Some foodie treats for Bank Holiday CityLife
THE May day bank holiday weekend is here, bringing with it another long weekend for many of us.
If you’re lucky enough to have an extra day off on Monday May 1, there are plenty of ways to make the most of it in and around Greater Manchester.
From music festivals to street food fairs , there’s something going on for everyone.
We’ve picked out a few of the highlights to help you plan your weekend. FOOD and drink: B.EAT STREET Summer Weekender Street food and drink development B.Eat Street is kicking off the first in a new series of Summer Weekenders until tomorrow.
The Deansgate Mews venue reopened last month with two new bars - Junior Jackson’s, serving up bourbon and blues, and The Golden Pineapple, a Cuban-style cocktail bar and the promise of a new programme of pop-up parties, and as of this weekend, here they are.
Two hundred free drinks will be given away to the first people turning up each day this weekend, and there’ll also be street food from Eat New York, Dirty Revolution, Paella Y Tapas and Burger Bear. Music: Sounds from the Other City Salford’s Sounds From The Other City festival returns for a 12th year tomorrow, turning everything from forgotten pubs and old mills to churches into gig venues showcasing the best new music.
Acts to watch for this year include Liverpool-based Iranian rapper Farhood, Halifax dream-pop trio The Orielles, experimental sound project OTOMO X (comprising Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan of Savages with Martin Dubka), Americana legend Simon Joyner, and hotly-tipped Manc lo-fi indie duo Luxury Death.
There’s far more than music to discover, with pop-up poetry performances from Manc collective Young Identity, a musical theatre show at The King’s Arms and a karaoke, spoken word and pizza party (because why not?) at Italian restaurant Vero Moderno all part of this year’s programme.
Tickets cost £23 from soundsfromtheothercity.com . Food and drink: GRUB’s final food fair at Alphabet Brewery After announcing their new home at Manchester’s Mayfield Depot this week, the team behind food fair GRUB are saying goodbye to their current spot at Alphabet Brewery with one last hurrah this weekend.
The event will take over the North Western Street brewery for a final time today, with a line-up of traders including The Gravy Train Poutine, The Otto-Men, Pit Gangsta’s Texas BBQ, SKAUS, The BarnHouse Bistro and ChouChoux.
Doors will be open from 12 noon to 10pm, although food tends to sell out sooner so it’s best to get down as early as possible. Clubbing: Prince Party at Rebellion Manchester Last week marked the first anniversary of music icon Prince’s death, and this weekend Manchester is hosting the mother of all purple parties in honour of the star.
Organised by This Is A Tribute, the club night will be held at Rebellion on Whitworth Street West today (11pm to 3.30am), featuring a playlist packed full of Prince hits and other songs from his era, plus purple lighting, smoke, balloons and a shrine.
Tickets cost £5 in advance and are available from Skiddle . Film: Spike is 60 at HOME As part of the Spike is 60 Festival - a programme of events marking the 60th birthday of celebrated film director Spike Lee - First Street cinema and arts hub HOME is hosting a special screening of Bamboozled, Lee’s 2001 satire on the creation of a modern day minstrel show.
After the screening, there will be a chance to dig deeper into the film with a panel discussion hosted by Akua Gyamfi, founder of The British Blacklist.
The screening takes place tomrrow at 3.20pm. Tickets cost £5 from homemcr.org . Food and drink: Blackjack Fifth Birthday Brewtap Five years old and consistently one of Manchester’s best breweries, Blackjack celebrates its birthday with a very special bank holiday brewtap this weekend. The Gould Street brewery will be opening its doors for beer, live music and street food today and tomorrow, when the team will also be introducing their new beer Gyle 1000, described as a big hoppy EPA. Entry is free. Food and drink: The Fado launch at 1116 Chester Road Stretford’s new bistro 1116 Chester Road - from the owners of awardwinning neighbourhood bar The Sip Club - hosts a new pop-up every month and this turn it’s Portugese street food trader The Fado’s turn on the pans.
Chef Mauro Felix, originally from Lisbon, will be kicking off his May residency there on Monday May 1, with a menu including Portugese steak and fish dishes, peri-peri chicken, marinated pigs’ ears and flaming sausages. To make a booking call 0161 451 3088.
Wahaca Manchester celebrates Cinco de Mayo with free tasters of its new menu Theatre: HOAX - Our Right to Hope at The Lowry Inspired by the suicide of a young poet from Manchester named Rob, HOAX is a massively ambitious project which takes in a stage musical, a graphic novel and a phone app – all of which are combined in these two performances at The Lowry tomorrow (7pm) and Monday (2pm and 7pm).
It’s a hugely impressive and important example of how art can be used to tackle mental health stigma. Tickets cost £13.15 and are available from thelowry.com . Food and drink: Brooklyn Brewery takeover at Yard & Coop Northern Quarter fried chicken joint Yard and Coop is welcoming New York’s Brooklyn Brewery for a fourcourse beer-paired meal on bank holiday Monday.
The meal, hosted by Brooklyn brand ambassador Chris Moore from 6-8pm on May 1, costs £20 per person, visit yardandcoop.com to make a reservation. Market: Marketfest at Artisan Spinningfields’ Artisan and Etsy Manchester will once again join forces to host a bumper market this Bank Holiday. Expect pizza marking, glitter facepainting, and cupcake making and more alongside all the stellar stalls from the arts and craft gurus at Etsy. The Marketfest is free entry, and takes place from 12pm to 5pm in Artisan on The Avenue, Spinningfields.