A huge new outdoor food market and event space is opening in Manchester in July

Manchester is set to get a brand new outdoor market and art space at the Depot, Mayfield, as part of the £1.4bn regeneration of the area. 

Escape to Freight Island has until now been something of an enigma, with mysterious posters popping up in the city centre with almost no other information but the name.

Well, it turns out it’s a brand new outdoor food market, where art space and terrace-style seating collide on one sprawling tract – a long-forgotten freight depot carved from the city’s industrial past.

The new opening is set to be an international destination akin to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Coney Island in New York and Grand Central Market in Los Angeles.

The area will be home to restaurant quality food vendors, inventive bars, secret dens, music, immersive art, festival takeovers and family focused happenings.

Of the food vendors confirmed they include Madre, a non-traditional taco stall, Voodoo Ray’s Pizza, and Baratxuri will also be having a wood-fired ‘Asador’ grill. There will also be a specialist wine bar, and a cocktail space from The Jane Eyre. 

Escape to Freight island will be located on Baring Street and will become a permanent urban market and festival space.

There will even be a ’70s New York-inspired roller disco, a hidden high-fi audio bar – which will transform into a karaoke venue called Queen Samantha’s – and a retro arcade games corridor.

The entire venue will be sound-tracked by a visionary selection of music, festival takeovers and exclusive collaborations with the likes of Homoelectric, We Out Here festival, Festival N°6, Love International and other iconic musical curators.

Escape to Freight Island is the brainchild of individuals with a formidable reputation around food and culture in Manchester, including Justin Crawford and Luke Cowdrey of Volta, Electrik Bar and The Refuge, Gareth Cooper of Festival N°6, event production veteran Jon Drape of Engine No. 4 and Managing Director Dan Morris, who launched leading Manchester music venues Gorilla and the Albert Hall. 

Electriks’ Luke Cowdrey, co-curator, said: “Escape to Freight Island isn’t your average food market. It’s a new and unique destination in Manchester, it is the next evolution in the food market sector that will fill a hole in the life of our city.

“Escape to Freight Island will take its place as one of the most exciting, forward-thinking and disruptive markets in the world. Escape to Freight Island is a game-changer and most importantly to me, Escape to Freight Island has soul.

“Platform 15 will give a flavour of what is to come when we launch the full Escape to Freight Island experience, so let’s all meet at Platform 15 to begin our escape to freedom.”

Phase one of the launch will open in mid-July 2020 with social distancing at the forefront, and limited capacity for 600 people. Following that phase two is planned for August, where capacity will be increased to 1,000 people.

Once restrictions are lifted, the venue will extend the capacity of 2,500 people.

Find out more and sign up to access tickets here.