The UK's largest heated outdoor and indoor winter festival will return to Manchester this November and December with the return of Winter Island at the city's Escape to Freight Island. The venue's vast food hall and festival-inspired outdoor space will both transform into a "magical winter wonderland" launching from November 12.
The winter-themed event will feature a Christmas tree forest, festive traders and pop-up market, plus, curated Christmas workshops and entertainment. There will be festive food and drink across the site, as well as day-to-night events catering for all.
Winter Island is set to launch just as the Manchester Christmas Markets also kick off across the city centre. They will open from Thursday November 11, running through to December 22 across Manchester, including the Winter Gardens hub at Piccadilly Gardens.
Winter Island organisers have today confirmed more details of their offering for 2022 across the vast sit at Mayfield Depot, next to Manchester Piccadilly railway station. That includes the dates it will be open up to and including December 30.
There will also be various food and drink offerings available from Escape Freight Island’s regular traders, including Burgerism, Carnival, Lucky Foot, Voodoo Ray’s, The Smoking Coal, One Star Döner Bar, Mi & Pho, Forever Changes and The Jane Eyre.
Further offerings will also be available from Manchester’s exciting culinary scenes, including grilled cheese sandwiches from Northern Soul and pastry creations from the award-winning Great North Pie Co. Meanwhile Ancoats chocolatiers Cocoa Cabana will help guests to build their own hot chocolate - or event treat themselves to a boozy hot chocolate.
Plus a range of festive stalls, from Hog Roast, Bratwurst, to artisanal cheeses, festive cocktails and more will also be at the event.
In addition to Escape to Freight Island’s existing bars, a Mulled Wine Barrell Bar will serve the classics, as well as a special Vimto mulled wine. An Après Bar from Grey Goose will also be added to the bar line-up, plus a brand-new pub-inspired Freight Tap Room serving the finest draft and craft beers.
Guests can expect jam-packed entertainment and programming into the winter evenings, from DJs and live performances. The UK’s finest selectors have been carefully curated to pump up the festive season, featuring Norman Jay MBE, Greg Wilson, Dele Sosimi, DJ Paulette, Crazy P, Krysko, and a special takeover from Flash at Pikes Ibiza.
Live performances will see spectacular rosters from Massaoke, Hip Hop Karaoke, The House and Garage Orchestra, AMC Gospel Choir, The Incredible 11, Finesse. Also happening throughout the season, is the Festival of Football, for those who want to keep up with the World Cup where all England games will be shown on the big screen.
Over at the heated outdoor space, Winter Island will host its very own winter market. Perfect for gifting this season, the winter market will be home to Gra-Design who specialises in handcrafting, minimalistic contemporary homewares and ceramics, MissPrint for exceptional stationary, gift wraps and cards, Rare Finds Flea Market for vintage and handmade pieces.
Also look out for Zara Cakes for tasty treats; and screen printing available for t-shirts, bag printing and more.
For those who want to get creative and create their own masterpieces, Winter Island has teamed up with various workshop organisers. Wonderhaus will craft jewellery, macrame and jesmonite, Cork and Canvas as well as Cork and Clay will offer their signature art classes, Sally Guilford from Salford Makers will host a screen-printing class plus, wreath and candle-making will be available.
Those visiting as a family will enjoy a series of "family fun happenings" with their own dedicated family zone. Winter Island will host the likes of Santa’s Grotto, pop up pantomimes, cinema club and more, as well as hosted events with Teach Rex, Our Kids Social and Circus House.
Winter Island opens on Wednesday to Sunday only from Saturday 12 th November, and opens seven days a week from Wednesday 7 th December until Friday 30 th December. Opening hours are 4pm to 11pm Monday to Thursday, 4pm to 1am Friday, 12pm to 1am Saturday, 12pm to 10pm Sunday. Closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. New Year’s Eve special will be announced soon.
Booking in advance is recommended to secure preferred dates and times for a table which you can do here, while walk-ups are available but subject to availability.
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