The summer season may be drawing to a close, but there’s still plenty happening in the region this week.
So we’ve put together a fresh edition of our ‘what’s on’ guide for the city of Manchester and beyond this week, and we’ve cherry-picked a few of the best bits.
Some of the events we’re going to mention here are completely free, others will set you back a few pounds, and many will need to be booked in advance – with plenty still taking COVID-safety measures to give you peace of mind.
Here are our top picks.
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Beat the Frog
Frog and Bucket Comedy Club
Monday 30 August
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Frog and Bucket Comedy Club
Fancy a good laugh this Bank Holiday Monday? Beat the Frog is the legendary amateur comedy night at Manchester’s iconic Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, and has helped to launch the careers of some of comedy’s biggest names – including Peter Kay, John Bishop, Johnny Vegas, Smug Roberts, and more.
At the start of the competition, three cards are handed out to lucky members of the audience, and up to 10 acts will then take to the stage and each try to do five minutes of material. If within those five minutes all three cards go up, then the act has lost and must leave the stage – but if the three cards stay down, that act has successfully ‘Beat The Frog’.
They are then invited back to the stage for a clap off at the end of the night – which will determine the overall winner.
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It’s been named the “most unpredictable comedy night in the north”.
You can find more information, and grab your tickets via the Frog and Bucket website here.
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Bolton Food & Drink Festival
Bolton Town Centre
Monday 30 August
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Bolton Food & Drink Festival
The hugely-popular Bolton Food & Drink Festival has finally returned this Bank Holiday weekend after a year of postponement, with plenty of action still happening this Monday.
After COVID-19 restrictions sadly meant that the annual festival had to move online in 2020, the support of local businesses of all shapes and sizes is helping the North West’s biggest food and drink event to return in person for its 16th year this summer.
They’re serving up some of the best food and drink the region has to offer.
World-renowned chefs have been sharing their secrets during free cookery demonstrations, and a collection of outdoor bars, live music and street entertainment are creating the usual festival atmosphere that draws visitors from far and wide.
Creative painting workshop company Paint Away is giving budding artists the chance to paint the man himself, Notorious B.I.G, at Wanago in West Didsbury this Bank Holiday Monday.
Pan Asian street food will also be served alongside DJ JC playing the “baddest’ old school 90s R&B tunes”.
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According to the event description on the Paint Away website, this paint party provides a relaxed environment where you can eat, drink, and chat while letting your inner artist unfurl as you learn to paint alongside a professional artist and finish with an artwork you will love.
No experience is necessary – you just need to be up for trying something new.
You can find more information, and book your slot here.
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Summer Social
Trafford Centre
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Monday 30 August – Sunday 5 September
Trafford Centre
An 8,000 sq ft beach, retro fairground rides, entertainment, and independent food and drink brands have all arrived at the Trafford Centre for the summer – and this is your last week to make the most of it.
‘Summer Social’ is a vast outdoor area that brings together all the fun of the fair, alongside a beach, live music, exciting pop-ups, and selfie-ready backdrops.
As well as several covered events spaces where people can safely relax, a number of independent food and drink brands have also been popping up over the summer, kicking off with Boujee Bar – the renowned, all-pink Instagrammer’s dream founded by Real Housewives of Cheshire star Lystra Adams.
Live musicians, street artists, and buskers have also been taking to the stage.
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You can find more information, and grab tickets here.
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Burrs Live
Burrs Country Park
Monday 30 August – Sunday 5 September
Burrs Live
A brand-new festival has taken over Burrs Country Park in Bury for two weeks of live music, community events, and artisan food starting this August Bank Holiday weekend.
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Burrs Live by The Met will feature a packed programme of live performers including Beatles tribute The Bootleg Beatles, folk supergroup Show of Hands, and one of the biggest success stories in British theatre history, The Magic of Motown. The park will also play host to Head For The Hills festival – starring multi-instrumentalist Badly Drawn Boy, electronic afro-funk band Ibibio Sound Machine, and psychedelic trail-blazers, Heavy Salad.
Brightside Brewery will be providing the drinks throughout, with a selection of local food vendors also on site.
You can find more information, and grab tickets from £11here.
Rochdale is currently playing host to its town centre’s first ever food and drink festival this week.
Organised by the Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID), more than 20 local restaurants are offering up special deals, with the community event featuring mouthwatering food and drink from the likes of The Flying Horse Hotel, The Baum, La Mancha, Petit Bistro, Treehouse Bar, Crust, Heavenly Desserts, and so many more.
You can find more information about the vendors at the festival here.
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Sixes
Corn Exchange
Monday 30 August – onwards
Sixes Manchester
The “world’s first immersive cricket experience with hospitality” has now arrived at Corn Exchange with the opening of Sixes Manchester.
A social cricket sports bar kitted out with three state-of-the-art cricket nets available to hire for 30, 60 or 90 minutes, as well as a champagne bar, a 70-seater dining space and an open kitchen, Sixes offers the chance to swing for the boundaries whilst enjoying a wide selection of high-quality food and drink.
The opening of this new Manchester venue coincides with an exclusive game at Sixes called ‘The Hundred’ – which is named after the 100-ball cricket tournament taking place for the first time this summer.
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You can find more information about Sixes Manchester here.
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National Football Museum
Cathedral Gardens
Wednesday 1 September – onwards
National Football Museum
The summer holidays of 2021 have proven a little more challenging for families than usual thanks to the classic Manchester rain, but it’s at times like these we should consider ourselves fortunate we’ve got the National Football Museum right on our doorstep.
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English football’s flagship cultural venue is playing host to a range of interactive exhibitions this month, offering four floors of indoor family-friendly activities all under cover.
Not only is there loads to see and do here away from the unseasonably wet and windy weather for both parents and kids alike, it’s also the perfect way to whet your appetite for the new football season that’s just kicked off.
You can find more information about everything happening at the National Football Museum this summer here.
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Use Hearing Protection
Science and Industry Museum
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Wednesday 1 September – onwards
Science and Industry Museum
A special exhibition documenting the formation and early years of the iconic Factory Records has officially opened at Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum.
The exhibition also examines the period 1978 to 1982, revealing how the label grew and thrived to give the city an authentic voice and distinctive identity, and visitors will be guided through the pre-Haçienda years to uncover the history of the label and how it earned its status as a catalyst for innovation through rarely or never-before-seen objects.
The first 50 artefacts from the official Factory Records catalogue are on display, including creations from Joy Division, New Order, The Durutti Column, and so much more.
A spectacular new art installation honouring the NHS and key workers is arriving in Manchester city centre this Friday.
‘Gratitude’ is a collection of 51 uniquely-painted human form sculptures that are all designed by individual artists, and curated in partnership with creative ambassador Dame Zandra Rhodes.
The free-to-visit installation – which will be accompanied by a selection of stories recorded by a host of well-known local voices (including Christopher Eccleston, John Thompson, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Shobna Gulati) – will be on display at St Peter’s Square, and enclosed by mirrors on two sides to create reflections.
Manchester artists Lei-Mai LeMaow, Guy McKinley, Fernandes Makes, and Jodie Silverman are among the acclaimed UK artists taking part.
Beloved brewery ShinDigger is hosting one of its bouncing Session parties at Manchester’s newest canalside neighbourhood KAMPUS this weekend.
Promising “good booze, food and leg shaking at sundown”, the party is being held to celebrate the grand reopening of Little David Street near Kampus – which has been closed to the public for more than 20 years.
A ShinDigger bar will be on site for the evening, with temporary KAMPUS residents Le Social serving natural wine and premium cocktails, and there’ll also be some scran up for grabs from Birria Brothers tacos and flavours from the grill courtesy of TINE.
Featured Image – David Oates Photography | Bolton Council
What's On
A huge festival dedicated to tequila and mezcal is coming to Manchester this month
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s first-ever Mezcal and Tequila Festival is taking place this month, filling Manchester Cathedral with tastings, masterclasses, cocktails and street food.
The massive event will see the Grade I-listed building transformed into an agave spirits tasting floor, featuring more than 100 varieties of premium tequilas and mezcals from some of Mexico’s best producers including El Jimador, Ojo de Tigre, El Sueno, Los Arcos, Del Maguey, Cazcabel, Komos, Nixta, Tapatio, El Tequileno, Tiempo and many more.
Festival-goers will be able to gain exclusive insights into the craftsmanship behind these spirits, sampling (responsibly, of course) from dozens of stands.
All samples, plus a limited-edition clay tasting copita, will be included in the ticket price – there’s no token system here and no extra charges for samples.
The new Mexican-inspired drinks festival only debuted in Glasgow back in Spring 2023 but it unsurprisingly went down an absolute storm – after all, what’s not to like a big festival full of booze?
Bartenders will stir up cocktails at the bespoke cocktail bar while the crowds are kept fed by delicious street food, including Mexican-inspired Taco Or Don’t, previously featured at the British Streetfood Awards.
And it’d be remiss of you to leave the festival empty-handed when you can take a taste of Mexico home from the exclusive bottle shop provided by Drinkmonger on site (with discount tokens included in the ticket price).
A tequila and mezcal festival is heading on Manchester. Credit: Supplied
Colin Campbell, one of Copita’s co-founders said: “We’re really excited to be bringing Copita to Manchester. It’s gone down brilliantly in Glasgow the last two years so we felt now was the right time to take it on the road and we couldn’t think of a better place than Manchester to head to next!
“It’s a really easy-going event with a great atmosphere, lots of local street food, shopping and music, so whether you’re an aficionado or a casual sipper we’re confident you’ll have a great time.”
The Copita Mezcal and Tequila Festival will be at Manchester Cathedral on Saturday 14 September.
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 9 – 15 September 2024
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our second full week of September now, and summer is already beginning to feel like a distant memory.
For many people, the end of summer can sometimes mean the end of all the fun and the start of the cosy season, but as we head into autumn, there’s still absolutely no shortage of things for all the family to be getting up to across Greater Manchester.
If you’re finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though, we’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide this week.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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Heritage Open Days 2024
Greater Manchester
Monday 9 – Sunday 15 September
Heritage Open Days / Credit: Chris Lacey | Paul Harris (via HODs)
The UK’s largest festival of history and culture has returned this week, and there’s thousands of free events on the lineup.
Back by popular demand, the National Trust’s ‘Heritage Open Days’ are run by thousands of local organisations and volunteers, and they’re all about bringing people together to celebrate their culture, community, and history.
From historic houses, factories, and museums, to music halls, formal gardens, and graveyards, countless of places and spaces across the country – including loads here in Greater Manchester – are open to the public, all without having to spend a penny.
Find out more about everything on the lineup here.
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Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine
Science and Industry Museum
Monday 9 September – onwards
Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine / Credit: Science Museum Group
More than 100 objects and stories collected during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic are now on display as part of a new exhibition at the Science and Industry Museum.
The groundbreaking new exhibition, titled Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine, explores the worldwide effort to develop vaccines at pandemic speed, while uncovering the inspiring stories of scientists and innovators around the globe who collaborated to tackle the worldwide COVID-19 challenge along the way.
A groundbreaking new immersive exhibition exploring our relationship with the natural world is now open at Manchester Museum.
‘Wild’ look at how people are creating, rebuilding, and repairing connections with nature, and how the natural world has traditionally been presented and idealised through Western art, as well as looking at some unique approaches to environmental recovery too.
The exhibition will also crucially look at how we can tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis by making the world more wild.
50 Years of the Replica Shirt / Credit: National Football Museum | Admiral Sports
A new exhibition telling the story of the football shirt pioneers, Admiral, is now open at the National Football Museum.
50 Years of the Replica Shirt will take visitors right through the Admiral’s history, from their humble beginnings in a Leicestershire textile town, to the official kit manufacturers for the England national team – with key moments in the company’s timeline highlighted through a range of objects, photographs, and kit designs.
Manc visitors will be able to walk through the iconic Jurassic World gates, explore some richly-themed environments, and encounter a life-sized Brachiosaurus, Velociraptors, and the most fearsome dinosaur of all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.
You can be in with a chance of winning one of hundreds of free prizes just by heading down to Spinningfields this week.
In case you hadn’t heard, Spinningfields has just launched a brand-new app that’s now available to download, and in a bid to mark the occasion and properly celebrate this exciting launch, the city centre leisure and business district will be hosting an epic ‘Spin to Win’ event where “everyone’s a winner” on Tuesday from 8am.
There’ll be free coffee and free prizes to make the most of, all for just downloading a free app.
One of Greater Manchester’s best-loved outdoor dining concepts has returned for 2024, and there’s a proper tasty lineup of traders.
‘Kargo on the Docks’ – which is MediaCity‘s al fresco dining pop-up, in place of the former Box On The Docks – has had itself a bit of a “glow up” and has taken over the waterfront and gardens with a fresh wave of local food traders and stunning artwork by Salford-based creatives, all as the sun shines down on Salford Quays this summer.
Did you see that Bolton has launched its own ‘Hollywood of the North’ TV and film location tours around the town centre?
Merely months after being named Greater Manchester’s new ‘Town of Culture’, Bolton is already proving why 2024 is its year, as the town is celebrating its shiny new title by celebrating all the times it has been chosen as a filming location for dozens of major film and TV productions over the years.
These new behind-the-scenes tours are led by local historian and professional tour guide, Suzanne Hindle, and will feature all of the town’s famous filming spots.
Bolton Film & TV Tours / Credit: Supplied | BBC
Visitors will get to explore places such as court rooms, cells, and Crescent corridors whilst hearing tales of how the industry adapt these unexpected locations to set the scene.
Known and loved for being one of the best musicals the 21st Century – and one of the funniest of all time – having scooped up dozens of coveted awards both in the US and here in the UK in its time, The Book of Mormon is currently out on tour, and the Elders are set to arrive in our city this week for an extended stay.
The hilarious production will be taking over the iconic Palace Theatre stage from this Wednesday until early October, and there’s still chance to grab yourself some tickets too.
A new science and tech festival for all the family is coming to Cheshire this weekend to help “inspire young minds”.
Set to descend on the grounds of Bruntwood SciTech’s Alderley Park – a unique place where world-leading science, innovation, and stylish living all come together in the Cheshire countryside – SciTech Extravaganza will be a day filled full of fun science-themed shows, interactive activities, new skill-building opportunities, and more.
The brand-new family festival is designed to “spark curiosity” and “encourage engagement” through STEM-related learning.
Emily Sergeant -
27th August 2021 
