October is well under way now and there’s plenty to be getting up to in Manchester.
If you’re stuck for something to do, then this is your go-to guide for what’s on and what’s happening in the city of Manchester and beyond this week.
Some of the events we’re going to mention here are completely free, others will set you back a few pounds and most will need to be booked in advance, but all are COVID-secure and socially-distanced in order to keep you as safe as possible during these trying times.
Whatever you fancy doing though, there’s certainly no shortage of choice in our region.
The pumpkins are still here, in case you missed them.
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If you’re looking to get in the mood for Halloween early, but keep things a little on the cheaper side this week, then you need look no further than up above in the city centre as the annual decorative pumpkin lanterns are back once again and they’re here all month.
Going on a little tour to see the lanterns in the trees in St Ann’s Square, Market Street and beyond is the perfect activity for all the family, easy to plan and great for pictures.
Scare City officially kicked off last week and it’s not for the faint hearted.
This immersive drive-in cinema event – organised by Park N Party – sees terrifying performers swarming on unsuspecting viewers’ during each evening of car park entertainment at Event City in Trafford.
Horror flicks for all film fans will be showing throughout the month of October.
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From the comfort of your own car this week, you can watch films including Insidious, Get Out, and The Blaire Witch Project for the brave, and also Frankenweenie, Goosebumps, and Beetlejuice if you’d rather keep your wits about you.
Tickets are priced at £35 per vehicle.
Food and drink is also available to purchase on site, and will be served and distributed in compliance with COVID-19 safety precautions.
You can reserve your spot at Scare City online now via Eventbrite.
This October, you can take your little monsters to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre at Barton Square and get into the spirit at the ultimate Halloween party, with so many “fang-tastic activities” and “spook-tacular activities”, plus access to two rides, LEGO build & play zones, and a 4D cinema at the ultimate indoor LEGO playground.
All of this COVID-safe fun is included within the price of an admission ticket too.
The fun doesn’t stop at intu Trafford Centre, as Ascarium is arriving at SEA LIFE Manchester once again this year and it’s an experience like no other.
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You are invited to follow the immersive trail through the site – which will adhere to all necessary COVID-19 safety measures – to find missing potion ingredients hidden throughout displays of the creepiest creatures of the deep and once you’ve spotted all of the missing items, see if you can solve the riddle at the end of the trail to complete the spell and claim your free Cadbury reward for your Halloween bravery.
Totally Gruesome is a 100% socially distanced and COVID-safe Halloween attraction aimed at Primary School-aged children in Ashton-under-Lyne..
In your pre-booked time slot, you’ll get five minutes to spend in each of the 10 themed rooms – which range from ‘Spiders Cave’ and ‘Clown Graveyard’, to ‘Egyptian Tomb’ and ‘Witches Forest’ – to crack the code. Follow the clues to uncover a letter of the alphabet in each themed room and once you have all the letters, you can then solve the anagram to be entered into the weekly sweetie prize draw.
It’s basically a kids version of break-out rooms, crossed with the crystal maze.
Tickets are priced at £7 each.
You can discover more information about the event and book your tickets here.
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Murder Mystery 2020
East Lancashire Railway, Bury
Saturday 17th October
Dining With Distinction
Fancy a bit of Poirot to get you in the mood for Halloween?
This week’s Murder Mystery 2020 theme at East Lancashire Railway in Bury is ‘Trouble at Tower Terrors’.
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The description for the event reads: “They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky and one of them is also a killer. The residents of Terror Towers are out for revenge on the oldest and deadliest member of the clan and it’s up to you to dig up the evidence and discover who is the worst monster of all before the witching hour strikes.”
Tickets are priced at £75.
This includes a beautiful 2 1/3 hour steam train ride through the Irwell Valley, a welcome glass of fizz, a four course meal – with everything from Chorizo, Halloumi & Cucumber salad, to Raspberry & White Chocolate Meringue on the menu – followed by tea or coffee and after dinner chocolates, and of course award-winning Murder Mystery entertainment.
After something that isn’t so spooky and Halloween-themed this week?
The GM ‘Let’s Walk Festival’ is taking place in a completely COVID-safe and virtually this year, so no matter whether you’re a “stroller, roamer, shuffler, moocher or a marcher”, you’re welcome to join in with this two-week-long festival.
It’s a great opportunity to set yourself (or your family) a walking goal and discover the simple joys and benefits of walking with an option to raise money for local causes too.
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You can find out more information and register onto the event here.
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Escape to Freight Island
Depot Mayfield
Thursday 15th, Friday 16th, Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th October
Escape to Freight Island
There’s plenty going on at Escape to Freight Island this week.
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If you haven’t had chance to make your way down to Manchester’s newest social experience and one of the hottest tickets in town yet – which is housed at Depot Mayfield in the heart of the city centre – then this is definitely a good week to make that happen.
On the agenda this extended weekend is regular act Reform Radio Presents on Thursday, a special showing by Band on the Wall Presents on Friday – with exciting acts yet to be announced – Mr. Scruff, MC Kwasi, Annabel Fraser, and Lee Andrews taking over for 10 hours on Saturday, and finally From Manchester With Love taking to the stage on Sunday.
Tickets to all events must be booked in advance.
You can books yours and find more information about social distancing / COVID-safe precautions here.
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Higher Ground
Ducie Street Warehouse, Northern Quarter
Friday 16th & Saturday 17th October
Higher Ground x Ducie Street Warehouse
Higher Ground is taking over Ducie Street Warehouse for the full month of October.
The innovative pop-up restaurant – which prides itself on offering dishes with the best North West ingredients, Manchester brewed beer and natural wine – began its residency at the popular Northern Quarter hangout at at the start of the month, where an incredible five-course sharing menu will be served and an optional wine pairing, consisting of three glasses is available to add-on.
Tickets at £45 per head and prepaid reservations must be made for party sizes of two – six people.
We Are Football Fest – Europe’s largest World Cup fan park gets even bigger as ‘Big Sam’ joins the party
Daisy Jackson
The largest World Cup fan park not just in Manchester or the UK but all of Europe just got even bigger, as the latest ambitious project from 4TheFans is seeing them expand from Freight Island into Depot Mayfield.
In fact, the former has already sold out in just four hours, and with a former England manager set to turn up, you’d better be quick about booking your tickets…
We Are Football Festival, in partnership with Freight Island and Broadwick, will bring together 13,000 football fans in front of the biggest screens in the country to cheer on England as they continue their race for World Cup glory.
The already enormous fan park opened at Freight in June, but now they’ll be opening up the iconic Depot next door, further transforming the space into an unrivalled celebration of football, with the one and only Sam Allardyce even set to turn up on stage.
The outdoor screen has been box office vibes since minute oneWe Are Football Festival by 4TheFansThe fan park spills over into Depot MayfieldCredit: Vision Seven
We know he was only in charge for one game, but he’s still the only England boss to boast a 100% win record, after all.
Fans have been utterly immersed in the action thanks to a massive sound system, pyrotechnics, CO2 cannons, DJs, and entertainment around the games themselves – providing just about the closest thing you can get to a big game atmosphere.
The venue is open for all late kick-offs, too, and with England now through to the quarter-final stages following that dramatic 3-2 thriller against Mexico, the heat is really starting to ramp up.
Fans can head to Freight, as well as the rooftop or garden at Depot Mayfield from 5pm kick-off on matchdays in the sunshine, now with room for even more supporters to flood into the famous Manc Warehouse for those late-night games in the warehouse.
Here’s hoping it doesn’t get much later than a 4am full-time whistle again, eh?
There’s also the dedicated ‘Footy Fun Village’, which includes sponsored activations, games zones, and more family-friendly areas, creating a safe space for fans of all ages to enjoy the tournament no matter the time of day.
4TheFans and Freight Island have also hand-picked a great selection of food traders from around the world, not to mention a top-shelf bar selection.
We Are Football Fest’s 2026 World Cup coverage also comes with dedicated 4TheFans hosts, plus Sky Sports presenters, and the matches thus far have even seen England football legends providing quality match analysis at each screening.
Since launching, 4TheFans has welcomed hundreds of thousands of fans, and camera crews from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News, Sky Sports, England TV, and Match of the Day, to fan parks across the UK.
It’s now chosen Depot Mayfield for its World Cup fan park, where they can fill the huge space at Freight Island first before scaling into the rest of the Depot as the fan community grows and the Three Lions march on.
4TheFans is the UK’s original and biggest fan park brand, and it’s working with Freight Island and Broadwick to deliver this game-changing We Are Football Festival – the biggest and best fan park in Europe.
5,000 early bird tickets are available from just £4.50 per person, each coming with one beer included, and are on sale right HERE.
4TheFans presents We Are Football Festival runs at Depot Mayfield until 19 July 2026.
General admission tickets include
4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
Football legend in attendance
Guaranteed entry to the event
The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
VIP table tickets include
VIP table section with the best view of the giant screens and the event
Meet and greet with a football legend
4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
Guaranteed entry to the event
The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
It’s been packed for every England game up to this pointHow the indoor Depot warehouse room will lookCredit: Supplied via 4TheFans
Featured Images – Press shots by Vision Seven (supplied via 4TheFans)
What's On
Title partner and more collaborators confirmed for first-ever Stockport 10k
Danny Jones
The official title partners and other key collaborators for the inaugural Stockport 10k run and road race have been confirmed, with Vitality lending its name as the new lead sponsor.
Now set to be dubbed the Vitality Stockport 10K moving forward as part of a multi-year agreement beginning in 2026, the new running event by the UK’s leading organisers, RunThrough, has already seen huge interest.
The popular promotion and growing sports community currently boasts more than 300 different events across the country over the course of the annual calendar.
Ahead of this new SK iteration launching later this month, the nearby health insurance company are teaming up with the likes of the RunThrough team, Stockport County and more.
We're proud to announce @Vitality_UK the Title Partner of the inaugural Vitality Stockport 10K! 🏃
Join us on 19 July 2026 for an unforgettable road closed race starting and finishing at Edgeley Park.
As mentioned, places are already selling out fast with hundreds signing up from the moment the race went on sale.
Besides Edgeley Park football stadium hosting a memorable finish line at the local ground, Stockport County’s Community Trust arm is also playing a big role in the maiden Greater Manchester movement.
Lots of runners will be taking on the 10 kilometre/6.2 mile challenge for all kinds of reasons, but importantly, this first edition will also help raise money for the Trust’s completely free health and wellbeing programmes across the borough.
Eddie Owen, who heads up the schemes, said in a statement: “We’re delighted to be supporting this new community 10K and bringing people together at Edgeley Park for what promises to be a fantastic event.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to get active, support an important cause and be part of something that will have a lasting impact on our local community.
“Every entry will help us continue delivering our free health projects and move us closer to our goal of funding a brand-new health initiative for an entire year. We can’t wait to welcome runners, supporters and families to Edgeley Park in July.”
As for RunThrough themselves, CEO Jack Williams went on to add: “We’re proud to announce Vitality as the title sponsor of the inaugural Vitality Stockport 10K.
“Their commitment to the local community makes them a fantastic partner for this event, and with the run starting and finishing at Edgeley Park, it already has a strong SK identity. We’re excited to work together to create a welcoming and memorable race day for runners and supporters across the town.”
The run itself is set to start along Harcastle Road, pass through the gorgeous Bramhall Park, back towards the town centre and Edgeley, before finishing at the famous Cheadle End.
Regarding the route itself, the course will treat participants to a route with a fairly flat elevation profile, making it ideal not only for those looking to notch a new personal best but entry level runners, too.
One of the best parts about RunThrough as well is the added bonus of accurate chip timing, a unique finisher’s medal design for each event, goodie bags and even free photos after completion.
Nick Read, Chief Vitality Officer, went on to add: “We’re delighted to partner with RunThrough as title sponsor of the Vitality Stockport 10K. This event brings together the local community in a way that reflects what Vitality stands for — making movement accessible, enjoyable and part of everyday life, whatever your starting point.
“Stockport is a key location for Vitality, both as a growing hub for our people and as one where we want to have a meaningful, long-term presence. It’s particularly fitting that this debut event takes place on the eve of opening our new office at No.3 Stockport Exchange.
“The space has been designed with health and wellbeing at its core, and this event is a great example of the kind of community-led initiatives we’re proud to support, helping to encourage more people to get active in a way that works for them.”
Entries for the Vitality Stockport 10K are open now, with runners from all over Greater Manchester invited to take their place on the start line come Sunday, 19 July 2026 – you can secure your spot HERE.
The North West running renaissance continues, and we’re absolutely here for it.
Emily Sergeant -
9th October 2020 
