THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED.

Have offspring starting university or higher education in Manchester this autumn? Win a leisurely weekend with our exclusive competition!

After eighteen years you may have got the house back to yourself, but your offspring are beginning to get ideas about bringing you a month’s worth of laundry home. Be honest, though: you’re missing them and the idea of checking up on them – and perhaps also checking out their new hometown – appeals. Well, luckily, for you we’ve teamed up with partners across the city to give away a fabulous weekend in Manchester this autumn.

Staying in one of Manchester’s newest hotels, INNSIDE by Melia Manchester, between 9-11 October 2015, you’ll have the perfect base to explore the city from, starting with dinner for three at one of the city’s top restaurants (and also the first outside the capital), Hawksmoor. That’s not all, as October sees the return of the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, and we’ve got weekend tickets for three for entry into the fair. A showcase of work by some of the UK’s most eminent designer-makers, alongside pieces by the region’s most promising graduates, expect an array of ceramics, glass, jewellery, interiors and homewares, fashion design, furniture, paper, silver, metal, prints and more.

We have also have three tickets for Arthur Miller’s classic The Crucible showing at The Royal Exchange Theatre on Saturday 10 October 2015. Housed in a former cotton exchange with the last day of trading’s prices still marked high on the walls, this one of Manchester’s most loved and visited spaces. Its space-pod theatre-in-the-round will be an intimate and immersive setting for this gripping, hysteria-fuelled play.

For your final day in the city there’s nothing better than a leisurely morning spent in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, the district to head to for boutique shops, bars, design studios and record stores. Nestled in the middle is Manchester Craft & Design Centre, a former Victorian market hall that now houses craft studios and the wonderful Oak Street Cafe. Here, you’ll have lunch laid on for three, the perfect way to make sure that you’re leaving ‘them’ fed and watered before you hit the road.

And as a final treat, you’ll find your Friday to Sunday parking bill at First Street car-park near the INNSIDE has even been covered by QParks.

To enter this competition, all you need to do is fill in the form below, answer one simple question, and we’ll let you know if you’re a winner. Don’t worry, we never share data and although you’ll be added to our mailing list we won’t bombard you with emails. Promise.

Question: In which district can you find Manchester Craft & Design Centre?

THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED.

Terms and conditions: The winner will be selected at random from all correct mailing list submissions received via this specific promotion. No purchase necessary. No cash alternative given. Prize is valid only on the weekend stated above, October 9-11 2015. Car parking for 1 car only. Accommodation is in a standard double or twin room. Travel to Manchester is not included. Employees of Creative Tourist, the Manchester Partnership, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester School of Art, MMU, the University of Manchester and associated companies, are not eligible to enter. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winners will be notified as soon as possible after the closing date. Only one entry per person. Entrants will automatically be added to the Creative Tourist mailing list. Closing Date: 9am, Friday 4  September 2015.