This is going to be well worth a trip over the Pennines to discover.
A new fly-through video shows what TraffordCity in Manchester will look like over the coming years, featuring a £250m waterpark.
TraffordCity is set to undergo a major upgrade, with £2.6 billion earmarked for investment over the next two decades, reports The Manc.
Leeds city centre is just over an hour away, - so once opened, we'll be able to jump across and make the most of the huge new water park and wellbeing centre.
Projects in the pipeline feature the creation of the £250m ThermeManchester Wellbeing Resort, which will include 35 water slides, 25 pools, 30 saunas and stream rooms, an on-site urban farm and botanical gardens.
The huge site will be fully equipped to host the entire family. A dedicated family zone will have 25 swimming pools attached, a wave pool and more than 35 water slides.
For grown ups wanting to appreciate a relaxing day by the pool without a scream or splash in sight, the adults section will include a maze of water lagoons, mineral bars, swim up bars and 30 steam rooms and saunas.
Image: Therme Manchester
Work has already started on the site, with Peel L&P submitting plans to demolish the 28,000 sq metre EventCity conference and exhibition space on the existing plot.
When it’s complete, the Therme site will span 28 acres and create more than 500 permanent jobs.
Another major development coming to TraffordCity is Modern Surf Manchester, an in-land surfing lagoon set to open by 2025.
The £60m attraction will feature technology that will create consistent waves for all abilities, alongside a cafe, restaurant terrace, surf shop, beach bars, bouldering space and fitness zone.
TraffordCity already attracts some 44 million visits each year, and is hoping to attract another 2.5 million visitors a year over the next five years.
Given it will take less than an hour to travel from Leeds city centre to this incredible new attraction, you can bet we’ll be the first to dive into the waterpark in 2023.
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.