What's on North 13-20 Jul: The Final Fling

Each week The Skinny team hand-pick a selection of the best events from the North's cultural calendar to provide you with this 'ere 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.

Our Final Fling 

The time has come for The Skinny's final Zap newsletter. But also for ONE FINAL FLING!

Join us this Friday 14 July for a super special blowout at Islington Mill, where we'll have live music from three of our favourite rising acts on the local circuit: Chester indie-pop threesome Peaness, Manchester DIY faves Patty Hearst and our fellow Mill neighbour Karl D'Silva and his band. We'll then have Skinny DJs playing 'til late, helping us see the magazine out with a bang.

We'll also have some free Jameson whiskey knocking about (just click 'Attending' on the Facebook event to get in on that) AND a Skinny cake from ace local bakery The Sweet Life Cakes... because after all, what's a party without cake?

We'll see you there.

As The Skinny North bows out, we've asked some of our favourite people from the region to explore what makes the North so special. What makes the great cities of Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool such vibrant and exciting places in which to live, play and create? Find out what they said here. Photo: Mark McNulty

Do Not Miss:

#VegNorth
Ribble Valley, Lancashire. Fri 14-Sun 16 Jul

While it's out of season for Leeds Indie Food festival, its organisers are far from resting on their laurels with their new weekly street food event #EatNorth. This week sees a special, exclusively vegetarian and vegan spread of traders like Pizza Loco, The Gravy Train Poutine, Wholesome Junkies, Laynes Espresso (pictured) and Nicely Kitchen, plus vegan beers and wines on the bar, DJs and games. Photo: Rosy Smith

Brazilica Festival
Various venues, Liverpool. Fri 14-Sun 16 Jul

Celebrating its tenth year, Brazilica Festival returns with a colourful melting pot of Brazilian music, dance, culture, food, sport and a carnival parade, as well as a dedicated Brazilian Film Festival running until Fri 28 Jul. There's also an after party at Camp and Furnace on Sat 15 Jul; tickets here. Photo: David Munn

Chefs of Tomorrow
Le Cochon Aveugle, York. Tue 17 Jul, 6pm & 8pm

Chefs of Tomorrow is an initiative from The TMRW Project that showcases the talent of young chefs, and this month will foreground the work of four emerging talents from Yorkshire. A good chance to catch rising names at a decent price, with four courses and a welcome drink included in the cost of your ticket. Read our interview with The TMRW Project's Dan Doherty, Anna Suling Masing and Emma Underwood, and Le Cochon Aveugle's Josh Underwood, here. Photo: Ming Tang Evans

Advertisement | Vintage by the Sea
Morecambe, Sat 2-Sun 3 Sep

The award-winning Vintage by the Sea festival returns to Morecambe on 2nd and 3rd September to celebrate the brilliance of 20th-century design, fashion, vehicles and entertainment. Experience live music, classic cars, street theatre, workshops, marketplace and crafts, heritage buses, vintage fairground, pop-up dance, Gatsby-inspired Torch Club Ball and the Official Vintage Party – featuring 45 Live with Templebys and Boca 45! Stay in touch with programme news and join them on social to find out more!

CCTV17
Regents Trading Estate, Salford. Thu 13 Jul-Sat 19 Aug

Caustic Coastal presents CCTV17, a televisual production of artistic and music performance for both a live studio audience and streaming online, with input from Beth Kettel, Aliyah Hussain & Mariel Osborn, Colden Drystone, EKKAH, Gery Georgieva, Ella Deacy, Lucy Vann, Mark Bukeridge and All Choir, all presented by Rory Mullen and filmed by IMPATV.

Beat-Herder
Ribble Valley, Lancashire. Fri 14-Sun 16 Jul

Crystal Fighters, Kelis, Sleaford Mods, Trentemoller, Toots and the Maytals, Romare, Faithless, Milky Chance, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, David Rodigan, Jackmaster, The Sugarhill Gang, Jon Hopkins (pictured), Let's Eat Grandma, Henge and OH so much more on the cards for Beat-Herder this year. Get on it, kids! Photo: Richard Manning

Foodies Festival
Tatton Park, Cheshire. Fri 14-Sun 16 Jul, 11am

Join Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown, 2016 MasterChef winner Jane Devonshire, ex-Corrie star Sean Wilson and others at Tatton Park's Foodies Festival, which packs one (hopefully) sunny July weekend with chef demos, live music, street food, an artisan producers' market, cider and Pimms, kids' cookery classes, a healthy living zone and more.

Looking forward

Spinningfields Summer Screenings series returns to Manchester

Al fresco films and sport screenings have returned to Manchester's Spinningfields, running throughout the summer so that you can see Wimbledon, the World Athletics Championships and, from 18 July, films like Stand By Me, The Wedding Singer, Mean Girls and more on the big screen.

Stranger Things Season 2

Netflix has revealed the release date for the second season of Stranger Things, along with a new teaser trailer, poster artwork and plot synopsis, confirming there’s something bigger and scarier than the Demogorgon on its way in these new episodes...

Peaness single launch

After playing for us at Islington Mill, Peaness will be heading to Soup Kitchen this August for their biggest Manchester headline show to date, launching new single Ugly Veg with support from Campfire Social and Patchwork Guilt. Photo: Debbie Ellis