Christmas karaoke huts and curling lanes are coming to Spinningfields
Crazy cocktail bar Clubhouse is hosting a massive month-long Christmas party on Spinningfields Square with karaoke huts, duelling pianos and a 10m long curling lane
Spinningfields’ Square will be transformed into a winter wonderland later this month as wacky cocktail bar Clubhouse takes it over – bringing karaoke huts, a curling lane, and a giant 35ft high Christmas tree along for the ride.
Completely heated and covered in a giant pergola, the square will be transformed into a festive party hub following some careful planning by the cocktail connosieurs behind Clubhouse.
The team – who haven’t yet enjoyed a Christmas together before, thanks to 2020’s successive lockdowns – will be throwing their own version of a Christmas party in the square, complete with alpine karaoke huts, free-flowing Christmas cocktails, live music, and duelling New Orleans-style pianos.
Elsewhere, there’ll be festive cocktails like Santa Baby (pink gin, triple sec, sour, sugar and cranberry) and Life’s A Grinch (kiwi, sour, sugar and coconut) delivered straight to your huts; and a full on festive kebab and loaded fries menu created by the team behind Kong’s Chicken Shop and Meat and Three.
Chipotle orange and cumin pulled pork Christmas kebab with pickled red cabbage, tomato and cucumber, lettuce, garlic sauce, homemade chilli sauce and spiced pickled gherkins (£13) / Image: The Manc Group Chipotle orange and cumin pulled pork Christmas kebab, pulled turkey and cranberry kebab, and loaded fries with pigs in blankets, baconnaise and cranberry hot sauce (£13) / Image: The Manc Group
Think pigs in blanket-loaded fries, a festive poutine with mozzarella, mulled wine gravy and sprouts, plus Christmas kebabs stuffed with your choice of pulled turkey, chipotle orange and cumin pulled pork, mulled wine braised beef brisket, or slow cooked mushrooms and fennel.
Kicking off next Wednesday, 17 November, a Clubhouse Christmas will be opening on the Deansgate-facing square outside Spinningfields restaurant Australasia next week.
We’ve also heard rumours about a grinch who’ll be roaming the square in the evening – but that’s yet to be confirmed.
Clubhouse is well known for its crazy cocktails, which come garnished with treats like flumps, custard cremes and Haribo tangfastics / Image: The Manc Group
Music will be on from 7 – 10 pm every Friday and Saturday, with duelling pianists taking requests for everything from Metallica, to Christmas songs, to pop anthems. / Image: The Manc Group
Karaoke huts will be bookable for up to 6 people, priced from £50 an hour with an almost infinite number of song options. There’ll be drinks service direct into the huts, with drinks packages available to add on when you book.
Huts themselves will be priced at £50 an hour, with options for drinks on top priced from £35. For that, you’ll get 6 cans of prosecco served on ice, or alternatively you can opt for three four pint pitchers of Clubhouse pilsner (£50), or for two festive cocktail jugs of your choice (£50).
The bar will be bringing its wild, party bar attitude to Spinningfields Square from 17 November / Image: Clubhouse There’ll be plenty of drinks pouring at the Clubhouse bar in Spinningfields square / Image: The Manc Group
There’s also a VIP drinks package priced at £100 that gets you a jug of festive cocktail, a pitcher of clubhouse pilsner and 6 cans of prosecco.
As for the 10m long curling lane, an hour on here with up to six people will cost you £60. Just like in the huts, you can pre book drinks or use a QR code to have them delivered to you whilst you play.
Open from 12 pm – 11 pm every day, with last order at 11 pm, a Clubhouse Christmas kicks off on 17 November and runs up to 23 December before taking a short break for Christmas. It will then return on 26 until 30, before breaking for the New Year.
Whilst walk ins are welcome, booking is recommended. Karaoke huts can be pre-booked here.
To keep up with all things Clubhouse Christmas, make sure to follow the Instagram page here.
Featured Image – Clubhouse
City Centre
The NBA is coming to Manchester for just the second time ever
Danny Jones
In another major coup for Manchester, the NBA is coming to our shores for just the second time in history, having only been played in the UK on a relative handful of occasions.
This is nothing short of a massive milestone for the city.
Having last crossed the pond back in 2019, the NBA has only visited 0161 once before over a decade ago at the old AO Arena, and there’s only been a total of 19 transatlantic meetings up until now.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, being confirmed as part of the NBA’s new European slate, Manchester is also set to be one of the first venues in the UK to ever host a regular-season game.
JUST ANNOUNCED: @NBA The NBA, Co-op Live and @ManchesterCityCouncil have today announced that the NBA will bring a regular-season game to Manchester for the first time ever in 2027, a monumental moment for the city, the venue, and UK sport. Read more here: https://t.co/6hR5g8XsxXpic.twitter.com/PRCCqb2Zaw
NBA Europe have managed to secure a three-year programme of matches that will feature as part of the league’s normal competitive season.
Kicking off next year and running until 2028 at the very least, the current deal will see the much-loved sport watched worldwide first land on the continent for a pair of games next year in Berlin and London, before heading to Paris and our very own Manchester in 2027.
Florida’s Orlando Magic and Tennessee’s Memphis Grizzlies have already been announced for the first two games, although Manchester’s match-up is yet to be confirmed at this early stage.
With Basketball England being officially headquartered within the wider Etihad Campus, there was no question that the Manchester NBA fixture was going to be held at Co-op Live.
As well as being not just the biggest indoor entertainment venue of its kind in England but all of Europe, the arena has also recently welcomed the likes of the UFC, WWE and multiple boxing matches, proving it can serve as the perfect host for premier live sporting action on a global scale.
Speaking in the wake of the seismic news, the Leader of Manchester City Council and representative for Burnage, Bev Craig, could only echo how big a deal this is for the region.
“Manchester once again has shown what a magnificent draw it is for major events, and we are thrilled to welcome the NBA back to our city”, she said. “This city is known for big names, big games and a reputation for showcasing world-class events on the biggest stage possible.
“With a growing basketball scene in Manchester, this event feels like the perfect fit and will give so many people in our city the chance to see what the best athletes in the sport can do on our home turf.
“When it comes to delivering world-class events, we know that Manchester is now firmly on the map. Now, working with our partners, we want to continue driving investment towards our city, creating new jobs, increasing growth and providing new opportunities and experiences for all of our residents.”
Once again, the exact date, timings and teams set to play at the Co-op are still yet to be decided, but having also sealed the BRIT Awards ceremony for 2026, it’s set to be a truly momentous couple of years for the arena and the city as a whole.
A giant robotic snail is sliming its way into Manchester city centre this weekend
Emily Sergeant
If you find yourself in Manchester city centre this weekend, then keep your eyes peeled for a big robotic snail.
It’s not a sentence you hear every day, but this weekend and this weekend alone, a ‘breathtaking’ giant robotic snail will be sliming its way into the heart of Manchester city centre as part of Manchester Museum‘s plan to bring free family fun to the masses this summer.
Luma, a nine-metre-long inflatable, robotic snail – who has been brought to life by creative robotics studio, Air Giants, who are also responsible for the giant cat currently sleeping in the Museum’s Exhibition Hall – will be leaving the four walls of the Oxford Road-based Museum and heading down to St Ann’s Square.
St Ann’s Square’s newest visitor is part of the Museum’s free family programme centred around their The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years exhibition.
Luma’s visit will give Mancs the unique chance to have fun with this otherworldly being.
Like the sleepy cat, Luma the snail uses air flow to move around, and draws inspiration from the extraordinary range of flexing and contorting motion that’s found in bio-mechanics to create ‘beautiful’ movement.
Part artwork, part a feat of engineering, Luma has a gentle, welcoming and otherworldly presence, and invites members of the public to get up close, responding to their movement and touch in the process.
A giant robotic snail is sliming its way into Manchester city centre this weekend / Credit: Supplied
“Luma is a joyful and hopeful work which champions both nature and technology, and reimagines what robots can be for,” Manchester Museum said in a statement.
Luma the snail will perform in St Ann’s Square this weekend on both Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August from 10am-4pm.
Georgina Pellant -
11th November 2021 
