Lightopia has announced a big discount on tickets for the rest of its season here in Manchester.
The massive light and lantern festival will be offering 25% off event tickets for everyone.
The deal is running until the end of the festival, which is due to wrap up on Monday January 3.
Lightopia returned to Heaton Park for its third year back in November.
Lightopia Festival in Manchester’s Heaton Park. Credit: Supplied
The popular event once again saw the park filled with enchanting lanterns, installations and light shows in an interactive trail.
This year’s ‘Christmas Fantasy’ at Lightopia includes brand new installations, like the Magic Circus display and the Field of Love, with 50,000 hearts covering the ground.
The Field of Love at Lightopia, which is offering a discount until January. Credit: Supplied
Other zones include the Time Travel section, where there are holographic time portals; the Fantasy Forest, where mythical creatures hide in the woodland; and Dragon’s Land, filled with 40-metre dragons and fabled fairies.
There’s also street food stalls and a massive fairground to explore at Heaton Park.
A giant ‘carnival on bikes’ championing Black culture is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
One of the biggest bike ride events in the country, dubbed a ‘carnival on wheels’, is coming to Manchester this year.
The Black Unity Bike Ride (BUBR) was set up in London following the murder of George Floyd, which took place on 25 May 2020 and set shockwaves around the world.
Now, as the event is looking to reach across the UK, the event celebrating Black culture, joy, empowerment and unity is coming to our city region and its surrounding areas for the first time ever.
It’s set to be a truly brilliant and inspiring event.
Teaming up with London Marathon Events (LME) once again, the mass participation veterans have been lending expertise since 2021, and now they’ve reached a new five-year agreement to help continue strengthening BUBR and, hopefully, create a national movement by setting up in two new cities.
Manchester marks the first stage of the Black Unity Bike Ride expansion, which will see thousands take to cycling from Alexandra Park in Moss Side on a 12-mile route through the city and back to the beautiful outdoor space.
Aiming to mirror the success of the flagship BUBR event down in the capital, Manc participants and supporters can expect a vibrant, ‘festival feel’ with pumping music throughout.
Back at Alexandra Park, there’ll be even a huge pop-up home base for the event, bringing together Greater Manchester’s Black community with a big food and vendor village, more music and an uplifting atmosphere all day long.
The inaugural Manchester event will come just a fortnight after the sixth annual edition of the founding Black Unity Bike Ride in London, which sees waves of cyclists take on 17 miles, starting at Leyton Sports Ground and finishing in Dulwich Park.
Credit: Black Unity Bike Ride Manchester (supplied)
Promising route leaders, cheer zones and pitstops on the route, plenty of music, not to mention various indie food and drink traders pulling from a wide range of different ethnicities and cuisines, it’s this kind of full-on festival energy that BUBR Manchester is striving to capture.
Once again, it’s a ‘carnival on wheels’.
BUBR MCR 2025 will take place on Sunday, 17 August, the birthday of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a key political activist – the forefather of the ‘Garveyism ideology – as well as publisher, journalist and orator who has his own national day named after him in his home country of Jamaica.
He advocated for the empowerment and rights of African descendants and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), in addition to organising America’s first-ever Black nationalist movement.
You can see the event documentary film, which chronicles last year’s Black Unity Bike Ride in full down below. It really is a moving watch – pardon the pun.
It’s also worth noting that the Black Unity Bike Ride Fest is completely FREE, as the goal is to get as many people as possible. You can sign up
BUBR founder, Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, said of the upcoming event: “What began as a bold idea on London’s streets has grown into a national movement. We are very excited to bring the event to Manchester, it has been an aspiration for a few years so we can’t wait until Sunday, 17 August.”
“BUBR has valued London Marathon Events’ support since 2021, and we are very proud to extend this relationship with a new five-year commitment. The partnership is a true statement of intent when it comes to community, inclusion and inspiring active lives.”
BUBR aren’t the only lot getting on their bikes this summer
BUBR has been to Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana and more; Manchester is up next and there’ll be another new home in 2026.
Tickets officially go on sale for Manchester’s new immersive Race Across the World Experience
Emily Sergeant
Race Across the World is launching an immersive experience here Manchester, and tickets officially go on sale this week.
After five original series and two celebrity spin-offs, it was only a matter of time before the hit BBC TV show materialised into ‘Race Across the World: The Experience.
Just like the programme we all know and love, Manchester‘s new adventure will send you on a mission across the heart of the city centre, where you’ll have to complete tasks and reach various checkpoints to be crowned champion.
The missions will see players visiting a whole host of Manchester hotspots, lesser known locations, renowned pubs, and distinctive landmarks across three hours.
Tickets have officially gone on sale for Manchester’s new Race Across the World Experience / Credit: Supplied
Teams will rely on our trusty Bee Network as they take a trip on our vibrant yellow trams and buses to get around the city as they make their way to each puzzle and activity.
At each puzzle destination, participants will have to complete a pre-planned challenge to guide them to their next location.
For Mancs and anyone further afield, Race Across the World: The Experience will be a whole new way to explore Manchester and will give you the chance to see some of the city’s best hidden gems, even if you are on a time limit.
In true Race Across the World style, the team who manages to finish not just with the fastest time but with the most budget remaining too, will be the ultimate victor.
Perfect for friends, families, or colleagues, Race Across the World: The Experience offers an exciting, fast-paced, and completely unexpected day out in Manchester, so whether you’re a die-hard fan of the show or you’re just looking for a unique way to explore the city, it will deliver the thrill of a lifetime.
Tickets will be priced from £25 each when they go on sale this week.
Those who sign up to the waitlist will be able to access discounted presale tickets from today (Tuesday 22 July), which not only gives you 48-hours of exclusive booking time, but also lets you get 20% off.
Daisy Jackson -
27th December 2021 
