A huge Irish festival is coming to Manchester city centre this month as the city gears up to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
Piccadilly Gardens will be paying homage to the Emerald Isle with a weekend full of live music and dance, free-flowing Irish stouts, street food and more.
Irish dancers, pipe bands and Irish folk musicians will take to the stage in the middle of the gardens throughout the long weekend, whilst huge bars will have all manner of Irish tipples – from dry Irish stouts and Irish coffees to hot toddies and fine whiskeys.
Free entertainment will be taking place in the gardens from 12-7pm every day throughout the long weekend, promising to get even the most reluctant toe-tappers up and dancing.
The free music and street food event will run from St Patrick’s Day, Thursday 17 March, through to Sunday 20 March on the boardwalk in Piccadilly Gardens.
Whilst Manchester already plays host to an annual community organised city-wide Irish Festival, this new additional event has been put together to help bring a taste of Ireland into the heart of the city centre.
ADVERTISEMENT
The event has been funded through the European Regional Development Fund and their Welcome Back Fund, which has provided councils across the country with a share of £56 million to support the safe return to high streets and help build back better from the pandemic.
Councillor Pat Karney, city centre lead for Manchester City Council, said: “We all know that if you can’t be in the Emerald Isle itself then Manchester is the next best place to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
“We also know that one day alone isn’t nearly long enough to celebrate all that’s great about Ireland and its unique cultural heritage of music and dance – which is why we’ve put together the weekender event to share the love over four days and give everyone a chance to enjoy the craic.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It’s brilliant to see so many people already coming back into the city centre to enjoy what it has to offer, and the Manchester Irish Weekender gives another good reason to come into town. It’s going to be fantastic, so find a shamrock, wear something green, and come on down!”
What else is happening in Manchester for St Patrick’s Day?
Other events to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in Manchester include the annual parade organised by the Irish World Heritage Centre in Cheetham Hill which takes place this Sunday 13 March, and the Manchester Irish Festival which has events throughout the month up to 20 March.
This weekend’s parade will start from the Irish World Heritage Centre on Queen’s Road in Cheetham Hill at 12 noon on Sunday and will follow a route down Cheetham Hill Road as far as the AO Arena before turning round and following the same route back to where it started.
Highlights of the Manchester Irish Festival include the award-winning Fianna Phadraig Pipe band who are coming up to their 75th anniversary and will be taking the festival on tour with visits to different locations across the city throughout this weekend, before touring Levenshulme, Burnage, and Fallowfield on St Patrick’s Day itself.
Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”