Manchester is gearing up for its “best-ever Christmas”, as all the locations for this year’s Christmas Markets have now been confirmed.
In case you missed it, Manchester City Council announced the news we had all been waiting for a couple of weeks back by revealing that the city’s iconic Christmas Markets would be returning for 2024 from the first week of November – with well over 200 stalls set to line the streets as the beloved event enters is 26th year.
Manchester Christmas Markets are known and loved for delighting local residents and visiting shoppers alike, bringing millions of people into the city centre each year to fill up on the fantastic festive treats and to soak up all the Christmas atmosphere.
And it’s now only a month to go until the big opening day on Friday 8 November.
The best Christmas Markets in the UK are back in Manchester for another year! 🎊🎄
In just over a month, we'll be bringing our famous festivities to the city centre. 🥂
It had already been revealed that King Street West, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Square, Corn Exchange, and Cathedral Gardens would all be hosting the festivities this year, as well as Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens as usual, but now, the Council has shared a break-down of what stalls shoppers can find in each location.
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Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester is preparing for its “best-ever Christmas” / Credit: Manchester City Council
Winter Gardens
Piccadilly Gardens will, once again, be transformed into Winter Gardens for 2024, but this year, it’s set to be bigger and better than ever – with two twinkling light-filled marquees providing more undercover space for Christmas shoppers, and all the festive food favourites back for another year, plus bars serving continental and foreign ales.
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Live entertainment and music will also be on offer beneath the shelter of marquees each day, making it an ideal place to cosy up with family and friends.
Market Street
Even more stalls than usual are to be expected on Market Street in 2024, so keep head on down there for sellers showcasing a wide range of bespoke crafts, gifts, and produce – with everything from tweed hats, spiced rum and Christmas decorations, to candles, freshly-baked coconut macaroons, jewellery, cheese truckles, and so much more on offer.
Cathedral Gardens
As always, Cathedral Gardens will be home to Skate Manchester’s huge covered ice rink, which will be open daily, but not only that, there’ll also be free live entertainment hosted every Thursday to Sunday all the way up to New Year’s Eve.
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Plus, you can even warm up with authentic crepes, gourmet hotdogs, hot chocolate, and much more at the collection of food and drink stalls.
Manchester Christmas Markets return for 2024 on Friday 8 November / Credit: Flickr
New Cathedral Street
Just like it is all year round, New Cathedral Street will be your go-to spot for high-end gifts and foodie favourites this year, so expect a selection of handmade candles, ceramics, local spirits, and thoughtful keepsakes, before you savour a cold beer and currywurst from The Witch House, or a hearty burrito from Wrap Up, once your shopping’s done.
Exchange Square
Exchange Square will be one of the largest market locations in the city in 2024.
Here Christmas shoppers will find a host of seasonal stalls selling everything from clothing and soaps, to boutique babywear, local crafts, and handmade gifts, as well as legendary The Mill Exchange with their Mancunian mulled wine, much-loved Yorkshire pudding wrap experts Porky Pig, and lots of other food traders serving hot curries, mini pancakes, and more.
The Corn Exchange
You’ll find some of the most unique gifts available from crafters at The Corn Exchange this year, so head on down here for homemade pies, Nepalese woollen jumpers, handmade jewellery, Christmas decorations made from recycled wood, artisan chocolates, and loads more.
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St Ann’s Square and Exchange Street
If you make your way over to St Ann’s Square and the neighbouring Exchange Street, which were the sites of Manchester’s first-ever Christmas Market, you can cosy up for a drink in the undercover bar and enjoy a selection of authentic German goods from some of the city’s longest-standing traders.
This is where you’ll find Northern Quarter favourites, Yard and Coop.
More than 200 stalls will line the streets / Credit: Manchester City Council
King Street
King Street is a must-visit for foodies and shoppers alike, as you can expect to find authentic Italian deli, Ballaro, serving up fresh cannelloni and arancini, and El Gato Negro bringing some Mediterranean menu flavours to their seating area, as well as a wide range of stalls selling crafts and more.
Here you’ll find the always-popular French soap stall, personalised tree decorations, handmade wooden furniture, and beautifully-illustrated bottles from local distillery, Salford Rum.
Manchester Christmas Markets will return from Friday 8 November.
Stalls will be open daily from 10am – 8pm throughout the six-week run, with food and drink stalls staying open until 9pm, until it all officially wraps up on Sunday 23 December – except for stalls in Cathedral Gardens, which will remain open until New Year’s Eve.
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
Christmas
Christmas WILL return to Albert Square this year, Manchester City Council confirms
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s Christmas activities will finally make a return to Albert Square for the first time since 2019, the council has confirmed.
The beautiful square in the heart of the city has been largely closed off for the last few years while the Town Hall is carefully restored, in a project known as Our Town Hall.
Before that it was the beating heart of the city every winter, filled with wooden huts for the Manchester Christmas Markets and overlooked by the giant light-up Santa.
Now, Manchester City Council has confirmed that ‘most of’ Albert Square will be made available this year to support this year’s Christmas programme.
There’s been no mention of the city’s biggest festive event, the Manchester Christmas Markets, but rather plenty of hints of ‘Christmas events’.
The latest report on the Our Town Hall project says that works on the the transformed and enlarged square will be ‘resequenced and accelerated’ so the Albert Square can be ready for a ‘welcome winter return’.
More details of the festive attraction will be shared later in the year.
The skilled contractors working on the Town Hall are now 80% of the way through the ‘construction’ phase, with completion currently pencilled in for August 2026.
Albert Square in Manchester will host Christmas events again in 2025. Credit: The Manc Group
When it reopens, it will include a new free visitor attraction which will open up the Town Hall’s history to the public.
Deputy Council Leader Councillor Garry Bridges said: “We know Mancunians and visitors alike are looking forward to having their town hall and their civic square back and better than ever and it’s great that we can now look ahead to that.
“We are developing a civic square to rival the best in Europe and it will be exciting to see it pilot Christmas events this year ahead of a full permanent opening next year.
“We look forward over the course of this year to announcing more details about Christmas in Albert Square and how people in Manchester can help us celebrate the reopening of their magnificent town hall.
“We’ve overcome so many challenges to get to this point and while the unique nature of the project is such that some inevitably still remain, we believe the end result will be something special.”
The Our Town Hall report will be considered by the Council’s Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee when it meets on Thursday 6 March.
The project is continuing to operate within its revised £429 million budget, adjusted in October last year, but some residual risks remain. A further update report will be brought forward this summer once negotiations with the management contractor have concluded and the completion date is confirmed.
Gavin and Stacey Christmas special on course to break UK TV viewing figures record
Danny Jones
Gavin and Stacey is set to break yet another TV record as this year’s Christmas special and definitive series finale has become one of the UK’s most-watched scripted shows ever.
The iconic British comedy returned after a long hiatus to finally conclude the series with its first new episode in five years.
Delighting die-hard fans and comedy fans in general all over the country, millions tuned in to watch the last-ever Gavin and Stacey chapter – over 19 million, in fact.
With 12.3m watching the finale on Christmas Day alone and even more in the week following, the tally has now reached approximately 19.3m and counting.
📢 Gavin & Stacey: The Finale has become the UK’s highest rating scripted show with 19.3 million viewers and counting
Not only did this smash their own previous record of more than 18m set by the last Christmas special back in 2019 but it is well on course to cruise past the 20m mark when the official seven-day viewing figures are released, which is standard practice for assessing final ratings and viewing figures in the UK.
Almost a quarter of the viewers who helped achieve the feat were aged 16-34 as well, making it the largest young audience ever, according to the BBC.
The emotional reunion of the beloved cast looks set to see them surpass Coronation Street‘s record of 19.4m set in 2003 and could even see them beat the legendary British sitcom, Only Fools & Horses, which saw 21.3m viewers gather around the box for their 2001 Christmas day episode.
So, although the BBC states that it is the “most-watched scripted show across all broadcasters and streamers since current records began in 2002”, it still technically has a little way to go in order to match/surpass the biggest-ever tally.
That being said, when factoring in the stats from all live views and digital streams, the final numbers should see them over the line.
We had to be together to watch it go out tonight!Gavin and Stacey is a show about friendship and family. Tonight’s show has been a labour of love from start to finish and we hope you enjoy it.Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing.Happy Christmas from us both #GavinandStaceypic.twitter.com/kUKMiXUEyL
Regardless of whatever seven or indeed 28-day figure they end up on, co-creators, writers and stars James Corden and Ruth Jones have been blown away by the success of the one-off comeback.
Writing by way of recognition and as a thank you to the fans, they said: “We are completely overwhelmed by the audience response to our show and to these astonishing viewing figures.
“Gavin & Stacey really does belong to the audience and we are beyond thrilled that so many people enjoyed watching it this Christmas. A huge thank you to Charlotte Moore and the BBC for backing us these past 17 years.”
The ratings and overall reaction to the show have also been overwhelmingly positive, with millions tearing up over the long-awaited storyline – even if some of those watching pointed out one little problem…
Moore, BBC’s Chief Content Officer, went on to add: “The numbers are truly outstanding, unprecedented even! It’s the show the entire nation has been talking about over the last week so it’s no surprise that it’s not only smashed its own record but has become the UK’s biggest scripted show.
“Ruth and James’ creation is a true homegrown success story, and their finale is a comedy masterpiece. It’s made us laugh and cry together in a way that only Gavin & Stacey can.”
The final viewership for the 2024 special will be published on Monday, 6 January and take into account viewings across all platforms up to Thursday, 2 Jan – they already look destined for another entry in the history books.
Emily Sergeant -
7th October 2024 
