Coronation Street has revealed that its famous ‘Stars Tours’ are returning this summer, and it means you can meet cast members on the legendary cobbles.
In case you missed it, the ever-popular Coronation Street: The Tourreturned back in March after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s been giving fans of the iconic Manchester-based soap – which has recently celebrated 60 years on air – the chance to discover the hidden world that lies behind the camera at the external sets at MediaCityUK in Salford once again.
The much-loved 90-minute tours let you follow in the footsteps of all your favourite characters, and give you the chance to walk around the famous sets of the Rovers Return, Roys Rolls, Underworld, The Kabin, and so much more.
Tour guides are known for sharing all the secrets of the show while they take you around locations of iconic moments from the soap, and there’s also plenty of opportunities to get that all-important Corrie selfie too.
But how would you like to take your tour up a notch?
Coronation Street has revealed that its famous ‘Stars Tours’ are returning this summer / Credit: Coronation Street: The Tour
Just as the name suggests, the Stars Tours not only include the standard 90-minute guided tour of the external Coronation Street set, but they also give you the opportunity to meet the a surprise cast member from the show, which will undoubtedly make the whole experience an extra-special moment for any fan.
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While bosses of the official guided tours are keeping names of the mystery cast members who are set to make appearances close to their chest, they have assured fans that they’ll pop out to say hello, and pose for pictures.
They’ll even let you in on a few filming secrets or a story during the special events too.
Speaking ahead of the return of the Stars Tours, Steve Masters – General Manager at Coronation Street: The Tour – said: “Taking a tour of Coronation Street is a real treat for many fans and we often hear guests talking about their favourite characters and storylines, but now, with the launch of Star Tours, guests have the chance to meet someone from the show.
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“We can’t wait to see their faces.”
Coronation Street: The Tour gives you the chance to see the hidden world that lies behind the camera / Credit: Twitter (@CorrieTour2020)
Star Tours return on Saturday 16 July, with limited tickets available to book at 1:45pm, 2:15pm, 2:45pm, 3:15pm, 3:45pm, 4:15pm, and 4:45pm, before the next events on Saturday 20 August and Saturday 3 September.
Tickets will set you back £40, and you can grab yours here.
Mani from The Stone Roses is throwing a fundraising party with his wife following cancer diagnosis
Daisy Jackson
Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield and his wife Imelda are throwing a massive fundraising night to raise money for The Christie and The Stockport Charitable Trust.
The wife of the Stone Roses legend was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2020, and has been undergoing gruelling treatment and surgeries ever since.
The pair, who have nine-year-old twins together, will curate an evening of first-class entertainment at The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel’s ballroom in Manchester city centre.
This is The One: Let’s Kick Cancer’s Arse will be taking place during Mani’s birthday week, with raffle and auction prizes donated by bands, footballers, actors, venues and promoters.
Imelda and Mani will throw the fundraising party together. Credit: Supplied
Imelda is an events agent who says: “Both charities have supported me through my journey. Cancer affects not just the person who has it, but everyone around them, and I hope that by investing in some more research, we can help alleviate some of the devastation caused to families.”
Mani added: “When life deals you a pair of twos, you must get your game face on! The past two years since my wife’s diagnosis have been brutal in so many ways, but it’s also opened our eyes to so many things.
“This disease needs to be eradicated – we feel duty bound to do our bit to achieve this. So everybody, get on board, dig deep, help out, we will win!”
Credit: Twitter, Imelda Mounfield
By the time Imelda was diagnosed with bowel cancer, it had already spread to her liver and a small nodule in her lung, she wrote on her own JustGiving page.
She said: “I underwent emergency life-saving bowel surgery at it perforated. I had Covid and appendicitis for my first 3 chemo sessions, which were missed.
“I thought I was going down to the theatre to confirm appendicitis. Nobody heard anything for 9 hrs. Hence I woke with no small colon and an ileostomy stoma instead.
“Fast forward 6 months of treatments and breaks while they considered surgery, I had the right side of my liver removed.
“We were just on the mop-up stage of chemo when a scan revealed another tumour in the liver and several nodules on my lungs.
“I’m looking at other treatment centres and treatments privately as I’m nowhere near giving up this fight.
“Think positive thoughts into the universe for me to beat this. I’ve got twin boys aged 9 who I’m fighting for to be their mummy to be there for many years to come.”
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This is The One: Let’s Kick Cancer’s Arse will take place at The Kimpton Clocktower’s ballroom on Friday 18 November.
Featured image: Paul Husband
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A live orchestra is performing Kanye West’s ‘best’ album in Manchester next month
Emily Sergeant
One of Kanye West’s most-critically acclaimed albums is set to be performed by a live orchestra right here in Manchester next month.
And tickets are going on sale very soon.
There aren’t many artists in recent times who could be considered quite as polarising or who divide opinion like Kayne West, but despite how controversial his public persona has been over the last decade, and most-recently within the last few years, he is still widely considered to be one of the most influential hip hop musicians of all time, as well as often being voted as one of the greatest musicians of his generation.
But in typical Kanye fashion, his music often divides opinion just as much as his public persona – especially aomng fans, who will usually debate his best songs and albums, but rarely come to an agreement as to what they are.
One of the albums generally-considered by critics to be the best of West’s discography though is his 2010 album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’.
One of Kanye West’s most-critically acclaimed albums is set to be performed by a live orchestra / Credit: The Blues Kitchen Manchester
And if that’s the album you were expecting it to be, then you might want to add the date Friday 2 December to your diary, as that is when a live orchestra will be setting up at The Blues Kitchen to perform a “reimagining” of the LP in full.
Smash-hits like ‘Power’, ‘Runaway’, and ‘Monster’ are just some of the tracks from the album set to be performed during the set.
In a description for the upcoming event, The Blues Kitchen Manchester said: “Kanye’s career-defining record, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is widely seen as one of the last decade’s greatest albums [so] we’re incredibly excited to re-interpret this cult classic with a 13-piece orchestra formed of the UK’s finest classically trained musicians, using a unique musical score.”
‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ will be performed in full right here in Manchester / Credit: The Blues Kitchen Manchester
On top of the influential album being performed in full, fans can also expect to hear “some extra Kanye classics to finish off the night” too.
Re:imagine My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy will be live at The Blues Kitchen Manchester on Friday 2 December, and tickets are set to go on sale at 10am next week on Tuesday 16 August.
Emily Sergeant -
4th July 2022 
