All the locations where wooden huts and hives of festive activity will be popping up across the city centre in just a few weeks time have been revealed.
As the nights draw in, the air gets nippier, and we all fully start to embrace everything the upcoming colder season has to offer, it won’t be long now before Manchester‘s flagship festive event returns to spread some cheer right across the city centre.
The iconic annual event is an absolute staple in Manchester’s festive events calendar, and always draws in thousands of visitors from all across the globe each year.
The UK's best Christmas Markets are coming back to Manchester 🗓️🌟🎅
In just 3 weeks, experience hundreds of stalls across the city centre, twinkling lights and free entertainment.
And now, with only three weeks left to go before the fun arrives, Manchester City Council has confirmed all the locations across the city centre where wooden huts will be lining the streets and visitors will be able to tuck into a wide range of festive foods and drinks, and shop for Christmas gifts from countless independent traders.
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More than 225 stalls will be popping up across nine sites throughout the city centre, the Council has confirmed.
This year’s Christmas Markets will see the iconic ski chalet-style market stalls take over Piccadilly Gardens – which is, once again, set to be transformed into the ‘Winter Gardens’ – as well as Market Street, Cathedral Gardens, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Square, The Corn Exchange, and King Street.
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Here’s all the locations and a brief rundown of what you can expect to find at them this year.
The Manchester Christmas Markets 2023 return on Friday 10 November / Credit: Flickr
Winter Gardens
Piccadilly Gardens will again be transformed into the magical ‘Winter Gardens’.
You can expect a mix of craft and gift stalls, alongside food and drink, as well as the return of the fabulous Scandi-style tipi festooned with lights and traditional log fires, and of course, this is the home of the iconic Manchester Christmas Windmill too.
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St Ann’s Square and Exchange Street
Did you know that St Ann’s Square is the oldest Christmas market site in Manchester, and was home to the city’s first seasonal stalls 25 years ago? Here you can expect continental cheeses, fresh authentic paella, bratwurst, salt and pepper chicken, festive hot drinks, and… alien sculptures?
Sounds like there’s something for everyone then.
Market Street
Market Street will be home to an exclusive craft and gift area, with over 40 stalls full of extraordinary gift ideas – from tweed hats, spiced rum, Christmas decorations, and candles, to jewellery, gift sets of cheese truckles and much more.
Hundreds of wooden huts will line the city centre’s streets / Credit: Manchester Christmas Markets (via Twitter)
King Street
King Street is set to be a must-visit for foodies and shoppers alike this year.
Authentic Italian deli, Ballaro, will be serving up fresh cannelloni and arancini, while El Gato Negro will bring some Mediterranean menu flavours, and you can also expect a range of crafts too – including the always-popular French soap stall, personalised tree decorations, handmade wooden furniture, and beautifully-illustrated bottles from local distillery, Salford Rum.
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New Cathedral Street
New Cathedral will be your go-to spot for high end gifts and foodie favourites.
Head here if you’re looking for handmade candles, ceramics, local spirits, and thoughtful keepsakes, all before you savour a cold beer and currywurst from The Witch House, a hearty burrito from Mango Rays, or a cheesy ‘Parmo’ from local legends, Parmageddon.
Exchange Square
This will be one of the largest of the city centre Christmas market sites this year, and is the place to grab a Mancunian mulled wine, try the much-loved legendary Yorkshire pudding wrap from Porky Pig, as well as everything from birria bowls and hot curries, to mini pancakes and fresh fudge.
You’ll also find clothing, soaps, boutique babywear, local crafts, and handmade gifts too.
All the locations for the Markets sites for 2023 have now been revealed / Credit: Manchester City Council
The Corn Exchange
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Set between Corn Exchange and Shambles Square is where you’ll find some of the most unique gifts available this year, so expect handmade pies, Nepalese woollen jumpers, handmade jewellery, Christmas decorations made from recycled wood, and so much more.
Cathedral Gardens
Cathedral Gardens will be at the heart of the family festive fun this year, as this is where you’ll find Skate Manchester’s huge covered ice rink, and free live entertainment hosted every Thursday to Sunday all the way up to New Year’s Eve.
You can also warm up with authentic crepes, gourmet hotdogs, and hot chocolate too.
30 years ago, the IRA detonated a 1,500kg lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the heart of Manchester – here’s the story
Georgina Pellant
Today marks three whole decades since an explosion from the inside of a lorry parked on Corporation Street shattered windows and destroyed buildings across the city centre.
Causing an evisceration that stretched for miles, when the 1,500 kilogram IRA bomb went off in 1996, it was the biggest detonation in Great Britain since the Second World War.
Following the explosion, the city fell silent – leaving rack, rubble and ruin in its wake. Famously, one red post box was left standing – today fitted with a memorial plaque in remembrance of the tragedy.
It seems scary to think that back then, most people could only stand there, watch on and worry.
The bomb caused an estimated £700 million worth of damage to Manchester’s infrastructure and economy, and over a quarter of a century later, locals still tell the stories of where they were when it went off – and of the devastation it left behind.
Notably, one resident of the Cromford Court maisonettes on top of the Arndale – a 77-year-old RAF veteran suffering from the flu – didn’t even bother to get up when the telephone warning to evacuate hit, considering himself to have survived much worse feats during his time in military service.
Having been a rear gunner in a Lancaster in the war, he reportedly told police and authorities “he was buggered if he was going to let a small bomb affect him.”
In subsequent years, Danny O’Neill has become a part of an urban legend surrounding the bomb as his staggering story has been told time and time again.
Around 90 minutes prior to the detonation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army had telephoned in warnings – meaning that around 75,000 people were able to be evacuated from the area before the bomb went off from the back of a van.
However, the bomb squad were unable to defuse it in time, leading to over 200 injuries from people still left in the area.
Thankfully, despite those injuries, there were no fatalities, and many of those reported traumas came from the shattering of thousands of windows and other damage to buildings in which unsuspecting people were getting on with their days.
Several buildings near the explosion were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs, and this prompted the biggest regeneration of Manchester city centre ever – something that is still continuing to this day, arguably at a more rapid rate than ever.
The city lay dormant for days after the explosion, as people came to terms with what had happened and kept their distance. Many moved out of the centre for a period of time, while many more simply decided not to visit for fear of another incident.
It was a desolate place, eerily quiet, and in need of some serious TLC.
According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the 1996 blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.
Credit: Manchester Libraries
Market Street – near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK – was considered by some a “fearful” place, and one that was to be “avoided like the plague”.
The prospect of pulling Manchester’s bustling city centre out of its darkest depression was not casually approached by those in charge.
It was acknowledged as a mammoth task from the get-go, but Greater Manchester has never let anything get in its way. Despite how steep the hill is that we’re standing at the base of, we always manage to reach the peak, ready to go again.
Manchester City Council green-light new venue at Medlock Square, with Mamma Mia! The Party to open the immersive space
Danny Jones
The smash-hit ‘Mamma Mia: The Party’ is set to land in Manchester next year as the maiden event of another brand-new space set to open as part of the upcoming Medlock Square development.
Etihad Campus has seen a lot of moving pieces over the past few years, be it the building of Co-op Live, the ongoing expansion of Man City’s home ground, the soon-to-launch hotel attached to the stadium and now Medlock.
But those in control of the land are content with stopping there; this looks to be just the start of a whole new evolution for the East Manchester area, with an as yet untitled new immersive arts, experience and events venue also set to join the new slate of projects.
You see another glimpse of the purpose-built mini arena, of sorts, down below.
With plans having now been approved by the City Council, the ‘immersive’ space will be situated between the Etihad, Co-op Live and Medlock Square itself, holding up to 600 guests per performance.
Currently set to open in late 2027, following the rest of the square’s launch window being fully rolled out, we still don’t know the name of this next addition, but the structure itself will dovetail with the surrounding buildings and areas as part of seasonal activations, live shows and sports screenings, as well as pop-ups, brand collaborations and more.
Looping back, the interactive, multimedia extravaganza that is ‘Mamma Mia! The Party’ will finally be making its Manc debut as part of the 10th anniversary of the all-singing, all-dancing and even all-dining in-demand production.
As per an official press release from the Medlock Square media team, the show will combine “live music, theatre, food and storytelling” and “offer visitors an unforgettable night out.”
The original UK production at The O2 in London has now surpassed more than 1,500 performances, with a total of 700k guests attending these shows in 110 countries across the globe. Safe to say it’s rather popular.
As for Medlock Square and the surrounding Etihad Campus, Manchester City supporters have also been given another look at the soon-to-open, immersive hotel tie-in experience.
With a skywalk, rooftop bar, a new MCFC shop and various other bits set to spill out onto Medlock Square, it all feels like a period of wholesale changes over in the blue half of the city – especially with the football club bidding farewell to their manager Pep Guardiola after more than a decade.
Following the new and improved North Stand being named after him in the first of many tributes, the City Football Group (CFG) are also set to commission a statue in his honour over the coming months.
Meanwhile, Medlock Square is also due to open later this year, although an official completion date has not been confirmed.
You can stay up to date with all the latest on Mamma Mia! The Part’s Manchester shows right HERE.
Not forgetting a brand-new women’s football facility, too, there is so much stuff going on over at the Etihad that it can be hard to keep track, but here’s the latest look at some of the rooms set to feature in the hotel of the same name.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd October 2023 
