Refuge on Oxford Road celebrates ten years in Manchester

Refuge has been part of Manchester's food, drink and music scene for a decade, and this autumn it marked the milestone in style. The Oxford Road restaurant and bar, which opened at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in 2016, celebrated its 10th anniversary with Refuge10, a month-long programme of food, music, art and events through September 2026.

The celebrations looked back at the venue's first ten years by bringing back dishes, drinks and events from its history. A special Refuge 10 menu featured returning dishes including lamb shawarma and beetroot borani, while the bar revisited its opening year with a four-drink Back to 2016 cocktail menu. The People's Lunch also returned for a limited time.

Art and memory played a part too. An expanded edition of I Am The Fly, the free exhibition by Manchester artist and screen-printer Matthew Rich, explored the city's early 1980s music and club scene, with new Refuge10 work added. A commemorative zine brought together artwork, a timeline of the venue's history and stories from its links with Manchester's music and creative communities.

Weekend events ran throughout September under the Come As You Were banner, building up to a venue-wide indoor and outdoor anniversary party on Saturday 26 September.

Inside the main Refuge bar, Prosumer headlined alongside DJs Jim Bane, Laura Jackson and Simba Selecta. Out in the courtyard, Rich Reason curated a Ghosts of Garage takeover featuring Crazy Cousinz and Wilfey D, while the Winter Garden hosted performances from Refuge's resident queens and performers.

The party also did some good. Tickets cost £2, with all proceeds donated to Eat Well MCR to help provide meals for people experiencing food insecurity across Greater Manchester.

Rhea Leach, at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, said Refuge "has become such an important part of the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel and of Manchester itself over the past ten years." From the very beginning, she said, it was created to be "a place where people could come together, discover something new and feel part of the city."

She added: "10 years on, it's fantastic to see that spirit continuing. Refuge10 gives us the opportunity to celebrate the people, music, creativity and memories that have made Refuge what it is."

Menus, details of its event spaces and news of what is coming up next are on Refuge's official website, so it is easy to plan a visit for its second decade.