Freight Island has just announced a huge line-up for its Spring/Summer season, with a free-to-attend festival series.
The huge urban street food and entertainment destination, located at Depot Mayfield just beyond Manchester Piccadilly, will be back open in full swing from Easter weekend.
The huge venue is promising its most electrifying season yet, announcing names including David Rodigan, Greg Wilson, Crazy P (DJ set), Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and more.
Spring/Summer will run all the way through from April until September, inviting world-renowned DJs and Greater Manchester’s finest home-grown talent to the stage.
Also on the line-up will be Norman Jay, Luke Una and his special É Soul Cultura, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, and more.
Support acts will include some of Manchester’s most celebrated DJs and collectives, including the likes of Sit N Bun, Supernature Disco, SK1 Records, Me Gusta Collective, Semi Skimmed Edits, Ghosts of Garage, to name a few.
On top of all the Spring/Summer programme, Freight Island will have regular events like the pop club night Cherrybomb, mass karaoke, and creative workshops.
There’s a new food trader in the mix, too – Liverpool institution Pattersons, a chicken shop that brines its meat for more than 24 hours in a special herb and spice mix, is joining Freight Island.
Pattersons is joining existing traders like Voodoo Ray’s pizza, Lazy Tony’s Lasagnaria slab shack, Mega Gyros, Payal (Indian and Nepalese street food), Fuku (pan-Asian street food), open-fire cooking at Smoking Coal and cheesecakes on a stick from Oh My Cheesecake.
And on Sundays, there’s the return of the Seconds carvery, with unlimited access to all the trimmings.
Freight Island will fully reopen from Friday 29 March. Its opening hours will be from 4pm until 11pm on Thursdays, 4pm until 12am on Fridays, 12pm until 12am on Saturdays, and 12pm until 10pm on Sundays.
You can book free tickets for Freight Island’s Spring/Summer programme here.
Freight Island’s Spring/Summer 2024 programme in full (A-Z)
Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) | Crazy P (DJ Set) | David Rodigan | É Soul Cultura | Greg Wilson | Huey Morgan | Luke Una | Maurice Fulton | Norman Jay | Optimo (Espacio) | Raw Silk DJs | Scarlett O’Malley | Sophie Lloyd | Todd Edwards | Abigail Ward | Andi Hanley (Body & Soul) | Andrea Trout | Atiké | Aveidt | Body Heat DJs | Ché Wilson | Contrast DJs | DJ Khanfu | DJ Rasp | Elen Beth Abdi | Freakout Collective | Ghosts Of Garage | Girls On Film | Groovement | Hannah O’Gorman | Hattie Pearson | Jack Farrington | Jamaste DJ | James Greenwood | Jamie Groovement | Jesterman | Jim Bane (Eastern Bloc Records) | Jimmy The Gent | Joey T | Joy Social | Keltoi | Lil’ Minx | Marco Giannini | Marley Reid | Massey | Matty F White | Me Gusta Collective | Metrodome | Mikey D.O.N | Mr Cryptic | Mr Wilson’s Second Liners | Muddy Feet | Neil Clarke (Clapdown Records) | No Boundaries |Nossa! | Obeka | Pablo Blanquito (Idle Moments) | Paul Hughes (Eclectic Circus) |Ralph Ninety | Rev. Austin | Rich Reason | Rick Donohue | Room 90 | Ruby Swallow |Semi Skimmed Edits | Sit N Bun | Sk1 Records | Stells Selections | Sticky Heat |Supernature Disco | Swindells | The Colonel | Tommy P-nuts | Yohan
Hit theatre production set at a house party to visit Manchester on UK tour
Daisy Jackson
Alright then, 24 hour party people, we’ve found a theatre production you might like the sound of – it’s called The House Party, and it’s set in (you guessed it) a house party.
This smash hit production by pioneering theatre company Headlong is set to land at HOME in March as part of the arts venue’s 2025 theatre season.
It tells the tale of a wild 18th birthday party, where Christine is trying to pick up the pieces of her best friend, a newly-dumped Julie (who happens to be the birthday girl).
Themes of class, power and privilege are all explored with a raw intensity as the cast on stage plough through shots and dive head-first into a night that will change everything they know.
The House Party, which has received glowing reviews from previous showings, is filled with ‘privilege, desire and destruction’.
When it stops off in Manchester, its cast will include Bridgerton’s Sesley Hope as Christine, Synnøve Karlsen (Miss Austen, Last Night in Soho) as Julie, and Tom Lewis (Gentleman Jack, Patience) as Jon.
The ensemble of Frantic Assembly performers includes Ines Aresti, Oliver Baines, Cal Connor, Micah Corbin-Powell, Rachael Leonce, Jaheem Pinder and Jamie Randall.
The House Party is written by Laura Lomas and is a reimagining of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie for today’s generation.
It’s directed by Headlong’s artistic director Holly Race Roughan, who directed the Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere of David Edgar’s major new political play The New Real.
The House Party. Credit: Ikin YumThe production will be at HOME. Credit: Supplied
Movement direction will come from Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham.
Prior to the UK tour of The House Party, Headlong celebrated its 50 year anniversary, including the hit production of A Raisin in the Sun which played nationwide.
The House Party will be at HOME in Manchester between 25 and 29 March, 2025 – you can get your tickets HERE.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff
Daisy Jackson
If you’re not a handy person, when something breaks, the temptation is often to abandon or bin it straight away.
But that’s just not how we’re gonna do it here in Greater Manchester any more, with the return of the annual Repair Week to help you learn valuable repair skills and save money at the same time.
Whether it’s tinkering with your bicycle, fixing up your small tech items, or having your furniture re-varnished and upcycled, there are so many places and people who are on a mission to help you fall back in love with your belongings.
There are even workshops to help you put flat-pack furniture together.
Taking place between 3 and 9 March, Repair Week will be the chance to learn skills, fix your stuff, gain repair confidence and find local fixers.
Events throughout the week (and beyond) will be hosted by community groups, businesses and plenty more.
You can sharpen knives, fix zips, and un-wobble chairs with a little hand from local repair heroes.
JillyGDesign Jewellery in Heaton Moor will fix up your sentimental and special jewellery items, while Rag Revival will help you turn unusable textiles into new creations with basic sewing skills.
There are repair cafes popping up all over Greater Manchester where you can take your belongings.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff. Credit: Supplied
Repair Week will highlight schemes like the Manchester Library of Things, where you can borrow the tools and equipment you need for those repair jobs at home.
During the week you’ll also be able to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the incredible Renew Hub, the UK’s biggest reuse hub, where donated items are brought back to life.
Similarly, you’ll be able to get inside the textile recycling centre run by homelessness charity Emmaus Bolton, where you can choose your own fabric from the scrap store and turn it into a very handy draught excluder to keep costs down and your heat in.
Recycle for Greater Manchester’s Repair Week will take place between 3 and 9 March, with workshops, events and resources to help you revive your belongings.
Daisy Jackson -
29th February 2024 
