You lucky lot. We have a month’s worth of imbibing delights for you this August. The means various food festivals across the North, swanky new cocktail bars, rustic old(ish) pubs and some of the most eye-catching (and delicious) food this side of Belshazzar’s feast.
Grab an ice pop and put your feet up, here’s this month’s food and drink guide to Manchester and the North.
Say it loud: the new Mad Hatter menu at Six By Nico is their best since Chippy Tea – the legendary spread that kicked the whole Six By Nico phenomenon off.
Fell Bar is a firm favourite of the Chorlton masses, offering hand pumped ales and distinguished fixtures and fittings. Think green tiles, dark wood panels and traditional bits and bobs. It’s an old-school pub in all the right ways.
Bolton Food & Drink Festival returns for its landmark 20th edition this August Bank Holiday weekend, taking over this Lancashire town with the standard of eye-catching line-up we’ve come to expect from these award-winning organisers.
Manchester’s WakuWaku is the UK’s only “2D” Japanese restaurant and one of a mere handful in the world – New York, Berlin and Singapore, at last count.
A revamped 17th‑century country house, containing 50 or so modern rooms, including spacious king and four‑poster suites that come with all the expected trappings: comfy beds, Nespresso machines and nicely-sized bathrooms.
Sampa has released reservations for the months of September, October, November and December – plus tickets for their NYE party. Act quick. It’s a small chef’s table restaurant, and seats will fill up quickly.
Manchester’s most joyous summer celebration is back. From Friday 22 to Sunday 24 August 2025, Festa Italiana returns to Cathedral Gardens for its eighth edition.
Runaway Brewery Tour & Tasting is a chance to enjoy one of Stockport’s breweries in the flesh and, of course, sample the end product.
From £18.00
Manchester’s famous musical legacy comes to life in this walking tour around the city, which will take you from the 1960s to the present day.
From £25.00
Transforming Cathedral Gardens into Little Italy, Festa Italiana Manchester is back for the eighth year in a row.
Free entry
Eat your way through the dairy based delights of Manchester, with the Manchester Cheese Crawl walking tour.
From £25
Take a journey through 300 years of pub and brewing history in Leeds, with a heritage Pub and brewery tour.
From £35.00
Held over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the Bolton Food & Drink Festival is the biggest of its kind in the UK.
Step into the majestic Blackpool Tower Ballroom for an experience like no other. With stunning architecture, live music and treats galore, Afternoon Tea here is highly recommended.
From £60.00
Munch your way through two cities for the price of one with the Taste of Two Cities tour from Flavours of Manchester.
From £49.00
Stagger across three hundred years of Manchester’s drinking history in one of the city’s most fun-loving walking tours.
From £25.00
Get hands on with the ultimate BBQ experience in an 18 hour all night smoke at Millington Hall Farm.
From £1500.00
Calling people of Leeds and beyond! The city’s favourite African and Caribbean Food Fest is back, and this year it’s turning up the heat with Harmony of Colours, a celebration…
Free entry
Every weekend in Liverpool’s buzzing Baltic Triangle, Love Lane Brewery invites visitors behind the scenes for an hour-long tour through its striking, industrial space. Housed in a converted rubber factory,
From £25.00
Presenting the best walking tours in Manchester for history buffs, culture enthusiasts, and those looking to scratch beneath the surface of the city.
Take me there
Food Sorcery is a popular cookery school now opening in the centre of Manchester after years of success in East Didsbury.
Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.
Standing on the corner of a junction opposite The Bridgewater Hall, The Briton’s Protection is Manchester’s oldest pub. It has occupied the same spot since 1795, going under the equally
Award-winning restaurant housed within Liverpool’s boutique Hope Street Hotel.
Formerly known as Peste, P3 Annihilation Eve is a bohemian bar and bookshop with vintage reads and records.
Panoramic 34 boasts ceiling to floor windows with a breathtaking 360 degree aspect, but there’s plenty more to get giddy about than just the views.
With a large beer garden and commitment to using locally sourced produce, Free State Kitchen in Liverpool isn’t just-another-burger-joint.
District Liverpool is a multi-purpose venue in the Baltic Quarter, hosting gigs, club nights, films, cabaret, festivals and much more.
This season’s theatre is gloriously eclectic: from radical cabaret and reinvented classics to new musicals and boundary-pushing performance.
This month we recommend a season of Film noir, cult Australian movies and a huge celebration of DIY community cinema.
Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...
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August and beyond brings all sorts of family joy - with a huge amount of science, creativity and more.
10 fresh shows across Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, threading together noise, ritual, euphoria and release in all their messy, beautiful forms.
