So 2021 didn’t exactly go to plan, did it – but our buzzing region is looking forward to the year ahead with some seriously exciting things on the horizon.
Greater Manchester has done its best to bounce back from another year of decimated tourism, delivering amazing outdoor experiences and attractions.
2021 saw the return of huge city events like Manchester International Festival, Manchester Pride festival, and Parklife.
New restaurants and bars have continued to spring up in every direction too.
It includes outdoor experiences, cultural developments, hospitality openings, and events.
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We’ve picked out 22 things heading to Greater Manchester in 2022.
Mayfield Park
Credit: Mayfield Parnership
Manchester’s first new park in more than 100 years will be unveiled in late 2022.
Spanning 6.5 acres, Mayfield Park is currently under construction on the sprawling Mayfield site adjacent to Piccadilly Station.
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UEFA Women’s EURO 2022
This will be massive for Greater Manchester – the women’s tournament is kicking off here next year.
England will play Austria at Old Trafford on July 6, with several other fixtures at Manchester City Academy, Leigh Sports Village, and DW Stadium in Wigan.
Mrs Doubtfire the Musical
One of the best films of all time has been turned into a Broadway show, and Manchester will be treated to the first performances on home turf in 2022.
Mrs Doubtfire the Musical will have its UK premiere at the Opera House Manchester on September 2 and will run until October 1.
This long-neglected and under-appreciated gem of industrial architecture in Manchester city centre will have new life breathed into it in 2022.
The Grade II-listed Castlefield Viaduct is being turned into an elevated urban park, much like New York’s High Line, by the National Trust.
Phase one will open to the public in the summer – read more here.
Soho House
One of the biggest hospitality names in the world will make its way to Manchester in 2022, taking over the upper three floors of the former Granada Studios building.
It will be a key operator in the new St John’s neighbourhood, which will also be home to MIF’s The Factory from 2023.
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It’s expected to include a rooftop bar and pool as well as dining rooms, lounge areas and a Mollie’s Motel & Diner concept.
Band on the Wall
CGI of how Band on the Wall will look
Gosh, we’ve missed this place – the historic gig venue Band on the Wall will finally reopen in the spring.
It’s been undergoing a big renovation while we’ve all been nipping in and out of lockdowns, expanding into the Victorian Cocozza building that’s been derelict at the back of the venue for decades.
Manchester Museum
Another reopening here – the much-loved Manchester Museum closed back in the summer while it grows into its £13.5 million extension.
When it reopens late in 2022, it will have a new two-storey extension, a new exhibition hall, the South Asia Gallery, and Chinese Culture Gallery.
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Rugby League World Cup
Old Trafford might be famed for its football pedigree, but in 2022 it will turn its attention to the world of rugby.
The rescheduled 2021 Rugby League World Cup, and Women’s Rugby League World Cup, will take place in October and November.
The Wheelchair Final will be held at Manchester Central, and additional fixtures are taking place at the University of Bolton Stadium and Leigh Sports Village.
Sexy Fish
Credit: Spinningfields
Decadent Mayfair restaurant Sexy Fish, owned by The Ivy’s Richard Caring, is taking over the old Armani unit in Spinningfields.
It first opened in 2015 and is famed for its luxurious dining environment and will be one of the most talked-about restaurant openings of 2022.
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Gratitude Games
This is a new event – a multi-sport games created to support the mental health of emergency service and NHS workers.
It will be held at venues across Greater Manchester in April and May. Spanning 20 sports – including both traditional sports such as athletics, cycling, swimming, as well as niche sports like angling, lawn bowls and squash – it’s a chance for our emergency services and NHS to have fun, enjoy the benefits of sport and for the public to thank them for the amazing work they do.
Northern Roots
Oldham’s ambitious eco-project, which will see the UK’s largest urban farm built just outside Oldham town centre, is moving forward.
The 160-acre Northern Roots will include hand-on community projects like beekeeping, animal husbandry and growing plots, as well as a bike hub, mountain biking trails, arts, culture and events, and a natural amphitheatre and swimming pond.
Pollen Bakery
Credit: Pollen / No Chintz Studio
Famed Ancoats bakery is expanding with a second location, this time at Kampus.
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The new location will offer an expanded brunch menu as well as more room for baking their sell out breads and pastries, with a chance for customers to see the kitchen working.
Leonardo Hotel
The Leonardo will open in Manchester in 2022. Credit: Capital & Centric
Capital & Centric’s Jenga-inspired hotel is well on the way and due to open in spring.
The £35m development, in the heart of Piccadilly East, will be draped in plants and plans include a ground-floor restaurant, cafe, and external terrace connecting to a new public square.
Jodrell Bank
Cheshire’s UNESCO attraction Jodrell Bank will welcome its new addition, the £21m First Light Pavilion, in May.
It will be a new gallery dedicated to telling the story of Jodrell Bank, with an immersive projection space and auditorium, and a new education hub and café.
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Wigan Pier
The long-vacant 18th century buildings of Wigan Pier will finally be brought back to life, as a waterside destination.
It was made famous by George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier in 1937 – but its new life will include a gin distillery, microbrewery, events venue and cultural hub.
The Locationist
Manchester has a rich history of being used as a filming location, including Peaky Blinders, Captain America, The Crown, and It’s A Sin.
The Locationist tour is set to launch early in the year and will show off the city’s top locations.
Bistro Marc
A great team effort by many at the Cumbria Clock Company bringing the Winters Clock House back up and running…a little more to do but nearly there… pic.twitter.com/jnsjnaVApd
There’s been painstaking work going on in Stockport, where the historic Winter’s building on Little Underbank is being turned into a new French restaurant.
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Bistro Marc will be a 70-cover restaurant spread over two floors that will serve French favourites, with a focus on using fresh local produce from Stockport Indoor Markets and other local suppliers.
Treehouse Hotel Manchester
That big brutalist Renaissance Hotel on Deansgate is being turned into a 206-bedroom hotel.
Forming part of the wider £200m redevelopment of the area, there’ll also be new retail space and room for pop-up food and drink vendors alongside the River Irwell.
Royal Exchange
Credit: Flickr
The magnificent Royal Exchange theatre has a packed year-long programme that will celebrate the joy of theatre, with bold plays, new writing and cast-iron classics.
Maxine Peake will star in a new show Betty! A Sort of Musical, while Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie will also come to the stage.
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Queer Contact
Queer Contact has been a staple of Manchester’s cultural calendar for more than a decade, but this will be its first year in its newly-transformed home.
Contact theatre on Oxford Road has undergone a £6.75m refurbishment.
The event in February will again be a celebration of queer culture and LGBTQ+ talent, including drag kings, comedy, variety, ground-breaking performance and the annual Vogue Ball.
Claus the Musical
There’s a world premiere in store for Salford, with a brand new Christmas musical debuting at The Lowry.
From the writer of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz comes Claus the Musical, telling the story of Claus and how he became an icon of our hearts and the skies.
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Manchester Open
The walls of HOME’s gallery will again be filled with work from the region’s artists, with more than 400 residents taking part.
Following on from 2020’s award-winning exhibition, almost 2,300 artwork entries were submitted for judging for its second outing and the resulting show promises to deliver an unmissable insight into the city-region’s local artistic talent.
Featured image:
Feature
The most-read Manchester stories of 2025, from Primark Home to Peter Kay’s sass
Daisy Jackson
It’s been another one of those years in Manchester where a lot of weird stuff has happened – big closures no one saw coming, celebs getting in spats online, and major new openings.
Here at The Manc we’ve done our best to bring you the biggest stories from the North West, and you’ve all lapped it up.
As we come to end of 2025 we’ve been looking back at the stories that caught everyone’s attention this year, from beautiful properties to crazy shopping trends.
Did you remember all of these?
10. Olly Murs says no
Olly Murs addressed his abrupt exit from the stage ahead of his Manchester gig
Olly Murs was back on tour this year, selling out arenas (I know, who’d have thunk it?!) across the country.
But poor Olly got off to a bit a rough start and had to walk off stage after just six shows in Glasgow, then going on to cancel his Manchester gig too.
He did look pretty bereft about the whole thing, to be fair to him.
9. Tommy Robinson getting ‘kicked out’ of Hawksmoor
Back in the summer, acclaimed steak house Hawksmoor had to publicly address a quite viral video which showed far-right activist Tommy Robinson being asked to leave one of its restaurants because staff felt ‘uncomfortable’ serving him.
After the video went viral on X, Hawksmoor went on to share a statement in response, saying that guests and staff had complained but that it is ‘not a political organisation, but a group of restaurants’.
Its CEO wrote: “We’re not trying to engage in a public debate. The team has had to deal with a huge amount of fallout from this, some of which is quite concerning. We would like to get back to focussing on looking after those people, and our guests. Thank you to them, and the many of you who have been so supportive.”
Who do you think was in the right here?
8. Drama Call’s tram-inspired trainers
Streetwear brands take their inspiration from a lot of different sources, but we were in no way prepared for Manchester-based label Drama Call’s spring drop.
The popular brand teamed up with adidas to release a shoe inspired by… a tram.
The Superstar II ‘Drama’ featured teal accents that paid homage to the city’s classic tram design – long before the yellow of the modern era, and Mancs went nuts for them.
7. The Victorian Villa
This Manchester house is so fancy, it actually appeared twice on our list of the top stories of 2025 – once when it first went on sale, then when it got re-listed later in the year.
And it’s not hard to see why. This Whalley Range home has some of the most beautiful interiors we’ve ever laid eyes on – we’re talking rich colours, vintage cinema seats, loads of gold, and a show-stopper of a kitchen.
What seemed to keep Mancs reading though was the fact that the house in Whalley Range could go for a whopping £1.75m.
6. The capybara keeper
New jobs simply didn’t come cuter than this in 2025, and when Chester Zoo posted an advert looking for a new keeper for its capybaras, you lot couldn’t get enough.
Responsibilities of the role included caring for the meerkats and capybaras as well as rodents, Xenarthra, Macropods, small carnivores, and the zoo’s free flight bat habitat.
Realistically, only a handful of people locally would have actually been qualified for this job, but that didn’t stop. us all having a nosey at the job description anyway.
5. Peter Kay’s sass
Peter Kay is a famously very private man and has rarely even been spotted in public in recent years, plus his social media presence has almost entirely been dedicated to promoting his record-breaking tour.
But the Bolton comedian had plenty to say after a ‘humiliated’ woman was kicked out of his gig at the AO Arena in Manchester.
Addressing the ribbing he gave the lady during the gig, where he compared her to Lisa Riley, Peter Kay’s statement said: “The lady who was escorted out did bear a striking resemblance to Lisa Riley, though I don’t see how that’s an insult.”
It’s no surprise that this was one of the biggest stories in Manchester in 2025, because we simply could not believe our eyes when Almost Famous announced its closure.
The burger craze of the mid-2010s may have died down, but this spot had always felt like a Northern Quarter OG with a loyal enough following to stand the test of time.
Alas, it closed its doors very suddenly back in January, shortly followed by its sister smash burger brand Super Awesome Deluxe, with a staggering outcry and a lot of fall-out locally.
Thankfully, a short while later it was rescued by the team behind PINS Social Club.
3. Primark Home arrived
Primark Home is opening this weekend at Trafford Palazzo
Did anyone really doubt that the arrival of a new ENORMOUS Primark store totally dedicated to homeware was going to go a little bonkers?
We practically had people banging down the doors to the massive Trafford Palazzo retailer (the first in Britain) when we were allowed in for a sneak peek before its official launch.
It’s a pretty impressive space – get a load of it HERE.
2. Big Night of Musicals
This event takes place basically every year and yet the lure of free tickets seems to catch everyone’s attention year-in, year-out.
The Big Night of Musicals sees the world’s biggest musicals all joining together on one stage at the AO Arena for a bumper night of live entertainment.
Tickets are free for National Lottery players and although the first batch are all gone, they usually release some more in the new year… watch this space.
1. Highland cows
The Highland Cow safari in the Peak District
One very adorable story ended up comfortably on top for The Manc audience this year – a lovely little feature on a Peak District farm where you can cuddle and groom Highland cows (sorry, coos).
Highland Cows of the Peak Experiences at Whirlow Hall Farm has loads of activities for all ages, from Highland Cow safaris to cow cuddling.
It’s an absolutely adorable experience and we’ll definitely be back next summer for more – read all about it HERE.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Feature
The best Christmas party food and picky bits from M&S this year
Daisy Jackson
Clear the tables, pop the oven on to pre-heat, and set the paper plates – it’s Christmas, and that can only mean it’s party food season again.
No one does silly little festive nibbles quite like M&S, with their Christmas party food range getting more and more extravagant every single winter.
2025 is absolutely no exception – expect the likes of cubed rice, snowman-shaped bao, tiny Yorkie puds and plenty more delicious madness besides.
We’ve been down in the aisles of everyone’s favourite posh supermarket to see exactly what concoctions they’ve conjured up this year, and did not leave disappointed.
This is not just party food, this is M&S Christmas party food.
A very Marbella Christmas
Have you ever seen a square paella before? No? You haven’t lived mate.
These angular rice bites are one of three Spanish-influenced picky bits in M&S this Christmas, alongside tiny tortillas and patatas bravas stacks (tiny potato rostis topped with tomato sauce and chorizo then served with a garlic sauce on the side).
Don’t be put off by the hot pink prawn curled up on the rice bed like a dog that’s been bought a bed two sizes too small…
A little fishy on a little dishy
Everyone knows that the M&S salmon and potato salad is one of their most elite items, so those hot smoked salmon rosti bites are going STRAIGHT in my basket.
If you like your fish dishes really bite-sized, there’s also the smoked salmon appetisers that look like they’ve been lifted right out of a 1960s cookbook.
And of course, tiger prawns wrapped in various shapes and sizes of pastry, too.
Jingle baos
If you’d told me three years ago that bao would become a staple on every posh Christmas buffet, I’d have sent you to the hospital.
But they’re back for a third year in a new novelty festive shape, and this time, M&S has gone to new heights.
Presenting – double decker bao in the shape of a snowman, complete with cosy green scarf and a veggie pad Thai filling.
Some of them look like they’ve been through the wars, don’t they?
Pam Shipman would buy these
If you’re not a Gavin & Stacey fan, just imagine the following section being read aloud by a flapping (ideally Essex) mother with a fresh blowdry and a waft of YSL Libra about her.
“Those, Bryn, are M&S mushroom vol-oh-vohnts.”
“A little goat cheese tart for you, Smithy?” (“Who you calling a tart Pamelarrr you minx!”)
Basically, these are the posh little nibbles your mums will gravitate towards to show off their hosting gravitas.
Merry Texmexmas
M&S always seems to lean over to the States for inspiration for its party food and this year is no different.
They’ve got a real Tex-Mex flavour going on in 2025, with Christmas party food including mini vegetable tacos filled with peppers and sweetcorn.
There are also those impossible-to-eat-why-are-you-sliding-everywhere miniature beef burgers, back to piss me off for another year.
Ee by gum it must be Christmas
‘Ey up! Has M&S recruited an actual Northerner to help put together the party food for Christmas this year?!
We all know the deal with British pub food – a little bit stodgy, very comforting, and incredibly filling. Okay, now picture that, but not remotely filling.
M&S has brought back a couple of its miniature bites inspired by classic British fare – pies that fit in the palm of your hand (beef and ale, or chicken and leek), and Yorkshire puddings so small they must’ve been baked in a cupcake tin. Cute.
The most important picky bit of the day
Whether or not to bother with breakfast on Christmas morning seems to be a bit of a hot topic – what’s the point in a bowl of cornflakes when you’re readying to slam the biggest meal of the year in a matter of hours?
Well, M&S is making sure the most important meal of the day infiltrates all the way through to party time with these two.
A stack of miniature pancakes and slivers of bacon, plus pint-sized ham and cheese croissants. Has anyone ever handed you a croissant on a dancefloor before? This might be the year.
Better than your mum’s turkey curry
Oh now we’re cooking with tandoor! Not one, but two picky bits inspired by Britain’s national dish – curry. And the most British curry of all, a chicken tikka masala.
For Christmas this year M&S has created the world’s smallest naan breads, which are topped with tikka chicken and pickled pink onions.
And in the other hand, there are spiced potato and spinach dosa rolls, which we have literally never seen on any buffet spread before ever, but sure.
Get it before it’s scone
If your hand impulsively twitches towards a Christmas sandwich every time you’re shopping for a meal deal, get a load of this – tiny mini turkey feast toasties. Yay!
These tiny square sarnies have got pulled turkey, stuffing, ham hock, Emmental cheese, cranberry sauce AND gravy in them, somehow. When did M&S unlock a cheat code to overcome sandwich physics?
There are also miniature mature Barber’s cheddar scones, with honey and mustard pulled ham inside. They sound like a sheer winner.
That’s not a hambush, it’s a charcutertree!
Oh, look who’s back to make a mockery of your flat cheese board again. It’s the Christmas Charcuter-tree. Sigh.
Real fancy people present their cured meat and cheese selection in the shape of a Christmas tree (obviously) and M&S have got a build-you-own kit available for £23 (that’s actually two quid cheaper than last year).
I can only begin to imagine the meltdown I’d have as another piece of salami refused to act like tinsel and unravelled onto the table.
Daisy Jackson -
26th December 2021 
