From free neighbourhood festivals and smash-hit theatre shows to acclaimed exhibitions and, of course, the return of Pride, Manchester’s August Bank Holiday weekend schedule offers something for everyone as we clock off early for the last summer blowout in the world’s best city.
From Friday through Monday, Altrincham’s best bars, restaurants and cafes unite for a town-wide festival of food, music and family fun, from floor-filling DJ sets and film screenings to ice skating and bowling.
Altrincham Live! Highlights include a Friday Cheese and Wine Night at Alibi, cocktail specials at Gin Can and an open mic night at Tavern on the Green, as well as a Taco Takeover at Bounceback Foods to support food poverty around the country. The Con Club hosts a stellar DJ line-up every day, while both House Kitchen & Bar and Kennedy’s host an eclectic schedule of live music.
Click below for the full events listing.
Free to attend throughout the weekend, the wildly successful live music weekender Den Fest transforms Lions Den into Manchester’s own Pyramid Stage with a blistering lineup of emerging talent from across the region and around the UK.
This year’s headliners include local shoegaze legends By Wednesday, raucous Scottish four-piece Ecko and groove-studded reggae masters Madame Claude.
Elsewhere, there’ll be sets from Between the Lines, Dakota Avenue, The Juice, Rolling Thunder and more, as well as DJ slots for XS Manchester’s Hywel Evans, Radio X’s Adam Brown and Capital’s Nige Clucas.
Each night, Lions Den pledges to keep the good times rolling with free afterparties running until the early hours.
Taking over Cathedral Gardens for the full weekend, Manchester’s biggest celebration of Italian culture returns with a blockbuster programme of irresistible food, free-flowing drinks and live music.
Founded by the owner of Northern Quarter favourite Salvi’s, Festa Italiana promises its biggest iteration yet having attracted over 40,000 visitors last year.
Free to attend, guests at this year’s festival can expect an unmissable schedule of activities, Italian markets, cookery demonstrations and more, with food stalls by Birra Morrano, Poreti Piazza, Salvi’s Spritz Bar and more.
For a slice of spectacular theatre away from the storied chaos of Manchester city centre over the August Bank Holiday, the searing smash-hit Tudor satire Six brings whipsmart creativity and irresistible entertainment to The Lowry with a pop-infused reimagination of Henry VIII’s wives.
Divorced, Beheaded, Live – one by one, the problematic King’s spouses take to the mic to remix five centuries of heartbreak into a single evening of defiantly rebellious girl power, as these unsung icons of history deliver a breathtakingly imaginative original score with infectious melodies and ingenious lyricism.
After entertaining over half a million people in 2023, Bolton’s annual Food & Drink Festival is back with another colossal carnival of artisanal produce and special guests.
Alongside over two hundred independent traders set to fill the town’s streets, the bank holiday special features a staggering array of events for families, foodies and budding chefs alike. Decorated chef James Martin returns for a 14th year with a handful of new recipe demonstrations, while Ainsley Harriott himself leads his own masterclass in fun, fresh, accessible cuisine. On Sun 25, Bolton Albert Halls hosts the ever-popular Fawlty Towers Dining Experience, following the immersive murder mystery caper Sheer Luck Holmes at the Octagon on Saturday night.
See the full programme below.
Open from 10am until 5pm over the weekend, Manchester Museum’s free, captivating exhibition Wild explores our fragile but hopeful dynamic with the natural world, taking over the Exhibition Hall with a fascinating examination of the ways in which people around the world are rebuilding our connections with a planet in jeopardy.
Featuring an immersive installation, audio, film and interactive elements, as well as an array of natural history collections and artworks, Wild transports visitors across a captivatingly diverse global topography and a wide array of voices, from Aboriginal elders to academic researchers, to champion the innovative methods used to restore biodiversity and shape a sustainable future environment while challenging how we think about and interact with nature.
Open to visitors until Sun 1 Sep, Marshmallow Laser Feast’s Sweet Dreams promises a deliciously surreal visual extravaganza which digs into grand existential ideas about appetite, desire and our place in the food chain.
Billed as a playful, satirical, all-consuming sensory onslaught which blends motion graphics, gaming and cinema, Sweet Dreams invites guests into the kaleidoscopic world of a declining fast food empire from the golden era of child-focused marketing and turbocharged E-numbers. Facing an uncertain future, cynically wacky in-house mascot Chicky Ricky (voiced by viral comedy sensation Munya Chawawa) embarks on a quest to discover what people really want, leading visitors on a riotously absurd journey into the strangest corners of modern food production and their power over our consumer habits.
Held on the last weekend of every month, the MediaCity Maker’s Market hosts two days of the region’s best makers, bakers and creators for a delightful jamboree of arts, crafts, food, coffee and live music, situated by the tranquil waters of Salford Quays.
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Thu 22 Aug 2024
Back and somehow bigger than ever, Manchester’s world-famous Pride celebrations transform the city into a joyous carnival of inclusivity this weekend, in celebration of the local LGBTQ+ community.
Alongside the iconic Gay Village Party (2nd release tickets on sale now), the dazzling street parade and performances from Rita Ora and Jessie J, this year’s programme features an endless assortment of entertainment for families, creatives and even dog-lovers, while a wide array of Manchester venues from Afflecks to Ducie Street Warehouse stage their own alternative celebrations across the weekend.