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Manchester’s your oyster

Photo/Illo: Ruby Martin/The Mill.

Plus: was Peppa Pig signed to Factory Records?

Dear readers — there’s surely no denying now that Autumn is upon us. The leaves in their swathes might still be green but the sky is coloured round the edges.

But don’t worry. Here to brighten your day is The Mill’s Monday newsletter. Today we dispatch from a landlocked oyster festival. We prophesy on Manchester’s growth. We’ve got a call-out about a specific episode of Peppa Pig. We bring good tidings about ice hockey. Read on for all of that.


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Manchester is your oyster

Over the weekend, we sent freelancer Ruby Martin to dispatch from Manchester Oyster Festival — a landlocked oyster extravaganza in what is debatably one of the least oyster-y parts of the country.

Approximately 3,500 oysters were consumed on Saturday at KAMPUS. There were dense queues for free oysters all night, the caviar stand ran out within two hours, and the shucking competition was cancelled because the oyster sellers were too busy shucking for the insatiable attendees. Less popular was the ‘UK’s first oyster luge’, a small slide made of ice, which was largely ignored.

Victor from Valencia. Photo: Ruby Martin.

While most people we spoke to were enjoying themselves, some remarked that it was “less chill” than expected, and others that the festival was simply “screaming for a Bloody Mary stand”. Festival organisers take heed.

If you’re sad you missed the non-stop mollusks — worry not.  They’re due to make a comeback sooner than you might expect, with the similarly nonsensical Stockport Oyster Party in October. This is apparently more of a “dance and a boogie” than its Mancunian counterpart. A great night out or a recipe for disaster? Only our digestive systems can say.

24 Hour Porky People

PLEASE BEAR WITH US: we promise we’re not talking about Tony Wilson again.

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