Festive Social 🎄 — Vision Boards, Challenges, Dinner & Secret Santa

⚠️ PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A £30 PAID EVENT

Celebrate the close of 2026 and start shaping the year you want in 2027 with the NST Community! 🎄✨

This isn’t your standard Christmas dinner.

We’re bringing the community together for an afternoon and evening of creativity, reflection, games, good food and genuine connection across Manchester city centre.

Whether you’ve been coming to NST all year or this will be your first event, you’re welcome.

We’ll start by creating our 2027 vision boards over light refreshments, head into the city for a festive team challenge, and finish the evening over dinner with reflections on the year, plans for 2027 and our Secret Santa exchange.

🕒 The Itinerary — Saturday, 12 December 2026

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Arrival & Secret Santa Drop-Off

• Our meeting point for the afternoon is the Great Northern courtyard, directly outside Pong & Puck.
• Bring your wrapped Secret Santa gift with you and drop it off with our hosts when you arrive so you don’t have to carry it around for the rest of the afternoon.
• Once everyone has gathered, we’ll head up to GRIT Studios together.

2:30 PM – 4:30 PM | 2027 Vision Board Workshop — GRIT Studios

We’ll head to GRIT Studios on Deansgate Mews for our 2027 Vision Board Workshop, facilitated by Brandina (@brandinamadeit).

• Over light festive snacks and drinks, you’ll have the space, materials and prompts to think properly about what you want from 2027 — personally, professionally or both — and turn those ideas into a physical vision board you can take home.
• No artistic ability required! 😄

4:45 PM – 5:30 PM | The Festive Media Challenge

Next, we head into Manchester city centre.

• You’ll be placed into small teams for a fast-paced photo and video challenge through the Christmas markets around King Street and St Ann’s Square.
• Expect creative prompts, hilarious team videos, a bit of healthy competition and plenty of opportunities to explore the markets together.
• Points will be awarded throughout, with prizes waiting for the winning team later at dinner.

We’ll regroup afterwards for our NST festive group photo before making our way to Hakkapo.

6:00 PM – 8:30 PM | Dinner, Reflections & Secret Santa — Hakkapo

We’ll finish the evening together over dinner at Hakkapo on First Street.

• Alongside the food, we’ll look back at some of our biggest wins, lessons and surprises from 2026 and share some of the things we want to make happen in 2027.
• We’ll also reveal the winning team from our Festive Media Challenge before finishing with our Secret Santa exchange. 🎁

🎟️ What Your £30 Event Ticket Includes

Your ticket includes:

• Entry to the full NST festive programme
• GRIT Studios workshop space
• Facilitated 2027 Vision Board Workshop with Brandina
• Vision board and crafting materials
• Light snacks and drinks during the workshop
• Festive Media Challenge
• Prizes for the winning team
• £10 credit towards your dinner at Hakkapo

The £10 dining credit is already included in your ticket price and will be deducted from your individual food bill at the restaurant.

For example, if your food comes to £24, you will only have £14 remaining to pay.

Any food or drinks beyond your £10 credit will be paid for individually at the venue.

🎁 Secret Santa

Secret Santa is part of The Festive Social, so every attendee will give one gift and receive one gift.

Please budget up to £10 for your gift.

After booking, you'll receive access to our private DrawNames group where you'll create a small wishlist. Once registration closes, names will be randomly assigned and you'll receive the wishlist of the person you're buying for.

Please bring your wrapped gift with you when you arrive on 12 December and hand it to our hosts at the Secret Santa drop-off point.

🍱 Food Pre-Order — Please Read

Because we’ll be dining as a large group, Hakkapo requires us to submit our food choices in advance.

• After booking your ticket, your confirmation email will include a link to our Festive Reset Event Details Form.
• Your order will then be submitted to the restaurant ahead of the event so we can spend less time waiting for food and more time enjoying the evening.

Please also tell us about any allergies or dietary requirements during registration.

📍 Meeting Point & Getting Around

The event takes place across Manchester city centre, starting at the Great Northern courtyard outside Pong & Puck, before moving to GRIT Studios and finishing at Hakkapo.

The starting point and GRIT Studios are at Great Northern Warehouse, Manchester, M3 4EN.

Hakkapo is located at 13 Jack Rosenthal Street, First Street, Manchester, M15 4FN.

Final joining instructions will be emailed to registered attendees before the event.

Please wear warm, comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for December weather, as the Festive Media Challenge takes place outdoors.

💳 Cancellation & Refund Policy: Because this event involves advance venue, workshop, catering and restaurant commitments, tickets are non-refundable once purchased. If you can no longer attend, you may transfer your ticket to someone else. Please contact EventsbyNST before the event so we can update the attendee details and any food or dietary information attached to the booking. If EventsbyNST cancels the event, ticket holders will receive a refund of the event ticket price. If part of the itinerary has to change due to circumstances outside our control — for example severe weather, venue disruption or changes affecting the outdoor activity — we may adjust the programme while continuing with the rest of the event where reasonably possible. By purchasing a ticket, you agree to this cancellation and refund policy. 

📸 Media Notice: Photos and videos may be taken during the event for NST social media, website and promotional content. If you would prefer not to appear in photos or videos, please let us know during registration or speak to one of the NST hosts when you arrive. We will make reasonable efforts to exclude you from identifiable media. We can’t wait to close out 2026 together — and start 2027 with a little more intention.