Newly opened

STAY: Hotel Brooklyn

Opened on 14 February 2020, Bespoke Hotel’s third Manchester hotel alongside Hotel Gotham and The Townhouse Hotel; Hotel Brooklyn offers 189 stylish bedrooms, events space for up to 220 people, panoramic rooftop bar known as Brooklyn Heights, and restaurant named Runyon’s. 

- See also: newly opened hotels – Stock Exchange HotelDakotaNative

SEE: Back to the Future the Musical

Following in the footsteps of sleeper hit & Juliet, which premiered in Manchester in September 2019 before transferring to London’s West End, Back to the Future The Musical received its world-premiere at the Manchester Opera House in February 2020 and will run until May before transferring to London. It joins a strong line-up of musicals old and new coming to Manchester in 2020 including: Phantom of the Opera (March); Zorro The Musical (March); Les Misérables (May); Everyone’s Talking About Jamie (July); and The Lion King (October).

- See also: theatres - HOMERoyal Exchange; Hope Mill; The Lowry; The Met

EAT: Rosa’s Thai Café

Now open in The Old Courthouse on Deansgate, Rosa’s Thai Café offers a variety of dishes using seasonal ingredients, including its best-selling Pad Thai, signature red butternut curry with sweet basil and Drunken noodles with galangal. Open seven days a week, the restaurant has veggie, vegan and coeliac friendly menus alongside beer, wine and cocktails, including Rosa’s Thai PA – a craft pale ale blended with lemongrass and lime.

- See also: Deansgate restaurants and cafés  – Hawksmoor, Over Under, Federal

EAT: Higher Ground

Higher Ground is the first pop-up residency to open in Manchester’s newest neighbourhood, Kampus, located opposite Canal Street. Previously a security cabin, Higher Ground is led by Joseph Otway (previously Where the Light Gets In and Copenhagen’s Michelin-starred Ralæ) and Richard Cossins, who will create a daily changing menu featuring local ingredients, Manchester beer and natural wines.

- See also: pop-up spots – Hatch; Stretford Food HallGRUB


Coming soon

SEE: Pre-Factory event – The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye is an electrifying journey into our here and now; a close-up look at the breakup of a toxic relationship with the country you call home. Directed by Kirsty Housley (Tao of Glass) and performed by Riz Ahmed, The Long Goodbye will be a Manchester International Festival world premiere – and the latest event showcasing the kind of work that will be premiering at The Factory, MIF’s future year-round home opening in 2021. The Long Goodbye will take place 26-28 March in an intimate space at Depot at Mayfield before being presented as a part of Brooklyn Academy of Music's (BAM) new season.

- See also: world premieres – Insane Animals at HOME; Back to the Future at the Opera House

EAT: Bundobust

Indian street food and craft beer specialist, Bundobust, will open a second Manchester site in summer. The new restaurant will be located in the grade II listed St James’ Building on Oxford Street and will also be home to Bundobust’s first brewery.

- See also: Indian restaurants - MughliDishoomThis and That

SEE: Bluedot and Parklife announce festival line-ups

Cheshire-based Bluedot festival has announced a UK exclusive festival performance from Bjork, along with Groove Armada and Metronomy for this summer's event. Located at Jodrell Bank Observatory, Bluedot is a celebration of music, science and cosmic culture and takes place in July. Meanwhile Europe’s biggest metropolitan festival, Parklife, has announced Grammy Award-winning US pop star and producer Tyler, the Creator, grime stars JME and Skepta, Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi and US megastar Khalid as their weekend headliners in June.

- See also: summer music festivals - Sounds of the CityManchester Pride Live; Dot To Dot

SEE: Manchester Science Festival

Produced by the Science and Industry Museum which is undergoing significant upgrades across its site, Manchester Science Festival will return this year from 23 October – 1 November after a hiatus year. The theme of this year’s event has been announced as climate, and how we should respond to its challenges through three lenses: our cities; our natural world; and ourselves.

- See also: educational exhibitions – Dippy on Tour (Touchstones Rochdale)

DO: I’m a Celebrity… Jungle Challenge

ITV are set to open a brand-new entertainment attraction, celebrating TV blockbuster I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! at The Lowry Outlet Mall’s brand new The Watergardens development at MediaCityUK. I’m a Celebrity… Jungle Challenge will open later this year and will feature the iconic Base Camp, Croc Creek and Snake Rock, with plenty of obstacles and challenges to navigate.

- See also: game activities – The Crystal MazeJunkyard GolfFlight Club


In case you missed it

SCREEN: filming in Manchester

Have you watched The Stranger on Netflix yet? Scenes for this show were shot across Greater Manchester, including Ancoats, St Peter’s Square, Whalley Range, Eccles and Stockport and there's a great article on the Conde Nast Traveller website with full details. Netflix were in town again in February for the filming of The Crown (check out @bartekbarsista’s shots here), when the Northern Quarter doubled as New York City. Marvel’s upcoming Morbius movie starring Jared Leto was also filmed in the Northern Quarter masquerading as NYC, whilst Peaky Blinders, The Darkest Hour, Years and Years, and another Harlan Coben adaptation, Safe, have all been filmed here in recent years.

SHOP: Levenshulme Market crowned at the Great British Market Awards 2020

Levenshulme Market was recently crowned Best Small Market at the Great British Market Awards 2020. A ten minute train ride away from Manchester Piccadilly Station, Levenshulme Market is a social enterprise that runs every weekend from March-December with pop up events at The University of Manchester - all offering street food, activities for children and live music.

DO: RHS Garden Bridgewater announces opening date

The RHS is creating a stunning new 154-acre garden in the heart of the North West by bringing back to life the lost historic grounds at Worsley New Hall in Salford. The creation of RHS Garden Bridgewater - the Society's first new garden in 17 years - is the largest gardening project in Europe and will have a phased opening from 30 July 2020.