Phoenix Nights is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
It may have only graced our screens for just 12 episodes between 2001 and 2002, but the beloved sitcom has become a British cult-classic.
Written by and starring legendary local comedian Peter Kay, the award-winning show follows the highs and lows of the staff and customers of The Phoenix Club – a fictional working men’s social club in Bolton.
If you’re unfamiliar with the show or you haven’t got round to giving it a watch yet, Peter Kay plays Brian Potter – a man whose dream it is to own a successful social club, but with two failed ventures already to his name, he’s hoping the third time will be the charm and is determined to make his new baby, The Phoenix Club, the most popular establishment in Bolton
The show originated as a spin-off from Kay’s earlier spoof documentary series That Peter Kay Thing, which is where many Phoenix Nights’ characters first appeared.
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Dave Spikey, Paddy McGuinness, Neil Fitzmaurice, and other well-known names also star.
Phoenix Nights is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year / Credit: Channel 4
And now, to celebrate it being two decades since the legendary show first aired, Manchester’s new independent theatre and bar 53two is hosting a Phoenix Nights-themed party this Sunday, with plenty fun and games to get involved in.
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The night is being hosted by our very-own Joe McGrath, who fans of The Manc may recognise as one of the familiar faces from our videos.
A description for this weekend’s event reads: “Come and join Joe McGrath from The Manc for a celebration of Phoenix Nights, where there will be a massive Phoenix Nights quiz, ultimate bingo, Talent Trek, and a DJ.”
Tickets are only £8 for a full night of entertainment – and you can grab yours here.
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Phoenix Nights: A 20 Year Celebration
Where: 53two
When: Sunday 3 October
Time: 6pm – 11pm (7pm last entry)
Featured Image – Channel 4
What's On
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 21 – 27 October 2024
Emily Sergeant
Autumn is in full swing, spooky season is here, and schools across the region will be out for half term from this week.
With Halloween only a week away, and schools set to break up for October half term from this Friday onwards, it’s about time we all started to fully immerse ourselves in everything autumn has to offer, and thankfully, there’s absolutely no shortage of things for the whole family to be getting up to across Greater Manchester.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though? We’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide this week.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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Pumpkin Lanterns
Manchester City Centre
Monday 21 October – onwards
Pumpkin Lanterns / Credit: CityCo / Manchester BID
There couldn’t be a more ideal time to catch a glimpse of the pumpkins.
If you’re looking to get in the mood for Halloween, but want to 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.
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 – and it’s free too.
Manchester Science Festival 2024 / Credit: Science Museum Group
You can explore the extremes of nature, human capability, and creativity at Manchester Science Festival this year.
The massively-popular festival has made a grand return for 2024 from this week, and it’s offering visitors the unique opportunity to become a genuine part of history through a wide range of immersive events and activities.
Organisers say the festival is all about “tackling the extremes of our world” this year, and this means attendees will get to learn about some of science’s most cutting-edge developments through multi-sensory experiences and hands-on family fun.
Find out everything happening at this year’s festival here.
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Time To Die
DIECAST
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Monday 21 October – 2 November
Time To Die / Credit: Supplied
It’s time to die…
That’s because a brand-new immersive scare experience presented by Manchester Scare Factory, called ‘Time To Die’, has landed right here in the city centre down at Diecast, and it’s said to be elevating horror to a whole new level.
Created by the group of innovative professionals behind the award-winning Newsham Park in Liverpool, and the infamous Area51group, this horrifying masterpiece has than enough to send shivers down your spine.
Chester Zoo’s Halloween Festival / Credit: Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo has been transformed into a ‘super-natural spectacle’ for the spooky season, and there’s loads of exciting events planned now that Halloween is right around the corner.
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The UK’s biggest charity zoo is getting into the scary spirit throughout October, with a trail of giant animals made out of pumpkins, and a fully animated 360-degree ‘mythical experience’ among the highlights at the huge new Halloween festival.
Visitors will come face-to-face with giant animal sculptures made with pumpkins, all before encountering untamed creatures at the new BEASTS experience – which is the first of its kind in the UK.
STAB Horror Film Season / Credit: Cultplex | Paramount Pictures
October is here… and so is STAB Horror Film Season.
Now a much-loved staple of Manchester’s spooky season, Cultplex’s annual horror film festival is back for 2024, and the Red Bank-based ‘mini cini’ has once again been taken over by a whole host of scary movies and more as part of the month-long festival.
This year’s lineup features sci-fi and supernatural classics such as The Exorcist and Alien, as well as full-on movie marathons, special spooky one-offs, and other events.
Scare City has returned to the North West for its fifth year running with its “most immersive” horror experience to date.
Taking over the grounds of the abandoned Camelot Theme Park for “another year of terror”, just as it has done for the past three years following the success of its initial 2020 launch as a drive-in cinema, this year’s event features a selection of terrifying zones to weave your way through – some familiar, some brand new.
Tickets are now available to book at £26.95 for standard entry, or £36.95 for the ‘Gold Entry’ (both plus a £2.45 booking free).
Find out more and grab tickets to this year’s event here.
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Eat Well, Do Good Festival
Manchester City Centre
Monday 21 – Sunday 27 October
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Eat Well, Do Good Festival / Credit: Eat Well MCR
Medlock Canteen, Higher Ground, Great North Pie Co, Erst, Fenix, Hawksmoor, and Where the Light Gets In are just some of the beloved Manchester eateries appearing at this year’s Eat Well, Do Good Festival.
Running all this week, the Eat Well Do Good festival aims to raise vital funds to support Eat Well MCR’s ongoing efforts to provide meals to those in need.
From launching Eat Well-inspired dishes, to specially-launched supper clubs in renowned Manchester venues, a unity of exciting and immersive activations are lined up to support the overall cause.
A brand-new Halloween trail will be leading people through an enchanted and haunted woodland this autumn.
Taking place at the Trafford Centre’s little-known Wilderspool Woods, the 4.5 acre hidden woodland in the grounds of the iconic shopping centre will be taken over by skeletons, bats, and all sorts of other spooky creatures.
More than 100,000 lights will illuminate a Skeleton Village, and there’ll be laser-filled gardens of mist, a spooky soundtrack of otherworldly tunes curated by DJ Rasp, and supernatural surprises around every corner – whether it’s colourful bats soaring overhead or glowing LED eyes watching down from the treetops.
Paddington Visits Manchester / Credit: The Manc Group
Did you know that an adorable statue of Paddington Bear has been installed in Manchester?
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Inviting passers-by to pull up a seat, the little likeness to the much-loved animated character in the middle of Spinningfields at Hardman Street is complete with red hat, blue duffle coat, and even his emergency marmalade sandwich.
The statue has been installed as part of the Paddington Visits trail right across the UK and Ireland, celebrating the upcoming release of Paddington in Peru.
The Paddington statue in Manchester has been constructed onto a bench with space beside him to sit with the loveable bear, and will be in situ for at least the next year.
One of the stand-out events on the family-friendly lineup this year is the indoor ‘Pop-Up Pumpkin Patch’, which is perfect for pumpkin pickers of all ages who fancy getting into the spooky spirit, all while staying dry and warm at the same time.
For just £2 per child, you’ll be able to pick out your pumpkin to take home for carving or decorating, and every single penny from the ticket sales of this event will go to the Trafford Centre’s chosen charity for 2024, FareShare Greater Manchester – the region’s largest food redistribution charity.
Halloween Ghost Trains / Credit: East Lancashire Railway
East Lancashire Railway’s popular Halloween Ghost Trains are back this week.
Always proving to be top of the Halloween bucket list for people looking for “loads of spooktacular fun” once the scariest time of year rolls around, those brave enough at lending the ‘Monster Squad’ a helping hand at banishing ghosts and ghouls will be whisked away on a haunted steam engine through the atmospheric Greater Manchester countryside.
You’ll get to meet lots of “oddballs and curios” along the way, including Count Brian the vampire, Veronica the witch, Zombie Bob, and the mad Dr Frankenburger as you board the rain ride of a lifetime.
The MCR Monsters are back once again, and you’ve only got a few days to get yourselves out there to find them all.
Part of the annual wider ‘Halloween in the City’ events lineup, just as they have been doing for the past few years now, giant inflatable monsters will be looming and creeping over buildings across the city centre this week to transform some of our most well-known landmarks with tentacles and googly eyes and pointy teeth for a free trail.
There’s dozens of monsters to spot around town this year, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you.
There’s a singalong screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show happening down at one of Manchester’s newest venues.
Taking place this weekend at Fairfield Social Club, with not one but two screenings of the classic 70s flick across both Friday 25 and Saturday 26 October, this is your chance to dress the part, sing the night away in style, and be “chilled, thrilled, and fulfilled”.
Oh, and did we forget to mention there’ll be bottomless drinks too? Now we’re talking.
Silence of the Baths / Credit: Supplied | Chris Payne (via Supplied)
Three of Manchester’s most legendary old nightclubs are to “resurrected” for one night only this Halloween weekend.
Returning to the stunning Grade II-listed Victoria Baths for a “fright night of thrills” after a sell-out debut in 2023, this is your chance to travel back to a time when South, Jilly’s Rockworld, and The Tiger Lounge were still standing, as the three iconic venues will unite for The Silence of the Baths: Back from the Dead.
Manchester icon Clint Boon will be joined by Mikee Diablo and Max Oblivion for the one-off event this Saturday, with the venue set to “show its darker side”.
Find out more and grab some last-minute tickets here.
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Pumpkin Carving Competition
GRUB
Sunday 27 October
Pumpkin Carving Competition / Credit: GRUB | Nick Taylor (via Flickr)
Consider yourself to be a pro pumpkin carver? You might want to get yourself down to GRUB this weekend to put those bold claims to the test.
With both adults-only and family-friendly competitions, the popular Manchester venue is hosting its annual Pumpkin Carving Competition on Sunday, and is inviting everyone to pick your pumpkin from the pile, and compete with other carvers across a range of different categories.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group | Supplied | ELR
What's On
You can actually sleep at Old Trafford for an important charitable cause
Danny Jones
It is time for the return of Manchester United’s much-loved Stadium Sleep Out, where fans can actually sleep over at Old Trafford to help raise money for charity.
Back for just the third time in the club’s history, the Red Devils are once again inviting fans of Man United to not just visit the Theatre of Dreams outside of a usual matchday but to sleep for one special night in the stands of Old Trafford itself.
The now annual fundraising event which looks to combat homelessness in Greater Manchester and among young people, specifically, raised over a whopping £40,000 for this vital cause last November and is looking to amass even more this time around.
Given that this figure was double the amount managed in the inaugural year, we think the next edition is going to smash that target too.
— Manchester United Foundation (@MU_Foundation) October 16, 2024
The concept is pretty much what it says on the tin: hordes of Reds pile into Old Trafford with their warm layers, sleeping bags, flasks and more to sleep out at one of the most iconic stadiums in the world.
Over 100 Reds took part in the 2023 Sleep Out and while the concept has been seen before at various different sporting organisations in recent times, there aren’t many clubs bigger than United, so they’re looking to welcome even more numbers to sleepover in the stands.
The event was set up to help raise money not only for the Manchester United Foundation but for UK charity Centrepoint too. With a base here in Greater Manchester, the homelessness charity has been helping support vulnerable young people all over the region and beyond since 1969.
Between 2022 and 2023, Centrepoint found that 136,000 young people across the UK approached their council for help because they were homeless or at risk of homelessness, highlighting the desperate plight of many in our area and the need for events, and support, like this.
As the colder temperatures creep in, it’s more vital than ever that those less fortunate get help wherever they can and the November date also allows locals to experience a taste of what it’s like for those sleeping rough and remind them of why initiatives like this are so important.
Taking place on Friday, 15 November, the 2024 Old Trafford Stadium Sleep Out is set to welcome more participants than ever and it goes without saying that the atmosphere is pretty special.
A strictly 18+ event only, you can get ready to swap your bed for a sleeping bed and instead of staring at the ceiling, you can look up at the stars while laying down under the lights of Manchester United’s legendary home ground from just £30. All fund goes directly to the cause.
You can register your interest HERE and, who knows, maybe you’ll be joined by Fred the Red and a few other familiar faces this year.
Emily Sergeant -
30th September 2021 
