Sustainable Swap Shop @ Beehive Studio
Saturday 18th January
Looking to give a big F-YOU to the damaging effects of fast fashion, this Saturday sees a unique event head to Beehive Studios – a Swap Shop where you can donate any of your unwanted clothes and accessories and still come away with plenty of new clobber. There’ll also be a Vegan Bake Sale, cups of tea, plenty of chat and everything else you could ever wish for.
80’s Brunch @ NWS
Saturday 18th January
Combining two of my most favourite things – the 80’s and eating, all BrickHouse Social NWS need to do is put Robocop on the telly and crack open the bottles of Bucky and they’ve got themselves the Best Event of the Year™ . Before then though this 80’s Bottomless Brunch still sounds mega. There’s 80’s food, 80’s tunes and 80’s cocktails, everything anyone needs on a Saturday afternoon. Good idea this.
MCR Open Exhibition @ HOME
Saturday 18th January
This Saturday sees HOME host a major open-entry art show that looks to celebrate the creative talents of the people of Greater Manchester. Starting this week, the HOME Gallery walls will be filled with work from over 500 residents, selected by a panel consisting of art experts and community representatives. It’s open to everyone and it’s free – so there’s no excuses not to go down.
Scottish Cheese @ Pie & Ale
Monday 20th January
There’s a bunch of cheese enthusiasts who call themselves ‘Homage2Fromage’ (the pun game is impressive this week) who host events around the North West, offering up all-you-can-eat cheese, chatter and of course – a ton of wine. Well, this week sees them head on over to Pie & Ale in the Northern Quarter for a special Scottish Cheese event – showcasing some of the best cheeses from north of the border. Will there be an Irn Bru cheese? Probably not. Buckfast cheese? Again, I doubt it. But I guarantee some actual nice cheeses will turn up and you can scoff it to your heart’s content.
Kay Mellor’s Band of Gold
Tuesday 21st – 25th January
I remember watching Band of Gold as a kid and being mesmerised by the clobber some of the women wore on it – and looking back they proper did make them up a little bit too much – perhaps the wardrobe designer had a relative who worked in Stolen From Ivor and got them all group discount? I dunno. Anyway, the story revolves around a group of women working in the sex industry while there’s a killer on the loose. This production at The Lowry looks mega and features a whole host of people you’ll know off the telly.
An Audience with David Hoyle – Turn On Fest
Wednesday 22nd January
Just in case you don’t know, David Hoyle is a performance artist, avant-garde cabaret artist, singer, actor, comedian and film director. I think it’s clear for anyone with a browser and access to the internet that I didn’t actually fully know who he was either, but upon extensive research I’m now fully clued up on what he’s all about. You can be too at this ‘An Audience with’ event down at Hope Mill this week, a rare opportunity to see David off stage, in person and entirely himself. It’s part of their brilliant Turn On Festival that’s running throughout January.
Manchester Beer & Wine Festival 2020
From Thursday 23rd January
Taking place in the colossal GMEX – this year’s Manchester Beer and Cider Festival looks set to be the biggest yet with over 175 handpumps, all spewing out the greatest and tastiest beers, ales and ciders known to man. It’s always a cracking good time at these things – everyone is up for getting smashed and it’s really, really easy to do so. Go and enjoy yourself – you deserve it babes.
Strip! Talk: Nineties Bangers @ National Football Museum
Thursday 23rd January
The 90’s were a terrible time for fashions, something that many youngsters don’t seem to understand nowadays – probably because they either weren’t even born then or they were too busy being spoon-fed Spaghetti Hoops in a highchair. As someone who was there – they were shite. Trust me. Nothing reflects this truth more than the footy shirts at the time – they were bat-shit crazy – and you’ll definitely never see much of the like again, ever. This event will feature a host of guests talking about the 90’s kits including Trevor Sinclair, Settpace, Sophie Hird and Finest favourite Danny Fahey.
Hatch Takeover – Surco’s Winter Warmer
Friday 24th January
We’re big fans of the Surco gang here at Finest Towers and it’s all because of 2 reasons. One is that they’re a bunch of bloody legends – the kind of people who you would happily take round to meet your mum for a Sunday Roast. The second reason? They put on some of the city’s best nights – where you’re guaranteed to have a proper stonking good time. They’re taking over Hatch this week with a ‘Winter Warmer’ – much better than a night in with a hot cup of Horlicks and some Homer Simpson slippers.
GRUB ExtraVEGANza
Friday 24th – 26th January
They’re big advocates of the vegan side of street food down at GRUB, so much so that every week they put on their Plant Powered Sundays – where everything has to be vegan OR ELSE. Well this week they’ll be hosting an ExtraVEGANza (excellent pun work there people!), where it’s ALL vegan, including (presumably) everyone’s shoes, shampoo and breath mints. They’ve got a massive list of participants, plus Stall will be introducing a brand-new Vegan market. It’s at Red Bank in the Green Quarter too now, just in case you didn’t know.
Chinese New Year Celebrations
Friday 24th January
I’m sure I’ll include this in next week’s ‘Things to do’ too but it’s also going in this one because not only will it pad out the numbers, but it’s a biggie and so you need to get yourself prepared. This year is the Year of the Rat, and I personally think that the little rodents have got a terrible reputation that’s actually unfounded. Some of the best people in the world are rats – there’s Splinter off the Turtles, Roland Rat and… actually that’s it. Two. Anyway – expect the usual celebrations around the city centre next week to see in the new year.
