Time Out has just named the best cities for nightlife in the world – and Manchester is right up there with the best of them.
Our fair city, which has been famed for its clubbing and music scene for decades, managed to rank in the top 10.
Thousands of people were surveyed to compile Time Out’s list, with locals quizzed on their city’s nightlife and going out scene.
Each city was then ranked on things like quality, affordability, venues and experiences.
Time Out also reached out to a series of DJs to nominate three nightlife capitals.
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Manchester placed eighth overall, thanks to its ‘inclusive and authentic’ nightlife scene, with venues including Hidden and The White Hotel getting a name check.
We obviously already knew that our city is thriving after-dark – our nightlife page is one of the busiest on The Manc’s entire website – but its nice to know we’re not completely biased.
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Locals ranked the quality of a night out here at 80%, though affordability dragged us down with a score of just 28%.
Time Out wrote: “Anyone who’s been out in Manny will have a story for the ages, so legendary is the northern city’s nightlife scene in the UK.”
It continued: “Mancunians praised the ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘variety’ of Manchester’s after-dark offering (‘bubbly’ and ‘happy’ featured several times in the survey, too).”
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Hidden was name-checked by Time Out in its list of the best nightlife cities in the world. Credit: Facebook, Hidden
Manchester-based writer Ian Jones said: “As the city grows, so does the number of sub-par spaces charging sky-high prices.
“Clued-in clubbers are rejecting slick corporate clubbing and adopting the spirit of early rave – less TikTok, more arms-in-the-air.
“Most great nights involve a trip to an industrial estate for Hidden or The White Hotel, but nearer the centre, the cutting-edge stuff is happening in unflashy basements and backrooms at newer places like Peste, DBA and N/OM.
“Old-school outsider venues like Soup Kitchen, Star & Garter and Eagle Inn have a similarly unorthodox, queer-friendly vibe.
“Bottom line? Swerve the mainstream moneymakers, Manchester’s best clubs are equal parts inclusive and authentic.”
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Rio de Janeiro claimed the top spot, followed by Manila, and then (unsurprisingly) Berlin.
Also featuring ahead of Manchester were Guadalajara in Mexico, Austin, Lagos in Nigeria, and Rotterdam.
Manchester ranked more highly for its nightlife scene than Budapest, Buenos Aires and Singapore.
Grace Beard, Travel Editor at Time Out, says: “Nightlife has changed a lot over the past four years. But while club closures and work-from-home culture have thrown its future into question, cities the world over have done what they do best: rolled with the times.
“Our inaugural Time Out ranking of the World’s Best Cities for Nightlife champions the destinations where a great night out is an easy find and, with affordability a key metric in our ranking, won’t break the bank.
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“With our on-the-ground recommendations from local Time Out experts and three DJ city picks, you have an essential guide to today’s nightlife capitals – and where to go out there.”
Review | ‘This is a night to remember, Manchester’ – Jason Derulo’s Co-op Live debut
Amy Williams
Who’s ready for another throwback night? Because this was absolutely a night already full of nostalgia and one to remember.
American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo hit Co-op Live last night as part of his ‘The Last Dance World Tour’, famous for hit songs like ‘Whatcha Say’, ‘Talk Dirty’, and ‘Savage Love’ – we all remember the Covid TikTok dance, don’t we? – as well as many more.
With over 250 million singles sold and tens of billions of streams, you best believe his one night in Manchester was sold out.
Running through the big hits and everything in between, he and his dancers made it a proper party atmosphere on this fine Saturday evening.
He did his throwback songs and more; from the moment he said, “We’re throwing it back to the beginning, back to 2009″, we knew his first debut single, ‘Whatcha Say’, was about to grace our ears, and that it did.
He also brought back absolute classics like ‘Ridin’ Solo’ (I definitely lost my voice during this one) In My Head and It Girl.
The Last Dance run of shows has seen him visit places like Leeds, London, Glasgow and Birmingham, finishing his UK leg right here in Manchester, before he carries on to Europe, but we’re confident our date had the best crowd so far.
And just when you think this couldn’t get any better, he brought his little boy on stage to say hi to everyone, too – shattered everyone’s hearts.
He has that many hit songs, it wasn’t possible to get through them all, so his DJ halfway through did a mash-up of songs he’s also written and featured in, including ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by Black Eyed Peas, ‘Secret Love Song’ with Little Mix and ‘Replay’ by Iyaz.
We knew his voice was amazing – but can we have a moment for this man’s dance moves, keeping everyone on their feet at Co-op Live tonight, and his dancers made everyone want to start dance lessons tonight too, an absolutely incredible performance by all.
Jason Derulo told the audience, “This is a night to remember Manchester’, and that it absolutely was.
Ticket requests are now officially open for Harry Styles’ one-night-only Manchester gig
Emily Sergeant
The time has come – the ticket request system for Harry Styles’ one-night-only gig in Manchester is now live.
In case you hadn’t heard, it was announced on Wednesday evening after much speculation that Harry Styles would be making a return home to Manchester for a one-night-only ‘intimate’ gig at Co-op Live to celebrate the release of his fourth studio album next month.
Styles is set to share Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally with the world on Friday 6 March – and it’s that very same night he’ll be taking to the stage in Manchester.
Although little is known about what to expect at the gig, the poster for the event does state that there’ll be a ‘special performance of the album’, so it seems fair to say that Manchester will be the first to hear the new set of songs in full live.
And if all of that wasn’t exciting enough as it is, the tickets are only £20 per person.
But, of course, there is a bit of a catch, as this isn’t your regular online queuing up for tickets scenario, this is a ‘ticket request’ system instead.
So, like us – and literally every other fan in the vicinity of Greater Manchester and beyond this week – you’re probably wondering what a ‘ticket request’ system is… what does it look like? How does it work? Basically, what the heck is it? Well, we’ve done a bit of digging around to get to the bottom of it so you’re not left too much in the dark.
According to Ticketmaster’s website, if an artist is running a ticket request, they’ll invite fans to request tickets so you don’t have to compete in a first-come, first-served sale.
This means you can take your time to review the available options and request the right tickets for you.
All you need to do is tell Ticketmaster which shows you’re interested in, the type of ticket you want, and your payment details. Then, if the tickets you request can be fulfilled, your card will be charged and you’ll get emailed instructions to access them in the Ticketmaster App.
Unfortunately, as much as we’d love it to be the case for everyone, submitting a request doesn’t guarantee you tickets – it really is just luck of the draw.
To request tickets, you’ll need to follow these three simple steps:
Select which shows you’re interested in and the type of ticket you want
Add your payment details
Harry Styles ticket requests are now live / Credit: Johnny Dufort (Publicity Picture)
Ticketmaster will then send you a summary email that details the tickets you’ve requested. Your card won’t be charged at this time, but they may charge a temporary £1 authorisation to your card to validate your request.
A maximum of two tickets per person can be requested, which has been set to allow for as many fans as possible to get tickets.
Now, here’s the crucial part – you will need to submit your request for tickets while the window is open until Sunday 8 February at 11pm GMT. After the request window closes, you’ll get a second email by 11:59pm GMT on Tuesday 10 February confirming whether or not your request has been fulfilled.
Daisy Jackson -
14th August 2024 
