As the city’s prime resource for independent endeavors, it pleases me to tell you about the brilliant Ancoats Pop-Up, a twice monthly market that’s been a valuable outlet for many of the city’s local makers, bakers, artists and creatives over the last couple of months.
Taking place this Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th July, you should expect an eclectic range of stalls and sellers on site – with each day being different – meaning you’ll have to head down on both days to tick ’em all off.
Here’s who you should expect there this weekend…
Little Yellow Rice
Fresh from pop-ups at The Courtyard in Royton, GRUB and their very own supper club, the fantastic Yellow Rice Co will be heading to Ancoats this weekend. They specialise in Peranakan, Malaysian and Chinese street food and dishes, a truly unique fusion of flavours. Go for the Hong Bak – a wicked braised pork belly dish from Penang.
Catalog Books
Usually found with his one-of-a-kind Book Bicycle moored up down on Oxford Road, this weekend will see Peter Tzouanos AKA Catalog Book head to Ancoats selling his unique and rare collection of books, magazines, stationary and gifts.
Anie Studio
Consciously crafted homewares and ceramics made with minimum of waste right here in Manchester. Anie Studio will be gracing Ancoats with their presence this weekend and the concrete stuff they do is actually really, really good and would look great in your house. Or my house. Or anyone’s house really.
Hedonist Self Care
‘Moderation in Moderation’ is the mission behind Hedonist Self Care – a company that offers up a range of skin care, scents, candles and more that will hopefully help you feel much better after a particularly messy night out.
Witch Kings Rum
Taking the finest pure single rum from Ninefold Distillery in Scotland, the ‘witch kings’ of Ancoats then use it to create highly unique fruity liqueurs, which are not just vegan and gluten free, but they’re also packed FULL of fresh fruit. It’s sorta like a boozy smoothie – but LOADS better.
The Sculpts
Manchester themed gifts now from the very talented ‘sculpts’. So you’re going to see a lot of bees knocking about on the side of mugs, pin badges and cards – but there’s LOADS more, including some very impressive hand drawn letter cards with some truly outstanding sketches on them. I’m sure that you really care that my favourite is the Afflecks one.
Juice Vibes 2 You
100% natural fruit and vegetable juices and shots now, and last time I was at the pop-up I tried their Yellow Shot with pineapple, ginger, lime and a touch of cayenne pepper and it was proper fit. Almost instantly sorted out my hangover too – must have been the chilli!
Leonie Louise Designs
Fine line, mixed media and fluid art – Leonie Louise Designs will be selling prints and art at the Ancoats Pop-Up and I actually think her stuff is brilliant. It mostly involves the human body, female mostly but with a fair bit of raunchy-ness added. I wholeheartedly endorse all of it.
Root2Ginger
My favourite Spice Girl, hair colour, biscuit, snap, and superfood – ginger is truly amazing. Root2Ginger have therefore created a range of super concentrated organic ginger drink mixes – which will put a rocket up your arse as well as give you a long list of health benefits in seconds.
Biscuit and Brew
Fresh from grafting down at Hatch, Biscuit & Brew are heading over to Ancoats this weekend while the shipping container village on the other side of town is closed due to COVID. They’ll be serving up proper fit biscuits, cakes, brownies and blondies, and other sweet treats.
Alex Berry
Gorgeous prints from illustrator Alex Berry now, and these will look great up on your wall in your gaff, brightening up even the most disgusting of rooms. The focus is on streetwear and botanicals, so there’s lots of people wearing Nike clobber but with flowers instead of a head. Sounds a bit weird – but they’re great.
Focus Lane Book Company
Focus Lane are not traditional children’s exercise books – they’re beautifully designed, colourful and each page is lined with inspirational, encouraging words and comments. There’s a focus on Maths, English and Science lessons – so if your kids (aged 9-16) are struggling with ’em – these will be perfect.
Sao Paulo Project
The Sao Paulo Project is a very unique fusion of Brazilian and British cuisines from chef Caroline Martins. She was on MasterChef over in her native Brazil, before moving to London to attend Le Cordon Bleu. She’ll now be in the centre of Ancoats, serving us up her highly unique gastronomic dishes.
Bits and Bobs By Sue
Sue Oliver started something out of boredom and just can’t stop now. It’s making earrings and other little bits of clay jewelry and she’s actually really rather bloody good at it. Those Custard Cream ones are mega!
Groovy Boobs
Bethany of Groovy Boobs has created the perfect Instagram title line to explain exactly what she does. “I make boob pots.” Succinct, to the point and informative. Brilliant work. These little boob pots are great, and there’s also plates, earrings, tealights and more on offer too.
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Head on down to Ancoats Pop-Up on Radium Street this Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 4pm to catch all these independents.
