Good morning, Salford!
Thursday always feels like the turning point. The hard part of the week is done and the weekend is basically knocking on the door.
This weekend is absolutely stacked with Summer festivals, comedy shows, live events, bug hunts and so much more going on. There is definitely something for everyone this weekend, so no excuses to stay home. Let's get into it.
Featured in today’s signal:
Eccles Summer Festival is back
How Salford will be shaped over the next 15 years
Restaurant of the week
Free bike rides across the city
Exciting things to do this Weekend
— Lani
WEATHER
Thursday - 23 🌡️ 14 | ⛅
Friday - 22 🌡️ 15 | ⛅
Saturday - 21🌡️ 15 | ☁️
Sunday - 20 🌡️ 14 | 🌦️
Temperature readings taken from metoffice.gov.uk the night before publication.
Love Eccles Festival is back this Saturday
If you are looking for something free & fun to do with the family this weekend, make it this. Love Eccles returns to Eccles Recreation Ground on Saturday 25th July for a full day of fun activities.
You get to enjoy live music and performances throughout the day, cultural dances, crafting activities, Lego building, sports taster sessions, face painting, balloon modelling, a magician and therapy ponies and so much more. It is the kind of event where you show up for an hour and end up staying all day.
The funfair runs over the weekend from Friday the 24th to Sunday 26th, noon until 8pm each day, so you can always head down on other days if you can't make the festival on Saturday.
I will be there covering it live for Salford Signal - so if you spot me, please do not be shy. Come and say hi! 👋
Funfair 24th - 26th July (Main day Saturday 25th) 12pm to 8pm
📍Eccles Recreation Ground M30 7FW
How Salford will be shaped over the next 15 years
Salford's future has been mapped out and officially signed off by the council. This highlights how the city develops and changes over the next 15 to 17 years.
By 2043, the plan sets out ambitions for nearly 35,000 new homes and 120 football pitches in new employment space across the city. This covers everything from office space to industrial and warehousing - a proper mix of jobs for all kinds of workers.
Every corner of Salford is touched by the plan. The Quays, Ordsall, Pendleton and Charlestown are set for the biggest chunk of new homes with around 8,650 in total. Eccles town centre is being completely reinvented after years of empty shops and a lack of investment. Swinton is getting renewed focus despite the complication of its privately owned town centre. And Little Hulton and Walkden are expected to deliver around 2,100 new homes across eight sites.
Plans to build on greenbelt land around Boothstown near RHS Garden Bridgewater have already drawn protests from local residents, and that tension is not going away anytime soon. The good news is that the plan is not yet final.
There is an eight-week public consultation starting after 31st July, so if you have thoughts on how your neighbourhood should be shaped, now is the time to make your voice heard.
Restaurant of the Week - Vero Moderno
If Italian food makes you think of the same old carbonara and bolognese you have had a hundred times before, Vero Moderno will change your mind. This is Italian cooking with a bit more thought behind it.
Sitting right on Chapel Street, it has built a good reputation over the years. The Sunday Times named it one of the top three modern Italian restaurants in the UK, they've been features in the Waitrose Good Food Guide, and it has become a regular spot for a few familiar faces like Erling Haaland, Rodri and Pep Guardiola.
A few favourites worth trying:
Gnocchetti ai Gamberoni
Tagliere di Salum
Rigatoni con Coda alla ‘Vaccinara’
Homemade tiramisu to finish
If you have not been, put it on the list. If you have, I bet you already know why we're featuring it as the restaurant of the week.
click here to check out their full menu and plan your visit!
Free Bike Rides across the City
Free bike rides are available across some areas of Salford right now and here is how to get yours.
If you have been affected by the Metrolink disruption (Altrincham, Eccles, and Trafford Centre) over the past couple of weeks, there is some welcome relief. While major tram lines remain closed for the £150m track replacement project running until 2nd August, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has made Starling Bikes available for free to help people get around.
You get up to 20 minutes of free riding per journey, which works out as 10 minutes each way for a return trip. This is a useful alternative for commuters dealing with packed replacement buses and delayed journeys into the city.
For anyone in Salford Quays, the bikes are now available as part of the extended provision.
Exciting things to do this Weekend
This section includes only the major events happening soon. It's going to be a warm one, so here's a few ways to spend it well:
Greater Manchester Police Games |27th July, 10am till 12pm (Free)
📍Little Hulton Cricket and Bowling Club, M38 9UW
Description: Join GMP Salford West for lots of exciting games, have fun, get active and win a prize at the end! Every child must be accompanied by an adult.Postcards from Salford | 23rd & 24th July - 7:30pm 25th July - 3pm (Free)
📍Eccles Town Hall, Church Street, Eccles, Manchester M30 0LH
Description: This entertaining variety show, created by your local theatre group for the Salford Community, plays in the beautiful Eccles Town Hall in July - and thanks to support from the Salford Centenary Fund, we can offer tickets to "Postcards from Salford" free to all! Please use the entrance via the ramp on the side of the building. Tickets are free, booking is advised but not essential.KTS Comedy Club |25th July, 8pm till 10:15pm (Tickets)
📍Waggon And Horses in Salford
Description: A fun night of stand-up comedy is coming to Waggon & Horses in Salford.MONIKER | 25th July - 7:00pm - 10:30pm (Tickets)
📍Eagle Inn in Salford
Description: Get ready for a huge night of emerging alternative music as Moniker take over The Eagle Inn for an intimate hometown show packed with energy, atmosphere.BOOMCHIKABOOM! Summer Carnival | 26th July - 10am - 12pm (Free)
📍Kargo MKT Salford
Description: Get ready to dance all morning at the ultimate summer carnival party with BOOMCHIKABOOM! With good music and BIG energy, expect dance routines, singing, pom poms, parachute mayhem, bubbles, snow machine and more! Some people say your social life ends when you have children, Boomchikkaboom says, it's only just begun!An evening with Ingénue and friends |26th July, 6:30pm till 10:30pm (Tickets)
📍Eagle Inn in Salford
Description: Bringing together some of Manchester’s finest DIY acts on to one bill, we will have an evening of alternative and hard rock to get your body grooving, your heads nodding and your toes a tapping!SPLASH | 23rd July - 1pm - 3pm (Tickets)
📍Swinton & Pendlebury Leisure Centre and Broughton Leisure Centre
Description: For the first week of the Summer Holidays, we have plenty going on to keep the kids entertained.In the Garden - Bug Hunt - Night 4 | 23rd July, 11am till 12:30pm (Free)
📍Orsdall Hall
Description: For the first week of the Summer Holidays, we have plenty going on to keep the kids entertained.Meat Free Summer Party Pt.2 | 25th July - 11:59pm - 8am (Tickets)
📍The White Hotel · Dickinson Street Salford M3 7LW
Description: When night falls after The Yard, it's all round the corner to The White Hotel for a classic Meat Free.NEGATIVE OUTPUT 2026 |24th July, 7pm till 11pm (Tickets)
📍The White Hotel Dickinson Street Salford M3 7LW, United Kingdom
Description: Negative Output is a two-day noise festival created by two friends who share a great love of noise. Wanting to bring something special to the UK community they have created a two-day international line up. 23 sets across the two days with acts from seven different countries and some very special performances that do not want to be missed.Recycled Relics Workshop | 25th July - 12:30pm - 3pm (Tickets)
📍Salford Museum & Art Gallery
Description: Join artist Dawn Woolley to create small sculptures using recycled materials, inspired by her own work.The Lamb Hotel Comedy Festival - Night 4 |23rd July, 7pm till 7:30pm (Tickets)
📍The Lamb Hotel 33 Regent St Eccles M30 0BP
Description: Get ready for two of the hottest new comedians on the scene. Fresh from the circuit and on the brink of breaking through, these are work-in-progress shows from acts you’ll want to say you saw first.
P.S. I hope you enjoy Salford Signal. I always try to keep these emails short, useful, and worth opening. If there’s ever something you’d like to see covered, or you have any questions or thoughts after your first email, don’t hesitate to reply to this email. I read every message.
With Love,
Lani S
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