Howl’oween! Manchester’s first alternative Halloween party for dogs and their owners

Halloween is a cat thing, right?

Witches always seem to have a feline friend, usually black, with no room on the broom for dogs. Until now.

For Hatch, the food, drink and retail concept housed in shipping containers beneath the Mancunian Way flyover on Oxford Road, is staging an alternative Halloween party for hounds and their owners.

Manchester’s first Howl’oween for doggy people and their best furry friends will feature Halloween fancy dress for dogs to enter the Spooky Pooch competition. Judging starts at 7.30pm and the Doggy Best Dressed (and its owner) will win an overnight stay at the nearby dog-friendly Principal Hotel.

The party’s ‘pop-pup’ partners will include Betty and Butch, the bespoke boutique for pooches and winner of Pet Store of the Year. Purveyors of everything your doggy dreamed of – including their own brand natural dog food, organic dog shampoo, toys, leads, harnesses and lots of other fun things – Betty and Butch will be hosting a special, one-off Hatch Howl’oween shop featuring their best sellers, with a donation of all proceeds from the event going to Manchester Dogs’ Home.

Pioneers of Santa Paws, they’ll also be hosting Dogs Dinners, serving up their own brand dog food and providing bowls and plates so that guests can enjoy supper with their pup, tucking into one of Hatch’s many street food specials alongside their canine companions

There’ll be plenty of Pupsecco too to wash it all down and even a Trick 4 Treat competition with prizes for doggies performing the best tricks. 

The new Hatch street food heroes will be dishing out their usual global soul food with a discount for diners with dogs and for one night only they’ll be serving up doggy Halloween treats too.

SWALK creative, a collective of artists based in Afflecks, will be setting up a special Howl’oween Pet Portrait Session where they’ll create their amazing digital illustrations of your dog. They specialise in bespoke commissions which promise to capture your animal’s personality, so they’ll providing consultations at the event and be doing some live pooch portraiture too.

SWALK will also be hosting a Pumpkin Doodling workshop helping guests to create Mexican candy skull designs.

Soundtrack for the evening will come from local rising star Izzie Walsh who’ll be bringing her laid back Americana vibes and hosting her fabulous open mic sessions too.

Established last year by Manchester property giant Bruntwood and inspired by trendy Box Park in London’s Shoreditch, Hatch is of the most striking new additions to Manchester’s thriving retail scene and home to some of the most exciting and creative independent businesses in the city.

It’s designed with disruptive, independent businesses in mind and is run by the people behind iconic Manchester destination – Afflecks.

Howlo’ween takes place on Wednesday, 31st October from 6pm at Hatch.