The award-winning Bolton Food and Drink Festival is returning this bank holiday weekend for its 20th year in the town.
For the last two decades years, Bolton Food and Drink Festival has been taking over the Greater Manchester town for August bank holiday weekend, fusing street food, drinks, music, and entertainment for the whole family to feast on – with the event attracting more than half a million visitors in previous years.
And 2025 is no different… in fact, it’s set to be bigger and better than ever before, as the festival celebrates its 20th anniversary.
This year, iconic TV chef, Marco Pierre White, will make his festival debut, and event favourite James Martin returns for impressive 15th year.
Both will be taking to the stage for live cooking demos and Q&As, while regional chefs from across the North West and beyond will also be serving up free live workshops, sharing their culinary know-how with festival-goers across all four days.
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The programme is packed with special events, including the return of the ever-popular Faulty Towers Dining Experience and the crowd-pleasing Sheer Luck Holmes murder mystery, plus a gala dinner on the Friday night.
Author, wine expert and presenter Helen McGinn, aka ‘Knackered Mother’, will also be hosting a wine tasting and afternoon tea in the town’s historic Albert Halls.
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Bolton Food and Drink Festival returns for its 20th anniversary this bank holiday weekend / Credit: Paul Heyes & BFDF
Visitors can experience a global selection of food, drink, and artisan crafts across the festival’s stalls, with outdoor bars and live music from the likes of 90s boy band East 17, and legendary disco and soul group Odyssey.
Families can enjoy free activities from Bolton Library and Museum and The Octagon, while roaming street performers bring added fun and entertainment throughout the town centre.
“Bolton Food and Drink Festival is the jewel in our cultural crown – a vibrant celebration of our town’s creativity, hospitality and community spirit,” commented Bolton Council’s Executive Member for Culture, Cllr Nadeem Ayub.
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“We look forward to welcoming thousands of visitors to experience everything Bolton has to offer.”
Bolton Food and Drink Festival is taking over Bolton town centre this bank holiday weekend, starting this Friday 22 August through to Monday 25 August.
Entry is FREE, although you can get tickets special events throughout the weekend online here.
Featured Image – Paul Hayes (via BFDF)
What's On
Professor Brian Cox is bringing his ‘most ambitious’ live arena show to date to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The legendary Professor Brian Cox is returning to Manchester with a brand-new arena show, and he says it’s his most ambitious one to date.
The Oldham-born physicist and presenter will be bringing Emergence to the Co-op Live next year as part of a huge world tour.
Prof Brian Cox has spent his entire career bringing fascinating, ground-breaking science into the public realm through TV programmes, radio, and live shows.
That’s included performing his smash-hit show Horizons to nearly half a million people, winning the Peabody Award for Wonders of the Solar System, to appearing in the hit BBC series The Planets.
He’s headlined cultural festivals, sold out arenas globally, and now he’s ready to do it all again with Emergence.
This show all began in the winter of 1610, when Johannes Kepler was crossing Prague’s Charles Bridge when he noticed a snowflake land on his arm. Why, he asked, are all snowflakes six-cornered? “I do not believe,” he wrote, “that even in a snowflake, this ordered pattern exists at random.”
Now, 400 years later, we have part of the answer, and Emergence will be celebrating such intricacies and exploring the laws of nature that sculpted the universe.
Professor Brian Cox will touch on everything from the cosmic web all the way down to the structure of the human brain, including black holes and snowflakes, to ‘observe a world of dazzling complexity underpinned by magnificent simplicity’.
Professor Brian Cox said: “I’ve loved creating Emergence – it’s the most ambitious live show I’ve ever written.
“I’ve been very lucky to collaborate with a wonderful group of scientists, musicians, filmmakers and graphic artists to bring cosmology, biology, philosophy and history to the largest and most advanced LED screens available, with the best sound and lights I could find.
“I hope the show is an all-encompassing experience, and I hope it leaves everyone, whether they love science or music or history, or simply contemplating the beauty of Nature, with something new to think about.”
Professor Brian Cox will bring Emergence to the Co-op Live in Manchester on 9 October, 2026 – tickets will go on sale on 3 October at 10am
Professor Brian Cox Emergence – UK and Ireland 2026 tour dates
7 and 8 October – Edinburgh Playhouse
9 October – Manchester Co-op Live
10 October – Leeds First Direct Arena
11 October – Derby Vaillant Live
15 October – Sheffield Utilita Arena Sheffield
16 October – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
17 October – Newcastle Utilita Arena Newcastle
18 October – Glasgow OVO Hydro
21 and 22 October – Brighton Centre
23 October – London The O2
24 October – Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions
29 October – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 29 September – 5 October 2025
Emily Sergeant
It’s time to wave goodbye to September, and say hello to October this week.
The season’s have changed, the weather’s taken a turn, and the leaves are beginning to drop and change colour – but although summer may have come to an end, there’s still plenty of exciting activities to be getting up to in Greater Manchester in the coming weeks, as autumn in our region is always a thing of beauty.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though? No worries. We’ve chosen a few of the highlights for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide.
Both free things and those that’ll set you back a few pennies are featured.
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Oktoberfest 2025
Albert’s Schloss
Monday 29 September – Sunday 12 October
Oktoberfest 2025 / Credit: Supplied
Manchester’s ‘Bavarian extravaganza’ is back, and this year, there’s THREE whole weeks of it.
As always, Albert’s Schloss has a jam-packed programme of Oktoberfest-themed events for this year, and there’s plenty of bier-fuelled fun, foodie classics, and round-the-clock revelry that awaits.
Throughout the 21-day-long event, which culminates with one final Bavarian blowout on Sunday 12 October, revellers are invited to head on down to Schloss and enjoy an array of activities – with everything from ‘Keg Tapping’, and specially-selected beers, to must-see ‘eclectic’ entertainment, a live Oompah brass band, and best dressed competitions on the lineup.
Not to mention there’s a full menu of Bavarian-inspired feasting to look forward to too, and it’s more than just pretzels.
Rochdale is preparing for barrels of laughter, as for the first time ever, the borough is about to host a comedy festival as part of its events programme for being crowned Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025-26.
The lineup features some well-renowned names in the comedy world, many of whom have received awards and recognition along the way.
You can expect appearances from Lou Conran, who features as a regular support act for Sarah Millican, Tez Ilyas, from ‘Man Like Mobeen’, and TV comedy legend Mick Miller. There’s even some Britain’s Got Talent alumni in the form of last year’s finalist Alex Mitchell, and 2017 semi-finalist Jonny Awsum.
Museum of Illusions is celebrating the first birthday of its debut UK attraction in Manchester this September by giving away free tickets to anyone who shares its birthday month.
Loved by locals and tourists alike, the museum blends fun and education for visitors of all ages, and is fully-accessible too, ensuring everyone can enjoy the fun.
To mark the milestone and celebrate its first anniversary, visitors born in September can enjoy free entry to the museum through to Friday 3 October (excluding weekends).
=Moulin Rouge The Musical / Credit: Johan Persson | Matt Crockett (Supplied)
If you’re wandering down Oxford Road over these next couple of weeks and take a wrong turn, then you may find yourself in early 20th century Paris.
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Moulin Rouge The Musical is a sultry, sexy extravaganza of lust, sin, and debauchery that you just can’t get enough of, so it’s time to lose yourself in the magic and showmanship of the Parisian clubs of yesteryear, as whether you’re a big fan of the hit 2001 movie, or new to the world of Moulin Rouge, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you will be blown away.
This is possibly the best show I’ve ever seen on stage, and it’s at the Palace Theatre right up until early October.
Read our review of the show, and get your last-minute tickets here.
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Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You
Science and Industry Museum
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Monday 29 September – onwards
Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You / Credit: Science Museum Group
You can plunge headfirst into the incredible world of our senses at a new immersive museum exhibition that’s down at the Science and Industry Museum.
Back by popular demand after a successful run over these past two years, but with a fresh new adventure lined up for 2025, Operation Ouch! is giving you the chance to journey through an ear canal covered in gooey wax, squeeze past sticky snot, and delve deeper into how our brains interpret the world.
Tickets to Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You are now on sale, and visitors are being told to prepare themselves for an “epic exploration of the senses”.
What could be more cute and autumnal than rummaging around in a field in the late September sunshine, hunting for your perfect pumpkin? Nothing, if you ask us.
If you’re liking the sound of that, then good news, as Kenyon Hall Farm’s annual Pumpkin Festival kicks off tomorrow and they’ve got THOUSANDS to choose from.
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As well as the fields full of pumpkins, there’s loads of seasonal items in the award-winning farm shop too (alongside masses of fresh produce), like tattoo transfers for your pumpkins, gonks, keyrings, and more.
And don’t forget to stop off at the cafe for their seasonal pumpkin specials.
Students can get themselves up to 30% off on food, activities, and loads of big-name brands at the Trafford Centre this week.
With thousands of new and returning students set to start arriving for the new academic year at Greater Manchester’s universities, one of the region’s biggest student nights will be making a long-awaited comeback for one night only, and there’ll be lots of exclusive offers and free entertainment to make the most of across the evening.
Taking over the Trafford Centre this Thursday, the popular one-off student night is happening in partnership with Student Shopping UK, and gives cash-strapped students the chance to shop a variety of incredible discounts all under one roof.
Summer may be over, but guess what? Now that autumn is well and truly here, that means we get to wear layers, cosy up in our favourite places, and eat heartwarming plates piled high with all the major food groups.
Whether you want the likes of Banyan’s bottomless Yorkshire puddings bigger than your head, or swapping your meat out for a pie (you heard us), we’ve got something to suit everyone.
You can even get dog roasts too, if you ask The Refuge nicely.
Check out our top 25 best places to head to for a perfect roast in Greater Manchester here.
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Did you know you can rent your own private cinema in Manchester city centre?
You may be in deep (far too deep) to the latest teen drama like we were this week, biting your nails through a sporting event, or just wish you could see your favourite film on the big screen again – and that’s where King Street Townhouse comes in.
There’s a luxury cinema tucked away in this popular hotel and you can book it out for all sorts of private screenings.
There’s loads of packages too, so you can stick whatever you want on the cinema screen, relax in plush armchairs, and tuck into cocktails, popcorn, and snacks.
The Vintage Home Show is taking over Victoria Baths for their second event of the year.
For anyone looking to add a retro touch to their homes, this is a chance to feast your eyes on a carefully-curated collection of furniture, homeware, ceramics, artworks, vinyl records, and more stocked by more than 60 knowledgeable sellers in a welcoming atmosphere amid the empty Grade II-listed swimming pool.
Planning to renovate in a vintage style? Or looking for one missing piece of the puzzle? This event can help you track down that something special for your home.
There’s a brand-new games bar and social space opening in Stockport town centre this week and it looks class – with curling, deck shuffleboard, archery, pétanque, and so much more, turning SK1 into the place to be.
Opening up above Market Place and ran by local lads, this space that’s been empty for more than 30 years has been transformed into a beautiful bar with stunning views of the market hall.
Everything you need to know about this new opening is here.
Emily Sergeant -
18th August 2025 
