What's On North 15-22 Sep: Food events & more

Each week The Skinny team hand-pick a selection of the best events from the North's cultural calendar to provide you with this here top ten guide to the most exciting goings-on for the week ahead. From gigs, plays and exhibitions to spoken word, pop-up foodie events and one-off film screenings, we give you the insider's guide to things to do in Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds every Thursday morning. 

A Weekend of Food and Drink

As the sun sets on summer, we’re looking forward to packing on the pounds to see us through the winter, and the host of food and drink festivals this week are sure to help us on our way.

Manchester Vegan Beer Festival sees Fat Gay Vegan join forces with Pitfield Brewery for a celebration of cruelty-free bev at Islington Mill, while Liverpool Food & Drink Festival features some of the region’s finest culinary stars (both 17-18 Sep). Also, the final GRUB food fair of the season goes down at Runaway Brewery on 17 Sep, with street food, craft beer & good times.

Liverpool Comedy Festival
Various venues, Liverpool. Fri 16 Sep-Sun 2 Oct

The UK’s funniest descend on Liverpool for a fortnight of razor sharp standup. Loads of our local favourites will be there, from anarchic grump Liam Pickford to hi-vis crackpot Top Joe via gleefully macabre sketch trio Gein’s Family Giftshop, plus plenty of international funny folk too. If you’re looking for some tips, here's our seven must-see shows. Image: Patrick D'Arcy

Ramsbottom Festival
Ramsbottom Cricket Club. Fri 16-Sun 18 Sep, times vary

Say goodbye to festival season by partying in the rolling Lancashire hills along to a roster of great musicians, with world-renowned types (Gaz Coombes, Public Service Broadcasting and The Fun Lovin’ Criminals headline) playing alongside some much-loved local heroes (Horsebeach, LIINES and The Travelling Band to name a few). Photo: David P Scott

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Tracey Emin and William Blake In Focus
Tate Liverpool. From Fri 16 Sep, 10am

What do Tracey Emin and William Blake have in common? Quite a bit, surprisingly. This exhibition shows how both pushed against the hypocrisies of their age to champion freedom of expression. It’s a joy to see Blake’s work in the flesh, but the heart of the show will be Emin’s My Bed, on show in the North for the first time. For more on iconic beds in art, click here.

Deap Vally
University of Leeds. Sat 17 Sep, 7pm

Deap Vally describe themselves as “two individuals who make a lot of noise.” This makes the fact the duo formed when guitarist Lindsey Troy and drummer Julie Edwards met at a crochet class in LA – surely a rock’n’roll first – all the more delightful. Expect to have your eardrums battered as they play tracks from new album Femejism.

PechaKucha Night Manchester Vol. 14
SpaceportX, Manchester. Thu 15 Sep, 7pm

20 slides, 20 seconds per slide, no stopping. That’s the setup for PechaKucha, a night when creatives can share their ideas in a fast, fun, vibrant fashion. Expect rapid fire presentations from the minds behind Art Battle Manchester, The Pilcrow pub, Hope Mill Theatre, Women in Print and more.

Jane Giles presents Thundercrack! + Hold Me While I’m Naked
HOME, Manchester. Fri 16 Sep, 7.45pm

This is the grubby jewel in Manchester’s Scalarama lineup. Jane Giles, the former programmer of the Scala, the notorious London fleapit after which the festival takes its name, presents two underground classics: George Kuchar’s zero-budget camp noir Hold Me While I’m Naked and demented horror-comedy-porn Thundercrack! An unmissable night of glorious trash.

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