Forget fishing around in your purse or wallet for some spare change to enter the club, as this weekend you can catch some of Manchester’s best DJs by paying in the form of tins of beans. That’s right, beans. The annual Food 4 Thought event by Hit & Run is once again hosting a club night where people have the option of “paying” in with non-perishable food like tinned beans as well as toiletries and essential items instead of cash.
The queue for this Food 4 Thought event is always quite the vision, with people lining up with cans of beans, pot noodles, toilet roll and toothpaste. These items from revellers are collected on the day by one of Manchester’s Foodbank teams; and then taken directly to their warehouses to be distributed to those most in need in our community.
For free entry to the Food 4 Thought event, which takes place on June 3 at Six Trees Bar & Kitchen from 2pm until 3am, attendees simply have to bring six items for the Foodbank. If punters don’t fancy raiding their cupboards, they can also buy a ticket (starting at £4.44) which covers the costs of the event (which are minimal as all artists play for free); and then all the profit goes to an international cause; this year’s being Medecin Sans Frontiere’s Palestine Appeal.
Last year’s event raised over 700kg of food and £440 cash for Salford Foodbank, as well as £4,340.34 for Medecin Sans Frontiere’s Yemen Appeal and the event this weekend hopes to top both those totals. Greater Manchester’s Foodbanks are incredibly stretched, with demand far-outstripping supply; sadly, this initiative and others like it are needed more and more.
Since starting in 2015 at the infamous Antwerp Mansion, Food 4 Thought has developed from a club night to an annual day and night party, generously supported by many of the biggest names in the UK and Manchester’s bass music and underground music scenes. This year the event will feature performances from Benny L, Dub Phizix, Emperor, GLXY, EN:VY, Biome, Fox, KAZ, SL8R, Strategy and Styxlo and many more incredible acts.
Not only that, but with the event taking place on the same day as the FA Cup final, organisers will also be showing the match on several big screens with commentary on. As soon as the football is over it’s straight into a party whether you’re celebrating or need distracting.
Hit & Run presents Food 4 Thought 2023 will take place on June 3, from 2pm to 3am the following day, at Six Trees Bar & Kitchen, Ashburton House, Trafford Park Rd, Trafford Park, Stretford, M17 1BN. Tickets are available here.