights for ChristmasCity include:

  • It’s a Wonderful Life: 11th December | 18:00 
  • The Holiday: 12th December | 20:30 
  • Home Alone: 19th December | 17:00 
  • Elf: 24th December | 14:00 

The full event schedule can be found online.

Tickets for ChristmasCity are available to buy now – priced at £40 per vehicle.

COVID safety precautions will be implemented during the event.

For more information, visit the ParkNParty website.

What's On

A Polish vodka and dumpling festival is coming to Manchester

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Independent Polish restaurant Platzki is bringing back its famous vodka and pierogi festival to Manchester this week, and we couldn’t be more excited for some hearty dumpling fare.

Notorious for its top-tier filled pierogi, which are made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savoury or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water, Platzki is already something of a go-to for fine Polish food in Manchester.

But now, traditional European dumpling fans have another reason to get themselves down as the restaurant will be focusing almost entirely on pierogi for two days this week.

Platzki’s famous pierogi. / Image: The Manc Eats
Image: Platzki

Taking place across Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 October from 3pm until sell-out (or at 9pm, whichever comes first), diners will have the chance to try Platzki’s perfect homemade pierogi in a range of mouth-watering flavours.

There will be plenty of different fillings to try, including some brand new vegetarian pierogi for non-meat eaters.

That’s not all, either. There’ll also be a midweek vodka tipple on standby as Platzki shows off its huge range of favourite Polish vodkas.

Think salted caramel vodka, strawberry vodka, golden black cherry vodka, hazelnut vodka and delicious cherry-chocolate vodka, all of which are (as we know too well from experience) dangerously drinkable.

Each day, the team will be making hundreds of pierogi for local dumpling lovers to sample.

Karkówka roasted pork neck with spinach egg noodles. / Image: The Manc Eats
Karkówka roasted pork neck with spinach egg noodles. / Image: The Manc Eats

Elsewhere, they will also be serving up some of their favourite dishes from the menu including a hearty sausage stew with freshly-baked bread, and melt-in-the-mouth karkówka roasted pork neck with spinach egg noodles.

Read more: Inside Platzki, the city-centre Polish restaurant with an ever-evolving menu

A fixture in the city since 2018, Platzki has built up a reputation for serving an interesting list of Polish vodka and wine alongside traditional dishes like dumplings, pork neck and meatballs.

It has a gorgeous plant-filled restaurant and a bright terrace that backs onto the Great Northern Warehouse, giving diners views over the Great Northern Square as they dig into some of the best Polish food in the city.

To find out more about this week’s dumpling festival, follow Platzki on Instagram here.

Feature image – The Manc Eats

What's On

A bar in Manchester is throwing a 2000s-themed Myspace party

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

A Manchester gaming bar is throwing a 2000s-themed Myspace party this week, taking it back to a time when studded belts were all the rage and angsty bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and Taking Back Sunday ruled the airwaves.

Staff at Pixel Bar are getting ready to relive their Myspace Scene kid days with a free-to-enter ‘Myspace social’, which will take place on Tuesday 4 October at the Northern Quarter gaming bar.

Promising a night full of emo, pop punk and scene classics, if you regularly find yourself listening back to old Brand New songs and fingering packets of blue-black hair dye in Boots, this is probably a party for you.

Throughout the night Pixel Bar will be running a 40% industry discount on food and drink for partygoers, as well as hosting games of beer pong and giant Jenga.

Dressing up is not mandatory but it is encouraged, and its bar staff will be going all out in their best emo and Scene kid get-ups – so expect to see a lot of kohl eyeliner, sweeping fringes, and maybe even a few pairs of fingerless gloves.

Sharing the news of the upcoming party on social media, Pixel Bar wrote: “We’re officially bringing Myspace back!

“Head down next Tuesday for our Myspace special. Mega industry discount with 40% off food and drink!

“@camthedj is spinning all the Scene/Emo tracks bringing back the emo fringe.”

Image: Pixel Bar
Image: Pixel Bar

Read more: A new gaming bar with Pokemon cocktails is opening in Manchester

Originally hailing from Leeds, Pixel Bar opened its second site in Manchester at the end of 2021 and became an instant hit with the city’s gaming community.

Selling 18 different gaming-themed cocktails, with choices like ‘Jigglypuff’, ‘Princess Perch’ and the ‘Yoshi’s Island Iced Tea’, plus a selection of ‘magic potion’ shots promising do deliver ‘full health’ and ‘stamina’, it has quickly become a haven for gamers.

The bar also has a signature cocktail called ‘Who’s that Pokemon?’ – a combination of vodka, lemon juice, soda and your choice of flavoured syrup.

Elsewhere, you’ll find the newest PlayStation 5, Xbox X Series, and Nintendo platforms, arcade games, high-spec PCs and a downstairs club room playing early 00s pop punk until the early hours.

To find out more, follow Pixel Bar on Instagram here.

Feature image – Pixel Bar

More What's On

Eats

City-wide celebration of beer – including a beer festival in an old swimming pool – to take over Manchester this weekend

Cheshire

Unplugged – The stunning countryside cabin where guests are told to lock their phones away for a ‘digital detox’

Boroughs

The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 3 – 9 October 2022

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches