Northern Blogger | GemsUpNorth | Festival Attendee with ADHD : Northern Blogger

My first visit to The Alchemist New York Street, Manchester

February 05, 2020

The Gin Society Festival - Bolton August 2019

August 20, 2019

Another Friday, another Gin… Festival! At the weekend I attended one of my favourite Gin festivals ran by The Gin Society but instead of Manchester, they set up in Bolton’s Albert Hall for the weekend. I was kindly invited along to see what a small-scale venue was like and enjoy the evening. Included in the ticket price of £12.50 is; entry to the festival, a balloon gin glass, (New Addition) a metal straw, gin booklet and your first drink. Totally a bargain in my opinion!

I took my Mum with me this time as she is a gin drinker and never been to a gin festival before, we arrived just after opening and was welcomed into the beautiful theatre building, tickets scanned, gin glass given and info all about the event. I was super impressed to find a metal straw included with my glass, this is new for the festival and I think it is a great move! I’ve got my metal straw in my bag all the time now.

Inside the event room there was a bar at the back of the room, a few gin distillers showcasing their drink selection, a food stand, token station plus gin shop then a little fun area with an insta-frame to take some snaps with and a big Jenga game to have some laughs with. After flicking through the gin booklet and selecting my first fruity gin to try, we headed to the bars which wasn’t too busy, and the staff were friendly and attentive to each customer. I opted for a gin I had at the last Gin Society Festival in MCR, the Persian Blue Marshmallow gin; it’s so tasty with a bit of lemonade even if it is blue in colour.

There was a duo playing throughout the evening called 'The Harc Duo', who were entertaining the guests and people were getting really into it, singing along and enjoying the music; I believe there was some dancing later on too. I personally thought the band were fantastic and they played music that fitted into the event well and sang some of my favourites from 'A Star is Born'.

My mum picked up some snacks from the food stall whilst I had a gander at the gin shop which were selling select bottles of gin for you to take home, so if you find a favourite gin whilst at the festival you can take a full bottle home with you.

At 7.30pm and 8.00pm there were masterclasses running in the adjacent room, these were being hosted by the gin distillers and were very informative. We enjoyed a sit down, our snacks, gin and the band for a while then headed to the gin stands to try some samples. There were 3 brands at the festival; Riverside Spirits, The Edge Gin and the spirit of George; all of which had samples to taste, information to share and bottles for sale. I enjoyed sampling the fruity flavours at the Riverside Spirits stand and The Edge Gin; I was favouring the Raspberry & Pomegranate but the Pear Drop was lush too.

I had to try a new gin whilst at the festival so my next drink was from Cuckoo Sunrise and was a Honey & Raspberry flavoured gin, hello sweet tooth! I mixed this with the recommend Luscombe sparkly mixer which was a little sweet but let the gin flavour come through. These mixers are all natural and from Devon, England.

Me and my mum had a lovely evening, enjoyed a few gins, found some new favourites and was amazed by the venue. If you want a gin filled, friendly atmosphere and fun festival to visit; I’d definitely recommend this one. The Gin Society are in Trowbridge on the 31st of August and back in Manchester on the 27th of September; all other available dates and tickets can be found here.

Gin

The Gin & Rum Festival Manchester

August 07, 2019

Gin Gin! It’s looking like a summer of Gin Festivals this year with different ones popping up everywhere across the UK. Last week The Gin & Rum Festival visited Manchester and held a fun filled weekend at Manchester Cathedral from Friday evening until Sunday. I’ve spoken about Manchester Cathedral before and that it’s a pleasure to spend time in the beautiful building; it’s a perfect venue for a gin festival.

I was kindly invited to attend with a complimentary entry ticket* and a plus one, so I grabbed my pal from work, and we headed to the festival on Friday evening. My pal hadn’t been to a Gin Festival before, so everything was new to her, but I’ve attended a few before in different locations and one in the Cathedral before. What makes this festival different from the others is that its not just Gin that is available but Rum drinkers can enjoy many different rum brands and tasters just like the gin lovers.

Arriving at the venue was easy and our complimentary tickets were scanned in quickly, we were given a balloon gin glass, pen, booklet and a glass bag then directed to the token desk to buy drink tokens. Each token was £5.00, and this got you a drink from the bar; both me and my friend bought 2 tokens each. At other gin festivals, the first drink is included in the ticket price, but none was included for this particular festival.

Around the venue were 2 bar stations, a cocktail bar, seating areas with tables, a few foodie stalls and brands offering samples of gin and rum. The brands were also advising on what best to pair their gins/rums with and giving information and history on the brands; some of them were still in the early days but had the gin on point anyway. My favourite of the evening was ‘Shellys Drinks’, I sampled the Raspberry Ripple and Manchester Tart; both were delicious, but I took quite a liking to the Raspberry Ripple as it pairs perfectly with lemonade. I made this my first drink of the evening from the fruity gin bar, garnished with dried berries.

We took a full walk around to visit all the brands showcasing their drinks and managed to sample quite a few gins and rum, some of which I have added to my wish list including; Marshmallow Cin Cin Gin and a Soul rum liquor. After all the gin and rum samples, we headed to the masterclass area to enjoy the first masterclass of the evening which was from Schweppes. They were talking us through the history of Schweppes which was quite a story and introducing us to the perfect drink mixers including a dark rum mixer that was absolutely lovely!

A quick run to the bar to grab another drink, I opted for the Strawberry and Vanilla from Two Birds, this was garnished with a little bit of mint which worked a treat; again I added a Schweppes lemonade although I was told that the light tonic was good with this too (I’m not a tonic drinker). We then stayed for another masterclass which was all about Soul Rum Liqueur, two spirits which we got to sample and both were clear winners for me, especially the Soul Passion which was flavoured with mango, pineapple and passionfruit; the other Soul Salty was a salted caramel flavour which really warmed your insides.

With all the gin and rum to drink, lots of samples, tasty food, music and masterclasses; your Gin and Rum festival experience is filled with treats! Throw in the beautiful building and it was a Friday night worth talking about. The festival is in Bath next weekend followed by Lincoln on the weekend of the 16th August; you can see all the dates and book tickets here.

*The Gin and Rum Festival provided me with a complimentary entry ticket, I was under no oblation to post about the event.

Blackpool

A Family Day out with the Stars at Madame Tussauds Blackpool

May 19, 2019

{Gifted Experience - all thoughts/opinions are my own, see my disclaimer for more information.}

Looking for a fun, immersive and playful family day out? Head down to Madame Tussuad's Blackpool to enjoy an interactive day out like no other; they've got the stars, celebrities, sportsmen, Hollywood favourites and more in wax form and interactive activities, games and photography to get involved with. Last week I was invited to see what Madame Tussuad's Blackpool was all about, I took my Mum, Sister and Nephew with me and drove to one of my favourite northern towns. All of us was really excited; I'd never visited before neither had my sister or nephew and my mum hadn't been for years.

Even walking into the attraction was exciting with a hallway of press photographer imagery on the walls and sound effects to get the visit started. We walked into some British TV favourites like Paddy McGuiness, Simon Cowell and Alan Carr and had a go on Paddy's 'Take Me Out' game; you can add your name which lights up on the screen then listen to what Paddy's says. In this area was also Gok's fitting room, I admire Gok Wan for his fashion work so had to get a selfie with him.

My Mum is a big fan of Doctor Who so was eager to see the next section of the attraction which was the latest addition to Madame Tussuad's Blackpool; the Doctor Who area with the TARDIS prop that was actually used onscreen in series 11 and the Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker. We were able to walk through the forest searching for the sonic screwdriver, get photos with the Tardis and the Doctor and then dress up like one of the Doctors for an interactive photo. In this area was also costumes from the recent series of the show including friends and foes.

After using our detective skills in the Doctor Who area we went into the Jungle and took part in some Bush-tucker trials with Ant and Dec and we even made it across the bridge to the studio with celebratory applause. I bumped into one of my favourite people in the jungle area, Sir David Attenborough so I sat with him and his frog for a photo.

Fancy yourself as a sportsman well join Madame Tussuad's Blackpool Sporting Academy with all your favourite sporting genres from football to darts. This was a fun area with a penalty shoot out game to take part in, lots of history to read up on and lots of selfies to take. The area stretched into a big games room with a beat the buzzer, laser maze, climbing wall game and a seat down area; we used this as a pit stop whilst enjoying all the games and fun. Me and my nephew had a few goes in the laser maze and got top of the leader board!

Back in 2018 Madame Tussuad's Blackpool assembled some MARVEL SUPER HEROES for a new area featuring all your MARVEL favourites in wax form; Thor, The Hulk, Captain Marvel, Groot and more. We spent quite a lot of time in this area as there was so much to see and interact with; first up was a photo opportunity with MARVEL SUPER HEROES props to use, me and my nephew tried to reenact Iron Man and Captain America's fight scene from Civil War; I was Iron Man and Bobby was Cap. Next up I got to meet Thor and try to pick up his hammer, another interactive area with a tall wax figure of Thor himself. In the area is also a Hulk display where you can pick up a yellow taxi just like Hulk then pose with the green guy himself for a angry selfie. To the side of Hulk was Iron Man flying up into the clouds and you can join him in this interactive display. We of course took part in the family photo spot with Spiderman too. Lastly we stepped foot into the galaxy with a 'I am Groot' and the lady herself Captain Marvel; I tried to impersonate the stance and embrace my inner super hero.

It was time for a pint by this time so we headed to the Rover's Return Pub replica for a sit down and to rub shoulders with all the Corrie Stars from past and present. The bar was open for drinks and snacks with Coronation Street being screened on the TV's around the pub.

We continued on through the Rover's into the Music area, I have to say this was one of my favourite areas in the attraction being a huge music fan myself. Meet Tom Jones, Lady Gaga, Prince and The Beetles in wax form and enjoy a sing song in one of the sound booths; you can even jump on the drums. I posed, sang and immersed myself in this area with the laughs and enjoyment of the rest of the fans -sorry I meant Family-

We rounded off our trip with some time in the Festival Fields with artists like Ed Sheeran, Olly Murs and a chance to sing on Karaoke. There were lots of photo opportunities in this area with the festival wellies to stand in, selfie time with Ed and busting a move with Justin. Just outside of this area was some more British favourites like the Royal Family, Ab Fab and another family photo spot where we were all in a line up.

With so much to do, see and interact with we were in the attraction for a few hours so this would make a perfect morning or afternoon out with the family. You'll experience lots of laughs, get loads of photos and make memories with the family. It really is an amazing attraction and I can't wait to visit again! Grab your tickets online here.

Who's your favourite wax figure?