Sparkle 2024

 

This was my 3rd Sparkle, and quite possibly my last if some rumours are to be believed !

The 1st one was magical, lovely weather, and well attended as it was the 1st after lockdown - it was a fabulous weekend. The second one was a bit of a let down due to torrential rain that spoilt both the day and evening.

This one we had OK weather, we were able to mingle in the gardens for the day events without fear of sunburn or requiring diving equipment.

Friday

I got there just after lunch on the Friday, meeting up with Ann, Benni and Stephanie who had arrived slightly before me.   

We grabbed some food,  had a beer in a nice little tap room and did a bit of shopping at Aflecks. We all seemed to end up with a pair of earrings :) - I can't actually remember what I did with mine, I might have to go hunting later !

We got changed met at the hotel bar where Charlotte also joined us, then we headed out for food at a pub we had seen on our travels - we had tried to get a table at a tapas place first but they were fully booked. 

Other friends were arriving later, and some were bringing companions, so it ended up with about 10 of us at the meal.  Was very nice food - I had a pint of Boddingtons, as I was told that this was one of the few places in Manchester you could still buy it.

It's not brewed there anymore, but still tasted better than I remember.

In the evening we attempted to be fairly good and not drink too much, but think we failed a little. We did a few places on Canal street. It was a good night.

Saturday

We had a breakfast at the hotel bar, which was pretty nice - usual fry up buffet. 

In the morning we headed to the gardens to look at the stalls and see what was on. Myself and Ann had a brief visit to a pub a short walk away to meet up with Gemma - it was somewhere I had fancied going last time, but turned out to look a lot better on the outside than the inside :)

We headed back to the gardens for a bit and went around more of the stalls.  A few of us went for food at a little bistro off canal street mid afternoon.  I actually went back to my room for a bit of a nap for an hour after this, the lack of sleep had caught  up with me.

After this re-charge we headed out for more food, which was a bit early really, but we wanted to hit the bars fairly quickly so thought was a good idea.  Ended up at a bar in the norther quarter - I got a spicy beef dish but it was very salty and didn't manage much of it.

There was some entertainment watching a peddle bar getting towed away on a trailers outside though.

In the evening it was more of the same, we did go to the gardens again initially, and had a beer in the refreshment tent and watched some of the acts on stage. Managed to talk to Grai the main LFF organiser which was nice - I hardly get chance to talk to her normally. 

Also met up with Romile who I seem destined to only meet for a few hours a year at a random event, but was nice all the same.

We had tickets for a club night that had been organised by Sparkle at 9pm, but did a few bars on Canal street first before walking the 10 minutes to the venue.  It was a bit of a shambles, apparently there was a communication issue where the club thought the DJ's were brining the equipment, but they thought the club was providing !

They left us queuing outside for 15 mins, moving where the queue was. Someone was trying to be helpful and get us in a different door, only for the door staff to send us back to where we were initially queuing. Then they started talking about getting ID, and bag checking us all - by this point a few of us were getting itchy feet and wanted to abandon ship, and I led the charge back to canal street, with a few trying to keep up in their heels ( I was in flats 🤣 )

We did a few more bars, and had a pleasant rest of the night. Did a bit of dancing, I can't remember what time we got back to the hotel, but wasn't too sozzled.

Sunday 

Another fry up at the hotel in the morning, and then it was soon time to head home. Most people had trains booked so were going back first thing. I said my goodbyes and headed home, was not a bad drive.

Aside from the wasted time and money for the night club , it was really nice to be back in Manchester - it's still a fab place to go back to every now and then, nice to have some variety.  I don't find it as good as Leeds overall, but still worth the trip.