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End of May Bank Holiday
Whaaaay! It’s another bank holiday everyone! Another 3-day weekend! Another 4 day working week! Another period of time where the money in your wallet just seems to vanish into thin air like a fart in the wind. Well as you’d expect for a large conurbation like Manchester there’s A LOT of things happening around the city to commemorate this day where Barclays and Natwest decide to have a day off and spend some of that £500 billion that they owe us. Luckily for you we’ve put together a lovely round up of things that are happening in and around the city. Check it out here…
25+ Things to Do in Manchester This Late May Bank Holiday Weekend
Our Friends Electrik @ The Refuge
Friday 24th – Sunday 26th May
The last Refuge Weekender for a while, this weekend’s endeavours revolve mostly around music, art and a lot of family orientated activities. As a man who will never have children you may think that the weekend is completely wasted on me but it’s not – there’s still plenty of things going on for you if you are ‘sans-sprog’. Friday kicks off with TJ Lawson and Neil Diablo on the decks in the Public Bar until late, and then on Saturday the Whitworth are taking over The Den and the Courtyard with their own gallery, art workshops and hopefully some of them potato shapes that were so popular in primary school. Finally, on Sunday the gang at Our Kids Social are putting on loads of activities and Urban Decay are doing a ‘Cosmetics Masterclass’ which has something to do with makeup and will probably teach me a thing or two about how to put on my eye shadow better.
GRUB @ Islington Mill – May
Saturday 25th May
Just in case you didn’t know, GRUB have extended their street food tentacles into Salford and are running a monthly get together in the brilliant Islington Mill. This week you’ll find an unparalleled selection of food vendors – all bashing out the best of foodstuffs in which to enjoy while you drink copious amounts of beer, cider and wine. This week you can expect food from the likes of The Greedy Gringo, Shakahara, Bun Bo Yo, Chou Choux and plenty more. You’re always guaranteed a top time with the GRUB lot in charge and this won’t be any different.
KRS-One @ Manchester Academy
Saturday 25th May
Probably the second best concert you’ll be able to attend this week, KRD-One is coming to Manchester Academy and it’s guaranteed to be an absolute belter. That guarantee comes straight from the Ben Brown Lifetime Guarantee Centre where if you’re not satisfied with your purchase and/or attendance at an event he will personally come round to your house and cook you a cheese and ham toastie (on his own Breville) and supply you with an evening of Lambrini, Buckfast and Cherry B’s. KRS-One is one of hip-hop’s biggest talents, so I’m 100% sure that I won’t be doing any of that this week – for anyone. Here’s some tunes…
Envirolution Festival 2019 @ Platt Fields Park
Saturday 25th May
I think it’s painfully clear now that the Earth is pretty much fucked. If a nice old bloke like David Attenborough has to get his slippers on, walk out the door, head to a convention and tell everyone that they’re a bunch of plastic using suckers then it must be bad. The thing is though – we’re actually staring to listen. Which might actually sort it all out – fingers crossed. For fear of disappointing David, we’re turning lights off when we go to sleep, turning the tap off when we brush our teeth and are using £30 metal containers to hold our water instead of plastic that’s going to get stuck in a turtle’s armpit. Firmly part of these endeavours, Envirolution Festival is back at Platt Fields Park this week with a line-up of street food, music and general entertainment to keep you happy. The weather should be pretty nice too so you’re in for a treat.
Sting & Shaggy: Actually in concert together. Really.
Saturday 25th May
So she caught you on the counter? Saw you banging on the sofa? She even caught you in the shower? I mean – come on Shaggy – lock your doors mate – especially if you’ve got a girl coming around. Actually, I reckon I know who can help you with all of your troubles – Sting. Not only does he hate people standing close to him, he’s also an advocate of Tantric Sex – meaning he sometimes goes at it for more than 12 hours at a time. This means he will certainly lock his doors, turn off the slow cooker and ensure that he’s not going to be disturbed at all. So Shaggy, you need to speak to Sting about all this. Ah!? What’s this? You’re going on tour with him? How the hell did that happen?! I don’t get it.
1940’s on the East Lancashire Railway
Saturday 25th May
The 40’s were one of my favourite decades growing up. I used to love being huddled in an Anderson Shelter in the back yard, Luftwaffe soaring overhead, dropping shit loads of dynamite onto my head. I was also a massive fan of queuing up at the butchers for 4 sausages and a pack of butter that needed to last for 3 weeks – always a pleasure. I tell you what else was good – the fashions. Oh and the dancing. And the music. Ahhh all of these memories will come flooding back to me this week when the East Lancashire Railway puts on an all-singing, all-dancing celebration of the 40’s with loads of live entertainment, music, dancing, vehicle exhibitions and historical displays, vintage stalls, battle re-enactments and more.
GóbéFest
Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th May
Never in a month of Sundays did I think there would be a Transylvanian festival anywhere in the world, never mind Manchester. Well there is so get over it. This week sees one of the largest celebrations of arts & culture from the Carpathian Basin head to Albert Square and so you can expect a heady mix of authentic folk arts, music, dance, food and drink from the most diverse region in Europe. There will be artists and collaborators from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria probably wearing some rather odd traditional clobber and playing instruments which haven’t seen the light of day for 400 years. Also know this – there will be “Transylvanian celtic punk rock, Hungarian speed folk, gypsy jazz and more”. That. Sounds. Brilliant.
Hulme Street Party
Sunday 26th May
Right, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this but as long as you keep it under wraps, don’t tell your dad and just shut up and dance – I’ll let you off. This Sunday there’s going to be a proper mega street party in Hulme, featuring the Red Eye Hifi lot (and hopefully their brilliant speakers) and a whole host of other performers. Head towards Niamos and follow your ears from around 3pm (ish). I think we’re safe talking about it on here – nobody reads this drivel anyway.
Fairfield Cider Fête 2019
Sunday 26th May
Something unfortunate happened to me recently. Very unfortunate. After 33 years of serious lager drinking, sipping Stella in the park and downing Belgian beers like they were going out of fashion I realised that my body just couldn’t handle it anymore. I don’t know if I’ve become celiac, or if I’m just a wet blanket but drinking beer now sends my head and guts west and things start to get a bit bonkers. A mighty ‘Huzzah!’ to cider then because it’s kept me up and out these last few weeks and this weekend sees the greatest celebration of the apple-y stuff with the Fairfield Cider Fete – a chance to try over 90 different ciders from over 20 different brewers. The weather should be pretty nice too so you’re in for a treat.
Wallace & Gromit: Screening and Live Orchestra
Sunday 26th May
“Cracking cheese Gromit!” That’s it. That’s the entirety of my knowledge of Wallace & Gromit. Oh, I think there might be a penguin in there somewhere?! And there was a bit where he put on the wrong trousers and found a fiver?! Anyway, regardless of my very limited knowledge you can still thoroughly enjoy this evening of plasticine funnies and orchestral overtures at The Lowry. So basically you get to watch Wallace & Gromit while listening to an actual orchestra – sounds mega.
Tales of Manchester’s Graveyards
Tuesday 28th May
One of my favourite past times, especially after a wedding or a christening is to walk around the graveyard of the church and look at how old people were when they died. A lot of the time it’s really, really young – the perils of rickets, scurvy and whooping cough really brought the age expectancy down during the Victorian times for sure. If this is something you enjoy too then you’ll love this talk at the stunning Portico Library this week – ‘Tales of Manchester’s Graveyards’. You’ll be treated to morbid and bizarre tales of Manchester’s many burial sites, as well as learning about ‘resurrectionists’, anatomy schools and of course – the Manchester Mummy. Oh and a headless corpse they found once.
