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A special drive-in Christmas panto is coming to Manchester this year

This looks so good!

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Parking Lot Social

This Christmas a special drive-in festival is coming to town with a big programme of films, party shows and family events – including a socially distanced panto. 

Brought to you by the Parking Lot Social team, the Winter Festival will bring the first parking lot pantomime to Manchester, keeping the centuries-old tradition of the Christmas panto alive.

With theatres set to be closed over the winter months, organisers have commissioned a brand new, 2020 drive-in version of the panto classic Cinderella, with all the essential elements that make the tale so special, as well as a few twists unique to the special ‘drive-in’ format. 

A troupe of nine professional actors will melt hearts as audiences follow Cinders on her adventures, helped by the Fairy Godmother. The specially written show has song and dance routines a-plenty, audience participation galore and a script that takes a light-hearted dig at some of the challenges thrown up by this strangest of years.

Parking Lot Social

As it’s a drive-in event, there will be a crew filming the action and broadcasting the panto from the stage directly onto two massive 40 foot screens – meaning that there’s not a bad seat in the house. 

Safety is at the heart of the event, and audiences take part in the immersive, interactive shows from their own cars. It’s also a completely contactless event ensuring a safe and socially distant experience.

The Winter Festival will feature a 60ft tall rainbow coloured Christmas tree, a giant DJing Santa Claus and the coolest Reindeer to have ever left the North Pole – if the panto isn’t enough for you.

On top of that, a selection of classic and modern Christmas films for all ages will be shown on two gigantic screens with the sound broadcast straight to cars.

Parking Lot Social

There’s also the ‘Big Weekender’, a Silent Disco, Live Cam ‘Car-A-Oke’, Party Bingo and Interactive Quiz, and a Social Kids event for the youngsters, featuring ‘Christmas car-a-oke’, an interactive quiz, three DJ silent disco and Party Bingo hosted by Santa Claus himself.

If you get hungry some of the best local food trucks around will be on site, with customers able to have their orders delivered directly to their cars. Expect classic gourmet burgers, loaded fries, wood-fired pizzas and hot dogs alongside sweet winter warmers including hot chocolate, donuts, toasted nuts, gingerbread men and more. 

To top it off, each night, events finish with a fantastic, festive firework finale.

Tickets are now on sale for the Winter Festival in Manchester, which will take place at the Trafford Centre from December 1st to the 6th – head over to the Parking Lot Social site here for more info and tickets.

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Huge ’80s vs ’90s music festival featuring Vengaboys, 911, Five and more coming to Manchester

The ultimate event for pop music nostalgia

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@vengaboys / Instagram & @Bowlers Manchester / Facebook

All your favourite music acts from the ’80s and ’90s are set to make an epic comeback at a new music festival here in Manchester. 

Now, there’s no disputing that the music born from these two decades is perhaps the best and most iconic the world has to offer – so the idea of an entire music festival built upon it sounds a little too good to be true, doesn’t it?

The 80s V ’90s Festival will be taking over the Bowlers Exhibition Centre where a number of iconic acts from the (you guessed it) 1980s and 1990s will be going head-to-head to put on the show of your lives.

Bowlers Manchester / Facebook

Nostalgic artists confirmed for the line up include the Vengaboys, Five, Limahal, Chesney Hawkes, 911, Lee Latchford Evans, Andi Peters, Samantha Fox and Gary Davies.

Throughout the event, guests will be able to meet and greet the artists, so make sure you get an old school poster ready to sign for those real ’80s and ’90s vibes.

And this line up isn’t the only blast from the past in store for the event – there will also be a number of vendors in attendance who will be selling retro garms and goods.

@vengaboys / Instagram

Sound good?

Well, luckily for you tickets are on sale now! To buy your own, head here.

The festival will be taking place at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre on Saturday January 29th, 2022 between 2pm – 11pm. All guests must provide valid ID proving they are over the age of eighteen.

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You can now spend the night at a haunted museum sleeping in a bodybag

This experience is not for the faint-hearted…

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Ghost Hunters of Stoke on Trent / Facebook & @janjakubnanista / Unsplash

Calling all horror fans: You can now spend the night sleeping in a bodybag in an actual haunted museum. 

Held at the Haunted Museum and Spirit Shop Stoke in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, the popular Ghost Hunters of Stoke team will be giving keen ghost-hunters the opportunity to partake in their very own ghost hunt.

They are offering visitors guided tours, tarot card readings, a seance and spirit board sessions and haunted sleepovers – with the chance to sleep in an actual bodybag, too.

Ghost Hunters of Stoke on Trent / Facebook

The museum boasts ghostly artefacts from all over the world, including a poltergeist mirror containing the spirit of a ‘little girl and a shadow person’ and a replica of the famous Annabelle Doll.

Business owners and long-time ghost hunters Craig Longson and Jason Dean wanted to create somewhere that could put Stoke-on-Trent on the map as a paranormal destination.

Craig told Stoke on Trent Live: “I’ve always wanted to open something like this… We took on the building five weeks ago, and a lot of hard work has gone into turning it into what you see now. We want to give people the wow factor.

“Whether you’re part of an investigations team, or a member of the public, there will always be team members on hand to help. We’ve got the most advanced equipment from all across the world, so we can give everyone the ultimate experience, all under one roof.”

Ghost Hunters of Stoke on Trent / Facebook

Lead investigator Justine Farley also added: “With the space that we’ve got, we’ve got the opportunity to change things up quite regularly, if we want to. As we get new artefacts, we can move things around and add new things. Our team have also got such unique ideas so we can keep things fresh.”

And for any skeptics out there, the ghost hunters themselves claim to have witnessed genuine paranormal activity in the building. Craig said: “Occasionally… It depends what happens. If you’re in a pitch black room and you see something or feel something.”

Justine added: “We’ve all felt that shiver from the top of your head, all the way down to your toes. When we’ve witnessed things like the pram moving on our live video, it made us all go completely cold. It’s a heavy pram, with metal wheels. Witnessing something like that is just amazing.”

You can find out more about The Haunted Museum and Spirit Shop on Facebook, and also keep up to date with the latest investigations from Ghost Hunters of Stoke-on-Trent on Facebook and YouTube.

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The Cube Live Experience is coming to the Arndale if you’re up to the challenge

Know anyone who could take this on?

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ITV

A live experience version of the hit ITV gameshow The Cube is set to land at Manchester’s Arndale, new plans have revealed today.

First airing back in 2009, The Cube sees contestants complete a variety of physically and mentally challenging tasks from within a 4m × 4m × 4m perspex cube in order to win a top prize of £250,000. 

The show has proven to be a huge hit among viewers at home and now, they will get the chance to compete in the famed cube themselves. 

Urban Playground

Urban Playground, the entertainment complex nestled within the Arndale, has announced that The Cube Live Experience will be coming to the shopping centre for guests to partake in their very own gameshow.

The Cube Live will feature a whole array of the most popular games and challenges from the original TV series, and will allow teams of up to four to compete as both single and two players.

According to Urban Playground, participants will have to ‘overcome extreme nerves and intense pressure’ to take on the ‘deceptively simple’ tasks.

Urban Playground

The Cube Live will also come with its very own Cube Bar for participants to enjoy a celebratory drink after their challenge (or one to soften the blow of being defeated by a Cube, in some instances.)

While it is known that The Cube Live Experience will definitely be located in the Arndale, further details surrounding the exact location and opening date are yet to be revealed. 

But to be the first to hear news and updates on the opening date and ticket sales, register your interest here.

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