What's on North 25 Aug-1 Sep: Bank holiday weekend
The North's churning out some sterling stuff this weekend for the bank holiday, including Manchester Pride festivities, The Garden Party in Leeds and the annual Bank Holiday Punk Weekender at Maguire's Pizza Bar.
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.
Bank holiday ahoy!
Right then, folks. Time for the last bank holiday of the year (apart from the Christmassy ones, but they don't count), which means an extra long weekend to lap up the best that the North has to offer. The biggie is without doubt Manchester Pride, and because less work means more play, we've rounded up the five best alt parties to hit.
In Leeds you've also got the West Indian Carnival and the third instalment of The Garden Party, while in Liverpool it's all about live music with Maguire's Bank Holiday Punk Weekender and the Folk Festival on the Dock.
Read all about our top three events for each city here, or scroll down to see what we recommend for the week ahead.
Life's a Drag
Central Library, Manchester. Fri 26-Sun 26 Nov
Just in time for Manchester Pride, you'll be able to celebrate Manchester's rich drag heritage with this exhibition curated by artist Jez Dolan, where fabulous costumes from stars of the scene are displayed alongside screenprints based on selfies of leading drag queens.
Bank Holiday Punk Weekender
Maguire's Pizza Bar, Liverpool. Fri 26-Sun 28 Aug, 6pm
So good it's worth mentioning twice in this 'ere newsletter, Maguire's Bank Holiday Punk Weekender is an annual highlight, this time featuring punk rock outfit Down & Outs, local quartet Ohmns (pictured), Liverpudlian trio Pardon Us and more. Photo: Andy Von Pip
Leeds West Indian Carnival
Potternewton Park, Leeds. Mon 29 Aug, 2pm
Leeds' West Indian Carnival returns, having racked up a big rep as the longest-running Caribbean carnival parade in Europe thanks to its half-century reign. The parade leaves Potternewton Park at 2pm on Mon 29 Aug, though you can check what else is on across the weekend here. Photo: Carl Milner
Advertisement | Liverpool Festival of Psychedelia
Camp and Furnace / Blade Factory / District, Liverpool. 23-24 Sep
Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia is a pan-continental celebration of audio-futurists, operating at the bleeding edge of today’s psychedelic renaissance. For two days each September, Liverpool’s former industrial heartland beats once more, to motorik throb and shimmering drone; a kaleidoscopic celebration of our global psychedelic village. The festival was lauded across its first three instalments for its unique take on a thoroughly modern psychedelic condition, with the Guardian declaring “Liverpool, the great psychedelic capital of Europe.”
Sign up to our Zap! newsletter to get our top ten events guide in your inbox every week
Nun's Court Festival
Old Pint Pot, Salford. Fri 26-Sun 28, times vary
Salford's favourite riverside boozer pays homage to its former life as a nuns' netball court with a three-day festival of live music featuring the likes of shoegazey surf-pop trio Blooms (pictured), singer-songwriter The Bear Around Your Neck and Manc/Salford quartet Bête. Photo: Michael Barrow
Cowtown album launch
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds. Fri 26 Aug, 7.30pm
Leeds-based post-punk trio Cowtown hit up the Brudenell to launch their fourth album, Paranormal Romance – which, coincidentally, we've just awarded a shiny four stars. In similar coincidental news, they're also headlining our upcoming Stay Fresh Fest in Manchester this September. It's like we planned all this!
Levenshulme Beer, Gin and Food Festival
Levenshulme Market & Klondyke Club, Manchester. Sat 27-Mon 29 Aug, 12pm
Levy Market branches out with a three-day festival celebrating three of life's best things, alongside live music, games and more across the bank holiday. To kick off festivities in style, they'll even be relocating to the Klondyke Club for one day (Sat 27) to take over the huge outside lawn.
Looking ahead: Liverpool Psych Fest
All kinds of exciting things going on at this year's Liverpool Psych Fest, including a particularly major launch event. Read all about that, along with plans for a virtual reality adventure(!), here.
Where to find the best curry in Bradford
Bury black pudding, Cumberland sausages, parkin, Lancashire cheese and, above all else, the almighty curry. Seems we do everything right up North; find out why with our guide to the best curry houses in Bradford.
Read more news from across the Northwest cultural scene at theskinny.co.uk/news
Find out how you could win some lovely prizes at theskinny.co.uk/competitions