A festival dedicated entirely to the wonderful world of sushi is coming to Manchester this year.

Whether you love a good plate of makizushi, if you’re more of a Nigiri person, or your go-to is a temaki, this event is bound to your cup of tea.

Pencilled in for April 21st – 23rd 2022 at Audacious Church on Trinity Way, the Manchester Sushi Festival will welcome some of the city’s best sushi parlours and chefs, who will give guests the opportunity to sample everything the Japanese cuisine has to offer.

@louishansel / Unsplash

Sushi lovers will be able to sample a whole array of unusual delicacies, such as ‘designer sushi’ and ‘super sushi’ – if you know, you know. 

There will also be a selection of other Japanese specialties on offer, including ramen and tempura.

And vegans and veggies – fear not! There will be plenty of plant-based options for guests to enjoy, too. 

As well as the vast selection of sushi vendors to choose from, there will also be workshops hosted by Food Sorcery that will teach guests how to make their very own sushi from home – though it is worth noting that the workshops run every hour and are on a strictly first come first served basis.

@thomasmarban / Unsplash

There will also be Japanese inspired art classes, fashion pop ups, live music and DJs – as well as plenty of Japanese beer to hand, too. 

The festival will run for four hours each day between the hours of 3pm and 7pm.

For more information and to buy tickets, which are priced at an outrageously reasonable price of £20pp, by the way, click here.

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the magical world of Harry Potter, an epic movie marathon complete with afternoon tea and cocktails is coming to Manchester.

King Street Townhouse will be marking the occasion appropriately by hosting the movie marathon of all movie marathons in their very own cinema, which seats only a handful of people at a time for the ultimate viewing experience.

The vintage-style cinema will be showing every film from the Harry Potter franchise across two weekends this month, complete with a tasty afternoon tea menu and wizardry-themed cocktails.

King Street Town House

The Harry Potter movie marathon costs £65pp which includes your afternoon tea, all of your in-cinema treats (including popcorn and sweets) and the ticket for one movie screening. Guests can choose which movie from the franchise they’d like to watch.

There are a number of other packages to choose from if Harry Potter isn’t your cup of tea, including the ‘Movie Night In’ package; this gives guests exclusive use of the whole private cinema to themselves, with the party given free rein to pick any movie, documentary or sporting event to watch.

There is also the ‘Reunion Cinema Package’, which gives guests and their friends and family private use of the cinema, pick of the flicks, and also the King Street Townhouse Wine Cellar where a three-course dinner with wine will be available.

King Street Town House

The full Harry Potter movie marathon schedule is as follows:

• Friday January 21st – Philosopher’s Stone, 1pm & Chamber of Secrets, 4pm.
• Saturday January 22nd – Prisoner of Azkaban, 1pm & Goblet of Fire, 4pm.
• Sunday January 23rd – Order of the Phoenix, 1pm & The Half-Blood Prince, 4pm.
• Friday January 28th – Prisoner of Azkaban, 1pm & Goblet of Fire, 4pm.
• Saturday January 29th – Order of the Phoenix, 1pm & The Half-Blood Prince, 4pm.
• Sunday January 30th – The Deathly Hallows Part 1, 1pm & The Deathly Hallows Part 2, 4pm.

For more information and to get yourself booked in, visit the King Street Town House website here.

Van Gogh Alive, the world-famous immersive exhibition dedicated to the work of Vincent Van Gogh, will be staying put in Media City for an extra month.

After welcoming a staggering 120,000 visitors since its arrival in Salford back in October 2021, the art exhibition has announced a last minute extension of one month, meaning it will stay put until until February 27th instead of its original departure date of January 23rd.

The exhibition has been visited by a number of famous faces during it’s stay at Media City, including the likes of Gary Neville, actresses Jorgie Porter and Dame Maureen Lipman, who
said: “No wonder the world has gone mad for this exhibition – it made my heart sing and feet
dance.”

Van Gogh Alive

Van Gogh Alive

It is currently the world’s most visited immersive art exhibition, having mesmerised a global audience of over 8 million across seventy cities. 

Throughout the last few months, Mancunians have been able to immerse themselves among 3,000 images from Gogh’s vast catalogue of work – including iconic works like Starry Night, Sunflowers and lesser-known paintings that were inspired by his love of Japanese wood prints.

The exhibition also offers immersive experiences for art fans to get stuck into – the life-sized recreation of one of his most famous pieces, ‘Van Gogh’s Bedroom’ brings the painting to life while allowing visitors to sit on Van Gogh’s bed, his chair, use his mirror, and pose for a photo.

Budding artists can also try their hands at using Gogh’s techniques and learning his craft to create their very own masterpiece in the Art Activity Area.

Van Gogh Alive

Van Gogh Alive

Sounds a bit better than your old school trips to a dusty art gallery, doesn’t it?

The exhibition also supports The Christie charity by using the experience as a platform to help raise funds to continue its work in cancer care, research, and education.

Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to make a donation to the charity when either purchasing tickets or while at the exhibition.

Van Gogh Alive can be found at Salford’s Media City until February 27th 2022. For more information and to book your own tickets, visit the Van Gogh Alive website.