MACC WINE FEST brings 80+ wines to Macclesfield Town Hall on Friday 25 September. Tickets are £30, doors 5.55pm, and the Town Hall car park is free after 5pm.

Macclesfield Town Hall will host a wine festival on Friday 25 September. Tickets are £30 and the evening runs from 6pm to 10pm. (MACC WINE FEST ticket page)

The organisers, who sent the poster above to the Macclesfield Times, bill it as the town’s first wine festival. They describe themselves as a group of local people and businesses.

What the evening involves

The ticket page and the organisers’ own poster give the same running order:

  • 6pm to 8pm: wine sampling with nibbles, from a list the organisers put at more than 80 wines from around the world
  • 8pm to 10pm: live music, with bottles available to buy at the bar
  • Doors open at 5.55pm

Other details from the ticket page:

  • The venue is Macclesfield Town Hall, Butter Market, SK10 1EA
  • The event is over-18s only
  • Refunds are available up to seven days before the event
  • Stephen Cordiner is the named performer
  • Tickets went on sale on 3 August and were still listed as available on 1 September

Parking: the council’s own advice does not fit this event

Cheshire East Council runs the Town Hall, and its page for the building points visitors to two car parks: the short-stay one behind the building off Unicorn Gateway, and the Jordangate multi-storey. (Cheshire East Council, Town Hall Macclesfield)

Neither works for a 6pm start and a 10pm finish.

The short-stay area at the Town Hall has a maximum stay of 30 minutes on weekdays. The Jordangate multi-storey closes at 7pm Monday to Saturday, so a car left there would be shut in for the rest of the evening. (Cheshire East Council, car parks in Macclesfield)

The better answer is on the same council page, and it is free. The Town Hall car park has two areas, and the council’s own note reads: “The larger area is available to the public after 5pm on weekdays, free of charge.” The 25th is a Friday, so that applies on the night. The ticket page’s line that “paid parking” is available is not the full picture.

Duke Street car park, a few minutes away, is free after 3pm every day. Full detail on all of it is on our parking in Macclesfield page.

What we could not confirm

The organisers’ email says a proportion of the proceeds will go to a hospice, which they name as Cheshire Hospice. No charity is named anywhere on the ticket page or the poster, and no figure or share is given for the donation.

The same email names the actor Charlie Lawson and The Castle pub as involved. Neither appears on the ticket page, and we have not been able to confirm either independently. We are reporting the claim and its source rather than repeating it as fact.

What it means for you

If you want to go, the practical points are the price, the licence and the parking. It is £30, it is over-18s only, and refunds stop seven days before, which is 18 September.

Park in the larger area of the Town Hall car park after 5pm and it costs nothing. Park in Jordangate and you will not get the car out again that night. Anywhere else in a Cheshire East car park, charges run to 10pm, seven days a week.

If the charity element matters to your decision, it is worth asking the organisers which hospice benefits and what share it receives before you buy. Neither is stated on any of the material we have seen.

More on what is on locally is on our things to do in Macclesfield page.