Winter Island at Freight Island

Winter Island turns Freight Island fully Christmas for December. The covered food yard in Castlefield keeps the street-food stalls, adds the festive drinks and the decorations, and runs live music through the month. A roof means the coat can come off once you are in. Prices start around £9.90, and the site is open from midday until 11pm all the way from 1 December to New Year’s Eve.

Potato Wharf, Castlefield, a short walk from Deansgate and the canals. Eat first, from whichever stall smells right, and stay for the later set if the music is on when you have finished. It behaves like a party yard more than a restaurant, so go with people who are happy to move between counters and stand with a drink while a band plays. Weekends will be the crush. A weekday early evening is the version where you can actually get a table and hear the set. Book if the listing asks you to. Turn up hungry either way. Inside, the heaters and the crowd do the rest, and December in Manchester feels briefly like a decision you got right.