There’s a crisp festival happening at a bar in Stockport this weekend, and we are absolutely obsessed with the idea.
Bask, the Stockport bar that’s become one of the region’s best nights out according to our very local Stopfordian, is laying on bowls upon bowls of crisps as part of its first-ever crisp festival.
Even better it’s entirely free – with both entry to the festival and the crisps themselves costing punters absolutely nothing.
Taking place at the end of the bank holiday weekend, Monday 28 August will see Stockport bar Bask roll-out tables full of crisps in a host of different shapes, flavours, and sizes.
And whilst it’s not been made entirely clear exactly which of our favourite crisps will be on offer on Monday, an A-board outside the bar definitely gives a hint.
Promotional artwork for the crisp festival suggests you’ll find everything from Skips and Quavers to Wheat Munchies, Squares, Pringles and Monster Munch.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: Bask / Mark Brown Studio
Packets of Hula Hoops, Wotsits, McCoy’s, Walker’s, Roysters, Scampi Fries, Doritos, and Frazzles also look set to make an appearance at the big crisp bonanza.
Sharing the news on Twitter, Bask wrote: “You might’ve seen our events board stating CRISP FESTIVAL, and wondered what the hell that is? Well I’ll tell ya… On bank holiday Monday, August 28th, between 2pm – 6pm, we’re hosting the very first FESTIVAL OF CRISPS to take place in Stockport.”
They continued: “We’ll have tables and tables of bowls of crisps, literally as many brands as you can think of, saddled up next to bread and butter to make the ultimate crisp butty.
You might’ve seen our events board stating CRISP FESTIVAL, and wondered what the hell that is? Well I’ll tell ya…
On bank holiday Monday, August 28th, between 2pm – 6pm, we’re hosting the very first FESTIVAL OF CRISPS to take place in Stockport 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ydWh70Obco
“Not only that, we’ll have a resident Bask DJ dropping some cheesy beats to soundtrack your day whilst you crunch.”
“And because we’re good to you, it’s free entry and FREE crisps. Go on then.”
Kicking off at 2pm and running until 6pm, head down to Bask this bank holiday Monday to get your ultimate crisp fix.
Featured image – Bask
Eats
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Georgina Pellant -
20th August 2023 
