Free things to do in Manchester this weekend, ft. Guerrilla Eats, Boak and Bailey + more

This week we’ve got the ultimate in triple whammies with food, beer and music. What more could you want? Especially when it’s all for free and all on your doorstep.

Love Your Local Market Foodie Friday at Stockport Market
Launched as part of 2013’s Love Your Local Market, Stockport’s Foodie Friday celebrates its first birthday this weekend with an evening of European-style street food munching. Hungry souls can be soothed by the likes of NomNommi, a new street food vendor inspired by Vietnam, My Street Food, offering up kofta flatbreads, courgette and broad bean fritters and other tasty morsels, flame-smoked salmon and Anglesey mussels from Chuck Wagon BBQ – and much, much more. There’ll also be entertainment aplenty with live music and flashmob performances.
Fri 16 May, Stockport Market Hall, Market Place, SK1 1EU, 6 – 9pm, FREE, www.facebook.com

Hardy’s Well Acoustic Explosion
It’s always good to be able to sneak some free live music into our weekend freebie roundup, and this time we’re in luck thanks to an Acoustic Explosion at Hardy’s Well this Saturday. With 9 acts already confirmed – including local lad and singer-songwriter John Ainsworth, The Bear Around Your Neck (pictured) and the France-born, Macclesfield-raised Hugo Kensdale – the night promises to transform the spacious innards of the Rusholme pub into a chilled-out acoustic den to make this Saturday one to hang out with friends and sink a few jars. Perfect, no?
Sat 17 May, Hardy’s Well, 257 Wilmslow Road, M14 5LN, Starts 8pm, FREE, www.facebook.com

Guerrilla Eats #streetfoodparty
More edible action as the street food collective Guerrilla Eats finally returns – and this time, expect a mighty all-dayer sesh in their new home of Salford’s Greengate Viaduct. They’ve lined up many of the usual suspects, including the best ice cream in the city from Ginger’s Comfort Emporium, ‘food on another level’ with Love From the Streets, wood-fired pizza from Streatza and more. To wash all this down there’s also a fully stocked bar, featuring Salford’s own First Chop Brewing Arm, and DJs on board throughout the day to get the party fired up. Read our full preview here.
Sat 17 May, Greengate Square, off Chapel Street, Salford M4 1SX, 1pm – 11pm, FREE entry, @Guerrilla_Eats

Boak and Bailey on tour at Port Street Beer House
Head down to Port Street Beer House this Sunday and you’ll find beer whizzkids Jessica Boak and Ray Bailey parked in a cosy corner ready for an informal chat about their new book, ‘Brew Britannia: The Strange Rebirth of British Beer’. With the British craft beer industry enjoying somewhat of a renaissance, Boak and Bailey will be on board to answer any of your questions, and if you’re lucky there may be a reading from the book that is to be published this June. Exploring the role of city bankers, hippie microbrewers, style gurus and more, this book reveals how punter power has yanked the humble pint back into the limelight, and looks set to be a hit with any beer fan.
Sun 18 May, Port Street Beer House, 39-41 Port Street, M1 2EQ, Starts 2pm, www.portstreetbeerhouse.co.uk