Manchester Nightlife
Manchester comes alive at night, with an array of pubs, clubs and restaurants offering the city's residents and visitors a variety of options across a number of genres.
Still drawing attention to its 'Madchester' days of the late 1980s and early 1990s, many of the city's nightspots cater for the indie audience, with clubs and pubs projecting the tunes that made Manchester the musical city of choice 15 years ago.
However, that is not to say the city has stood still. Mixing the Stone Roses, Charlatans and Happy Mondays, Manchester's three main indie hangouts - South, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street - also play all the latest anthems to keep its cultured youth satisfied. Many bars around the city centre, such as Corbiers and the Temple, use the city's past musical glories as a basis to establish a thoroughly modern scene.
Nightlife in the city does not centre on guitars and long hair however. Over the last decade Manchester has developed more of a house and dance music scene, where the city's all-night dancers can show off their moves. Nights, such as Tangled, and venues such as the Music Box, Sankeys Soap and the Attic ensure the city's ravers have enough places to worship their favourite DJs.
The Northern Quarter, which borders Piccadilly Gardens and is close to the central Manchester stations, presents visitors with a number of quirky pubs and restaurants. Drinking in one of the area's watering holes allows people to forget about the hustle and bustle going on around them – yet ensures they are still close enough to the town centre to sample the major nightclubs in the Printworks and surrounding streets.
Choosing a place to eat out in Manchester is difficult due to the plethora of Indian, Chinese and Italian establishments on offer. In Rusholme, to the south of the city, stands the "Curry Mile", where a row of Indian restaurants and takeaways contribute to the spicy aroma which is emitted into the night sky. Likewise, Chinatown, which has a more central city location, gives one section of the city an oriental feel, offering the best in Chinese cuisine.
For the more cultured, Manchester has a number of theatres and cinemas scattered across the city. Whereas venues such as the Printworks and Cineworld, Didsbury, offer the latest Hollywood film productions, the Cornerhouse and the Palace Theatre present non-mainstream international cinema and Broadway-esque plays respectively. Additionally, the Exchange Theatre, which is situated at the heart of Manchester's busy shopping district, offers further performances for high-brow visitors.
Manchester, although focussing on youth, caters for all ages. As it is very much a student city, with three universities in close proximity to one another, people can find a night that will suit their needs seven days a week. Most clubs are open until at least 2am, with others staying open later still.
All the major bands and artists head to Manchester on their respective tours. Most nights of the week, gigs will be going ahead at the city's main musical venues; the MEN Arena, the Manchester Academy and the Carling Apollo.
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Nightlife
