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IKEA are hosting a wide range of FREE Christmas activities this winter

BRB, off to build my own gingerbread family.

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia - 1st December 2024

The flat-pack champions are putting on lots of fantastic events for IKEA members and customers to get involved with this Christmas.

What better way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year than to get stuck in with some festive arts and crafts while spreading Christmas cheer?

Even better still, it’s all free!

IKEA have hosted many free events across the holidays and they’re back again this December running a whole host of holiday craft and creative workshops over at their big Ashton-Under-Lyne branch.

Credit: IKEA

Although there may be no seats left at Santa’s breakfast table on Saturday, 7 December, visitors who book now can expect to decorate some delicious decorations at their ‘Gingerbread Creations’ workshop from 11:30am to 4pm.

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The following day, you can try your hand at sprucing up your own Christmas tree (once again 11:30am-4pm) by making personalised ornaments with the help of their ‘Tree-rific Decorations’ event on Sunday, 8 December.

There’s also a chance you can show off your ultimate seasonal style in another free festive event which is even suitable for those who might not have a creative streak in them.

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Start curating your best snazzy outfits and frocks this festive period, with the homeware retailer putting on a weekend set to feature more Christmas jumpers than any fashion week ever has.

If you aren’t all Christmas-sed out, from 13 to 15 December, you can also embrace the festivities by sporting your best seasonal stuff in-store from 9am until 5pm for their ‘Festive Wear Weekend’.

Credit: IKEA

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Once again, all these free festive activities are suitable for everyone, especially families, so why not treat yourself to a nice day out and embrace the holiday season in true Swedish fashion? Quite literally.

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You’ll have to act fast if you’re planning on getting involved though, as the Scandinavian furniture company is making way for a total of seven free Christmas activities; their ‘Saint Lucia’, ‘Santa’s Christmas Eve Plate’ and ‘Winter Wreaths for Adults’ workshops are all fully booked already.

Anyone looking to stock up on Christmas activities and squeeze in some quality time in their ever-so-hectic December calendar can do so on IKEA’s website HERE.

Featured Images — IKEA/Zboralski (via Wikimedia Commons)

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An event designed to make dating ‘less sh*t’ is coming to Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

A dating event with a difference is heading to Manchester this week, designed to bring all the fun of dating without the endless swiping to our city.

Haystack Dating promises to blend good old-fashioned meeting-people-in-real-life with all the fancy technology that helps to match-make people online.

At each event, you’ll be placed in a group of up to 12 people who all have similar interests to you, based off a short survey you fill out before you attend.

You can grab a drink, have a natter, get stuck into some friendly competition (the event is hosted at Sixes Social Cricket Bar) and get to know each other – and potentially meet the love of your life.

Worst case scenario, you come away with some new mates and have a decent night in one of the city’s top venues.

Haystack Dating are on a mission to make ‘dating more fun and less s**t’, promising that you might meet your soulmate over a Baby Guinness and a few round of virtual cricket.

They also want to make dating more inclusive and take a good step away from toxic dating apps and awkward dating events.

Haystack Dating is coming to Manchester
Haystack Dating is coming to Manchester
Previous Haystack Dating events. Credit: Supplied

The company launched earlier this year in London with more than 2000 people passing through its events looking for love and a laugh – and now it’s Manchester’s turn.

This is the only dating company that uses a matching algorithm on the evening – so it’s basically the best bits of online dating, but in real life.

While this particular event is taking place at Sixes Social Cricket, previous activities have included live music, arcades, and even bucking broncos (that’s not a euphemism).

Every venue Haystack Dating uses is also fully accessible.

There’ll be a team of reps on hand on the evening to oversee, make intros and remove any awkward vibes.

And Haystack Dating has a solid success rate – around one in five people go on a date after the event.

Haystack Dating was found by Lucy Rout, an entrepreneur who gained a 50k following on Instagram after surviving cancer, documenting her dating life and then finding the love of her life.

Haystack Dating will be in Manchester on Friday 23 May – you can find out more and book your tickets HERE.

You can also follow them on Instagram HERE and Tiktok HERE.

Featured image: Supplied

What's On

A club night where you can’t get in without a hat is making its way to Manchester

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

There’s a club night happening in Manchester where you won’t be let in unless you wear a hat, and they really mean it, too.

Anyone wanting to go to this club night better get their thinking caps on as well as a physical hat too, because you’re actually not allowed into the venue without one of these fashion accessories on.

Club rules change over time and typically include your usual “No trackies, no joggers”, but instead of permitting you from the clothes you can wear, this club night wants you to bring an item with you: a hat.

They say home is wherever you lay your hat, turns out the party is too.

You could have your own bucket hat moment at this Manchester club night.
You could have your own bucket hat moment at this Manchester club night.
Everyone has a cowboy hat hanging around somewhere... right?
Everyone has a cowboy hat hanging around somewhere… right?
Credit: The Manc Group

Boldly-named club night ‘Don’t F**k with Disco’ is coming to Manchester and has one very simple rule “No hat, no entry”, so if you’ve bought your ticket you better get trying on some headpieces, stat.

One headwear item that never seems to go out of style is the cowboy hat, partly thanks to flurries of fans sporting these at Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club’ phenomenon, the resurgent country music scene and so on.

Or why not box off two outfits at once by getting yourself a bucket hat, which has you covered for this hat-wearing night out and Oasis’ gigs, if you managed to get your hands on those pesky tickets.

There’s an endless list of headwear you could sport to this hat-wearing club night, and we’re sure anyone thinking of attending will see some bold and beautiful bonnets.

The venue hosting ‘Don’t F**k with Disco Manchester’ is Un:Titled Studio in Salford which is trading in its photography studio title for one night and transforming itself into a clubbing hotspot.

A Manchester club night all about hats? This Guinness one seems very fitting.
A Manchester club night all about hats? This Guinness one seems very fitting.
Why have one bucket hat when you can have two?
Why have one bucket hat when you can have two?

This photography studio can host up to 700 guests in its largest room, titled ‘Studio 1’, with two other smaller indoor rooms and a larger outdoor space which boasts an impressive 750 capacity, wow.

This hat-wearing club night frenzy is coming to Un:Titled Studio on Saturday, 24 May from 10pm all the way through to 4am, so you can top your night off by dancing until the early hours.

Anyone looking to attend ‘Don’t F**k with Disco Manchester’ can find tickets HERE, just remember the golden rule… “No hat, no entry”.

See you on the dancefloor – we’re thinking something like a rhinestone Stetson…

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Featured Images – Unsplash/The Manc Group

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