Campfield Market

St John’s has a new weekly habit. Campfield Market brings life back into three Grade II-listed buildings with a simple idea: useful, good-value shopping and eating that supports independent traders. Developed by Allied London and operated by Department, the Campfield campus is better known during the week for studios, workshops and tech start-ups; on Saturdays it switches gears and opens to the city.

Under the glass roof of Campfield, up to 50 hand-picked makers set out stalls with art, collectibles and small-batch produce. The line-up rotates, so every visit turns up something different, from pantry bits to giftable one-offs.

Next door, Campfield Studios becomes a European-style food hall. Expect a family-owned Spanish brewery pour, a compact wine bar, and a dozen counters focused on quality rather than gimmicks: charcuterie sliced to order, briny oysters, proper sourdough, sushi, farmhouse cheeses, pickles and tapas. Build a sharing board, grab cutlery, and take a seat in the 120-capacity hall at the centre of the market.

Castlefield House is the sociable end: hot food, coffee and crowd-pleasers done well. Think dumplings, paella, pizza, bratwurst, slow-smoked plates and poke bowls, with plenty of family-friendly options and space to perch. Out in the courtyard a small produce market keeps things practical, with a greengrocer, butcher and fishmonger back on local doorsteps alongside fresh, organic and locally sourced goods.

GRUB curates and runs the whole thing, drawing on a decade of backing up-and-coming traders and a clear sustainability streak. The result is modern without losing sight of Manchester’s grafting market history. It helps that the campus has the scale to breathe: during the week it’s work; at the weekend it’s a walkable district for browsing, snacking and meeting mates.

You’ll also bump into The Weekender, a rolling programme that stitches together stalls, stages and pop-ups to keep the energy up and the offer changing across the site and into nearby streets.