A brand new bowling alley is preparing to open inside the Manchester Arndale shopping centre, as King Pins signs up to take over the old Sports Direct site.
King Pins is a state-of-the-art bowling concept – but strikes aren’t the only thing you’ll be getting up to.
The Manchester-founded leisure concept also offers beer pong, ping pong and shuffleboard, which are games that everyone can get involved in.
There’s also curling, batting cages, pool, ping pong, and karaoke, alongside food kiosks operated by some of the north west’s favourite restaurants and traders.
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You can tuck in to cocktails, housemade slushies, craft beers and sweet treats, which playing your own games or watching live sport in the bar.
Leisure and entertainment are becoming increasingly popular within the city centre – King Pins will be joining Urban Playground (where you can take on The Cube) and Immersive Gamebox at the Manchester Arndale.
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It’ll keep you and your mates entertained for hours.
King Pins will take over the former 28,890 sq ft Sports Direct unit on a 20-year lease.
King Pins will open a new bowling alley in the Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc GroupKing Pins at the Trafford Palazzo
It’s operated by Roxy Leisure, which already has its sister brand Roxy Ball Room in the Arndale building.
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Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, said: “Leisure and entertainment operators are increasingly becoming key features of UK shopping destinations and are helping to draw in more visitors from a broader catchment group seeking social activities.
“It is therefore great to work with Roxy Leisure again on a second family-orientated leisure offer following the success of Roxy Ball Room. King Pins is a growing and already popular local brand, and we expect their offer to appeal to visitors once they are open.
“The arrival of King Pins follows our strategy of creating a diverse tenant mix at Manchester Arndale where we look to combine leading international and local brands across the retail, leisure, and F&B space to ensure we provide the best experience and choice for our customers.
“This has resulted in consistently high footfall across the centre, and near full occupancy of the available leasing space, reinforcing Manchester Arndale’s position as one of the premier attractions in the north west.”
King Pins will also have food from north west traders
James Travis, brand manager for King Pins, added: “We couldn’t be happier to be opening our second site at Manchester Arndale. Taking our state-of-the-art bowling concept to its first city centre location is hugely exciting, and where better to do it?
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“Manchester Arndale is one of the UK’s leading shopping destinations, and already has an impressive entertainment offering alongside some of the best retailers on the high street.
“With lanes, games, food, drinks and more; King Pins offers a place for the whole family to have some king-sized fun, as well as the perfect nighttime venue for friends to get together and try something a little different.
“We can’t wait to get going, and to bring the Crown Jewels of bowling to Manchester City Centre.”
It’s time to get your bowling shoes on and invite the family down for a fun-filled day with numerous different activities to get involved in.
Hundreds of sausage dogs will be taking over a cafe in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
A pop-up cafe filled with hundreds of sausage dogs is coming back to Manchester this weekend.
Are you a big dachshund fan? Love seeing lots of little sausage dogs in the same place? Looking for your little pup to make some sausage friends? Well you’re in luck, as the Dachshund Pup Up Cafe is back in our city on Sunday.
Having already proved to be a smash-hit success in the years it’s visited Manchester since 2018, the dachshund pop up cafe – or we should say ‘pup up cafe’ – will be filling another popular city centre venue with so many sausage dogs.
Organisers are expecting more than 250 dachshunds to join in on the fun.
Hundreds of sausage dogs will be taking over a cafe in Manchester this weekend / Credit: The Pup Up Cafe
Sausage dogs and their owners are all invited to descend on Revolution Parsonage Gardens in the city centre from 10am, as organisers The Pup Up Cafe have managed to secure the whole venue the dogs to roam free and enjoy some wholesome fun in a safe space.
Whether you own a sausage dog yourself or you’re simply just a dachshund fan, you’ll get the chance to mingle with many furry little friends, take part in a range of activities, and stock up on dachshund-related goodies.
The pups themselves will get to enjoy unlimited dog treats and free puppuccinos, and play to their heart’s content with other sausages.
It sounds like it’s going to be a jam-packed day to remember, so luckily, there’ll be plenty of photo opportunities throughout.
The Dachshund Pup Up Cafe will arrive in Manchester on Sunday 9 March from 10am-1:30pm, with different morning and afternoon sessions during the day, and pp to 50 sausage dogs allowed per session.
Fancy ‘a sausage mad day’ then? Tickets will set you back £10 if you’re a sausage dog owner, and £15 if you’re just a dachshund fan who’s keen to go along for the fun anyway.
There’s a big 90s rave happening in Manchester this summer
Thomas Melia
A music-oriented event is taking place in Manchester later this year dedicated to everything about the unforgettable 90s rave scene.
Relive the ‘Madchester‘ glory days all over again as you and your mates can now get tickets to the 90’s rave of the summer happening right here in Manchester.
This event is going big or going home with a runtime of 10 hours and with the amount of acts that have been announced, you’ll wish you had 24 hours.
Presented by the same team that put together ‘Sanctuary Forever’, ravers are at the heart of everything they do, and with a turnout of 8,500 attendees, you certainly won’t be dancing alone.
There are four different ‘arenas’ at this rave all catering to different soundscapes of the 90s rave scene, from hardcore to classic DnB, no music genre has been forgotten.
We all know Manchester was the cultural epicentre for electronic music and with the help of iconic music venues including The Hacienda.
Now, the capital of the North is back in its prime with this event featuring much-adored DJs such as Fabio and Grooverider, Ratpack, Danny Rampling and more.
Acts like Scott Brown, Hype and Slipmatt who were instrumental in shaping rave culture in the 90’s will also be playing sets on this very night.
Rave culture is nothing but praised for around these quarters with The Prodigy playing two very special gigs in the current club highlight, The Warehouse Project back in December.
Taking place at Bowlers Exhibition Centre, this 84,000 square foot space is deeply rooted in the rave scene too, with shows like Helter Skelter, Life, Asylum and Fantasia happening here once upon a time.
You can see the lineup in full HERE get a quick rundown of the setup down below:
With a lineup this stellar, while making sure to look back on Manchester’s musical history and 90s rave culture, in particular, there’s a reason why this event is titled ‘Manchester Forever’.
‘Manchester Forever’ is coming to Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester on 3 May 2025 and tickets are already on sale.
The Manc -
16th November 2023 
