It’s time to say goodbye to May, and welcome June with open arms.
Throughout the month of May so far, the Greater Manchester social calendar has featured the likes of foodie festivals, cultural celebrations, wholesome spring-themed events, and so much more… and thankfully, there’s loads more where that came from this week – especially as schools across the region are out for half term.
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.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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Manchester Flower Festival 2024
Manchester City Centre
Monday 27 May
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Manchester Flower Festival 2024 / Credit: The Manc Group
Manchester has become one of the most picturesque places in the UK this bank holiday weekend.
That’s because the city has got all dressed up in celebration of the annual Flower Festival, which is back by popular demand for its seventh year, and it means that plants and flowers are covering landmark buildings, shop windows, doorways, balconies, statues, fountains, and more for as far as the eye can see.
There’s also a ‘Manchester Icons’ floral trail, and visitors can see 10 glorious displays inspired by Manchester-born figures, music icons, and even legendary buildings created by local artists, gardeners, and flower enthusiasts.
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Find out more about everything happening at this year’s Manchester Flower Festival here.
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Vintage 1940s Weekend
East Lancashire Railway
Monday 27 May
Vintage 1940s Weekend / Credit: ELR
Fancy stepping back in time? The Greater Manchester public invited to “dig out your gladrags” and head on down to East Lancashire Railway (ELR) to round-off the bank holiday weekend, as an ‘immersive’ 1940s-themed weekend is back by popular demand.
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The Vintage 1940s Weekend has been an absolute hit in previous years, and has always been one of the heritage railway’s most popular events.
You can expect an exciting programme of live music all throughout the three-day weekend, as well as food, fashion, and memorabilia of the 1940s being brought to life.
Brilliant Bodies Month & Half Term Events / Credit: Science Museum Group
Fancy diving into the “gloriously gross” world of our brilliant bodies?
With schools across Greater Manchester breaking up for half term at the end of this month, and parents and carers gearing up to entertain the little ones, the Science and Industry Museum has a wide range of events and activities planned especially for the holidays.
The city’s most-visited museum is promising visitors a May half term “full of family fun” inspired by its world-first exhibition Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You.
Find out more about what’s on at the Science and Industry Museum this half term, and the rest of the month here.
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The Manchester College ‘Greater Mancunians’ Exhibition
Manchester Central Library
Monday 27 May – onwards
The Manchester College ‘Greater Mancunians’ Exhibition / Credit: Supplied
Photography students from The Manchester College are now showcasing their ‘Greater Mancunians’ project as part of a landmark exhibition at Manchester Central Library’s Main Exhibition Hall.
150 students have participated in the groundbreaking photography project, and it features images of some of Manchester’s most famous and influential people shot at numerous locations across the city.
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More than 100 contributors are featured in the project, including musicians Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr, athletes Diane Modahl and Ricky Hatton, local politicians Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner, and Bev Craig, actors Maxine Peake and Bill Roache, artists Stan Chow and AKSE P-19, and other local figures like Jonathan Warburton, Simon Martin, and Professor Erinma Bell MBE.
Have you seen that Diecast has just launched its huge outdoor beer garden for the summer?
‘Summer Town’ is billed as being the biggest summer garden party space, with room for 800 revellers to make the most of the sunshine over the next few months.
Diecast’s famous daiquiris are dominating at Leno Ex Machina’s central bar, with up 49 flavour combinations pouring from their gigantic Bacardi Frozen Daiquiri machines, while at the centre of the garden is the brand-new ‘Barbecue Kitchen’, where you can took into burgers, chargrilled hanger steaks, hot dogs, kebabs, and chef’s specials while the sun shines.
The magic carpet has officially landed, as Disney’s smash-hit musical Aladdin is now here in Manchester for the summer.
Based on the beloved 1992 animated film of the same name, and following several critically-acclaimed and sold-out runs on both Broadway and in London’s West End since it first debuted back in 2011, the Tony and Olivier Award-nominated production has taken to the stage down at Manchester’s iconic Palace Theatre.
The musical features all the timeless songs we know and love from the film, and people are already describing it as a seriously magical show.
Manchester Green Spaces Trail / Credit: Carl Sukonik | Annapurna Mellor
Workers and visitors are being invited to discover some stunning outdoor spaces across Manchester city centre and beyond this summer.
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Keen to get out and about on foot? Manchester has launched Manchester Green Spaces Trail – a brand-new walking trail celebrating the best green, blue, and outdoor areas the cities of Manchester and Salford have to offer.
Created in collaboration with Manchester tour guide, Jonathan Schofield, the walking trail is free to do and accessible via a downloadable map, and it features 16 garden and water spaces.
Did you see that Chester Zoo has been named the best zoo in the UK for 2024?
Everyone in and around Greater Manchester and the North West is already familiar with just how brilliant the UK’s biggest charity zoo is and all the work it contributes towards conservation and protecting endangered species all across the world.
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But now, it’s got itself a respectable new title to prove it, and it’s all thanks to tens of thousands of positive TripAdvisor reviews.
The world’s biggest travel guidance platform has named Chester Zoo as the best-rated zoo to visit in the UK this year, with more than 11,000 ‘Excellent’ ratings.
This week is your last chance to visit a brand-new art FREE exhibition curated by visual artist Emma Evans in partnership with six other creators.
Tales of Manchester 2.0 down at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is a collection of multi-platform art celebrating our brilliant city, and it’s showcasing six spoken word pieces by established Manchester based poets – Griot Gabriel, Ilaria Passeri, Lisa O’Hare, Mark Jackson aka Keith’s Brother, Matt Concannon aka The Thirsty Poet, and Sarah Attwell.
The spoken word is paired with visual pieces painted by self-taught artist Emma Evans, where the words have served as inspiration for the art.
Trafford Palazzo is hosting loads of gardening-themed events to entertain the little Mancs this half term.
To celebrate National Children’s Gardening Week, Trafford Palazzo has partnered with We Are Mud to curate a lineup of “blooming fun” bactivities that will inspire the whole family to get growing, and encourage little green fingers to get stuck in.
And the best bit? It’s all absolutely FREE to get involved in.
Fizzy Quizzy is GRUB’s weekly quiz event where, put simply, “the fizz meets the quiz”.
Each week, the popular Green Quarter-based street food fair and social hub’s in-house quizmaster crafts a mind-blowingly original quiz featuring six topical and light-hearted rounds, and it’s even been hailed as the best brain-tickler in Manchester.
Tickets are now on sale, so you know what to do if you’re looking to put your knowledge to the test – and there’s loads of prizes up for grabs too.
Oldham’s outdoor arts festival celebrating culture and community is back this Saturday to mark the 175th anniversary of the town.
Held annually in the town’s centre, this exciting family-friendly festival will showcase the very best local, regional, and national street theatre, music, dance, and visual arts across a variety of spaces, and visitors on the day will have a choice of over 50 performances and activities to make the most of and get stuck into.
It’s all FREE to attend too, so if you are looking for something to do with the kids that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, this is a great half term plan.
Featured Image – Manchester Flower Festival | Annapurna Mellor | Science Museum Group
What's On
Manchester City have announced a special away day fan zone for festive fixture
Danny Jones
In a real added bonus for away fans making the roughly two-hour journey to their only fixture over the festive period, travelling Man City supporters are being treated to a dedicated away-day fan zone for their upcoming game against Nottingham Forest.
Now this is the kind of backing we want to see from big teams.
That’s right, for those visiting Nottingham for the meeting against the fellow Premier League side and one-time European Cup winners, Manchester City will be putting on a special and exclusive fan zone.
Confirmed on Christmas Eve ahead of the match this coming Saturday, 27 December, the club revealed a quick glimpse of the pop-up supporters’ park.
As detailed in the announcement, the public events space known as ‘The Nest’ will be open exclusively to away-ticket holders heading to the City Ground.
Perfect for a quick pit-stop before and after the clash, the venue is one of the closest you’ll find to the stadium itself and, better still, is located roughly just a 10-minute walk away from the railway station.
There will be a huge bar offering a wide selection of alcoholic and soft drinks, plus plenty of street food to enjoy. Here’s hoping the players don’t indulge in too many of those this Christmas, especially following Pep Guardiola’s ‘fatty’ comments.
They kick off at 12:30pm, but will everyone make the weight?…
Once again, Man City have advertised this as an away-day ticket-holder-only event, so we would probably call ahead and double-check if you’re a Blue who just so happens to live/be in the area and want to go along.
It also goes without saying that this will serve as an ideal and presumably trouble-free place to celebrate after the result, as it’s a strictly sky-blue event and we’d wager the title contenders and serial trophy winners to come out on top.
So, if you needed any extra assurance that making the approximately 81-mile trip to Nottingham, we’d say potentially going top at Christmas and cheersing a few pints with your mates on a would-be concourse designed just for you is plenty of added motivation.
As for those of you staying firmly in Greater Manchester this holiday season, there’s no reason you can’t still have a little away day of your own:
Featured Images — Manchester City (via X)/The Manc Group
What's On
10 of the very best British Christmas specials and episodes to watch on TV this holiday season
Danny Jones
‘Tis the season to sit on your backside and do nothing but gorge on mountains of food and watch TV for hours on end as you make your way through all the Christmas specials and best of British telly you can muster.
Now, there’s nothing worse than when it feels like there’s nothing on you’re stranded in that spot on the sofa that’s too comfy to vacate, so that’s where we come in.
Along with all the usual stuff you’ll find in the TV guide at this time of year, we thought we’d round up some of the very best Christmas specials made here in the UK and Ireland to have ever aired – that way, you’ll have a steady supply of festive viewing and barely need to move an inch.
In no particular order, let’s get stuck into it, shall we?
The best British Christmas TV specials of all time
Where else to start than with the pride of Wales and a series that millions watch from start to finish every year? Gavin & Stacey.
Still revered as one of the most beloved comedies to ever come out of the UK, their two festive specials are also part and parcel (pardon the pun) of many Brits’ Christmas.
It still feels a bit weird going back and watching Corden as Smithy before the days of American fame, that first Nessa entrance; Uncle Bryn being, well, Bryn – even the soundtrack takes us back – but after the huge success of last year’s Gavin & Stacey finale, we’re ready to cry buckets all over again.
9. The Office – ‘Christmas Special’ (Part 1 and 2)
Next up is not only this particular telephile’s ultimate Christmas TV event but possibly one of the very best episodes of British telly in history. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant broke new ground with this genre-defining comedy, and while they fine-tuned cringe throughout the series, this was pure heart.
Rom-com juggernaut Richard Curtis dubbed this two-part Christmas special spread across just 96 minutes as the culmination of what he believed to be “one of the great romantic stories of all time” between Tim and Dawn, and the perfect end to a “masterpiece”.
You’ll hear no arguments from us.
Is it the best Christmas special in British TV history?
8. The Royle Family – Christmas Specials (1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012)
Another classic not only British but fundamentally Manc comedy, The Royle Family might just be one of the best things Greater Manchester ever produced – and that’s saying something – and perfectly captures the comfortable monotony of sitting in front of the telly for hours on end.
That goes doubly so for the multiple Christmas specials, of which there are many and while they all do a great job of creating that familiar feeling of a Northern front room that the series was so good at throughout its entire run, the 1999 Christmas with the Royle Family special where the late great Caroline Aherne’s water breaks and that tear-jerking scene with Ricky Tomlinson…
It gets us every time.
Set just down the road in Wythenshawe, it still has us weeping just as much now as it did back in the day.
7. Peep Show – ‘Seasonal Beatings’
Cauliflower may or may not be traditional, but one thing we can agree on is that watching Peep Show‘s hilariously miserable, ill-mannered, tense, ever-awkward and bloody brilliant Christmas episode from 2010 is very much part of our annual holiday ritual.
The fifth episode of the seventh season – which many would rightly champion as peak-era Peep Show – may only last less than half an hour, but it feels like an eternity of familiar festive agony and walking on eggshells before the fantastic crescendo that is Mark pouring gravy into a shredder.
‘Merry Chris-Mark!’
If you don’t think Peep Show’s Christmas special/festive episode is one of the best in British TV history, you’re just wrong, sorry.
6. Ted Lasso – ‘Carol of the Bells’
Approaching the halfway mark, and we’re going to be somewhat controversial and introduce not only a very contemporary pick but one that isn’t technically a UK production, but the show is set entirely in England, and if there’s one thing it has tried to be since the start, it’s almost too cookie-cutter British
Now, we’re going to qualify that we have a weird relationship with Ted Lasso; it’s by no means the funniest thing we’ve ever seen, and the broad-strokes American look at football is frustrating at times, but one thing this show does do well is being deeply sincere, and never more so than in its Xmas special.
Plus, you get to hear Hannah Waddingham sing her pipes off – what’s not to like?
Christmas is about reminding your loved ones how much they mean – regardless of what you make of the show, this episode nails that.
5. Extras – Christmas Special (Part 1 and 2)
Our penultimate pick is also our second Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant creation: the Extras Christmas special, which aired back in 2007 and still has some of the funniest gags in the history of British TV as far as we’re concerned.
Managing to rope in even more big names for this equally cringeworthy and even painful to watch at times conclusion to the show, which also ran for just two series like The Office, the frustrating arc of Gervais’ main character Andy Millman is such a great payoff when all is said and done.
Only an hour and a half in total, well worth sticking on if you’ve never seen it before.
Just look at how many famous faces they managed to rope in for this fantastic two-parter. (Credit: Press Image via BBC)
4. Doctor Who – ‘End of Time’ (Part 1 and 2)
From a David Tennant cameo to him in arguably one of his greatest-ever performances in his final full-time appearance as the space-travelling Time Lord in what we are officially declaring the best Doctor Who Christmas special to date, and some of Russell T. Davies’ very best work.
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 15 whole years since the national treasure said goodbye to the role in the gut-wrenching two-parter, which also saw the return of John Simm as ‘The Master’, but we’re still confident that there hasn’t been a better Xmas/New Year’s Day special pairing than the one below.
Here’s hoping RTD’s recent comeback will see a return to form by the next one in December 2026.
That delivery of ‘I don’t wanna go’ still makes us well up.
As we gradually approach the end of our list, we want to give so much deserved love to what we think isn’t just the underdog of British telly but an unsung hero when it comes to spotlighting friendship, positive male relationships and downright fraternal love.
It’s Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Finishing – the festive editions. We know we’re biased, but we really love the one with Paul Heaton. If you’ve ever sat down to watch an episode of this laid-back, laughter-filled show, you’ll know that these two can often achieve that warm, heartfelt and cosy feeling regardless of whether it’s Christmas or not.
It’s also a great antidote to any latent toxic masculinity left on screen, and with some serious emotion being laid bare in these Christmas special episodes, especially for us, this is what reality TV should be. We’re already looking forward to the next instalment at 9pm on Christmas Eve.
— Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (@MWGoneFishing) December 22, 2025
2. Click & Collect
Ok, we promise this is the last Merchant mention on this list, as we’re intensely aware of some bias on our end, but this straight-to-TV BBC short film really took us by surprise when we first saw it and is well worth setting aside a nice round hour to enjoy.
Not only does the core premise feel like a very relatable scenario for many parents rushing to sort out everyone’s Christmas presents in time, but it’s a touching tale of family, kindness and sparing that extra bit of patience during what can be a tough time of year for lots of people.
Trust us, you’ll love it.
Asim Chaudhry is fantastic.
1. Only Fools & Horses – ‘Heroes and Villains’
And finally, what better place to round off this list than with only the series consistently voted the greatest British comedy of all time, but the episode that is widely considered its best-ever Christmas special? It can only be Del Boy and Rodney dressed up as Batman and Robin in ‘Heroes and Villains’.
Now, there is a whopping total of 18 Only Fools Christmas specials, and we’re sure everyone has their own personal favourite, but surely there isn’t a single one more iconic than the first episode of the legendary 1996 festive trilogy.
It also sets up events for ‘Time on Our Hands’, one of the most moving scripts they ever wrote – but it all starts with the much-loved duo plodding through the mist in capes.
It’s still regarded as the best British comedy ever, but where does it rank on the list of all-time greatest Christmas TV specials?
A very Christmas special mention…
Father Ted – ‘A Christmassy Ted’
Not technically British, we know, but the cult Irish hit remains one of the funniest comedies to ever come out of our corner of the world, and if you’ve never seen Ted, Dougal and a bunch of other clergymen get stuck in a women’s lingerie section like it’s a warzone, you’re seriously missing out.
Mrs Doyle is her typical quick-witted self, and Father Jack can be found making the occasional outburst from his chair as usual and overall, ‘A Christmassy Ted’ is a very funny bit of seasonal telly.
Not strictly British but still one of the best Christmas specials in TV history if you ask us.
Come on, you have to agree – we absolutely smashed that.
Some old, some new, some maybe a little bit out of left field, but all absolutely guaranteed to keep you entertained this festive period.
If you think we’ve made the cardinal sin of missing an all-time TV great, then please feel free to give it to us in the comments and educate us on the best British Christmas specials.
In fact, one of our other writers, Emily, has forced me to add a line about The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Specials too… so here’s the line. You can also find her round-up of all the best new bits coming to the box this holiday season down below.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd May 2024 
