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Council confirms opening dates and important details of Manchester Christmas Markets 2024

The most wonderful time of the year is nearly here.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 23rd September 2024

The opening dates and all-important details of the return of Manchester’s “world-beating” Christmas Markets for 2024 have now been confirmed.

It’s official… holidays are coming, and the countdown is on.

Just as we do every year, the Greater Manchester public has been eagerly awaiting news of when the city’s iconic Christmas Markets would be making a comeback for the 2024 festive season, especially as it was already confirmed last week that the massive outdoor ice rink would be returning to Cathedral Gardens for another year.

But now, Manchester City Council is announced that the famous wooden huts will be lining Manchester‘s streets once again from the first week in November.

Now in their 26th year, Manchester Christmas Markets are known and loved for delights 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.

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The Manchester Christmas Markets 2024 return date has officially been confirmed / Credit: Flickr

Well over two hundred stalls will be spread across nine sites throughout the city centre this year.

Promising to be plenty on offer for seasonal shoppers of all ages, 2024 will see the iconic wooden ski chalet market stalls take over King Street West, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Square, Corn Exchange, and Cathedral Gardens, as well as Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens as usual.

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The stalls will be open daily from 10am – 8pm throughout the six-week run, the Council has confirmed, with food and drink stalls staying open until 9pm.

Due to the ways that the dates fall this year, 2024’s Markets run actually includes seven weekends instead of the usual six, before they officially wrap-up for Christmas at 6pm on Sunday 22 December.

The food and drink stalls at Cathedral Gardens, however, will stay open until 31 December.

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2022 Manchester Christmas Markets Guide
Festive cheer will soon be lining the city centre streets once again / Credit: Manchester City Council

Of course, it’s not just the Christmas Markets that are returning for 2024, as the Council has also confirmed that Manchester’s now-famous Christmas Lights Trail is set to make the city centre look its sparkly best for another year, as will the annual Manchester Christmas Parade in December, and, as previously mentioned, Skate Manchester will be back in Cathedral Gardens until the new year too.

“Everyone knows by now that Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year and Manchester is my favourite place in the world to be during the festive season,” Cllr Pat Karney said as the Christmas Markets opening dates were confirmed for 2024.

“Christmas is going to be wonderful in Manchester this year, with enough seasonal stalls across the city in our best-ever Christmas Markets to make sure that everyone gets their Christmas wrapped before the big day.”

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Manchester Christmas Markets return for 2024 on Friday 8 November, and will run right through until Sunday 22 December.

Stalls in selected locations remaining open until the new year.

Featured Image – Manchester City Council

News

Legendary Manchester rice and three curry house Cafe Marhaba has gone up for sale

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Legendary Manchester rice and three curry house Cafe Marhaba has gone up for sale

It’s been a staple of Mancunian lunchtimes for decades, but now Cafe Marhaba has been placed up for sale.

The Back Piccadilly restaurant and takeaway is one of the city’s most legendary rice and three cafes, serving up hearty curries and tandoor-baked naans at low, low prices.

It’s a family-run operation that’s been here in the Northern Quarter since 1992 – so it’s understandable that a wave of panic has rippled through the city upon seeing the business appear on Rightmove.

Cafe Marhaba has been listed as a ‘highly sought after takeaway business’ in a ‘top location’.

Agents have placed it on the market at £1,153 per calendar month.

But Abdul Ahmed, who runs the business alongside his parents, has confirmed to The Manc that they are simply ‘testing the waters’ and thinking of shifting the beloved business to a new premises.

The tiny space, just down the road from the newly-reborn Rat and Pigeon pub, only has space for a handful of tables for dine-in customers.

Inside Cafe Marhaba in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Cafe Marhaba in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Cafe Marhaba in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Cafe Marhaba in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group

If you do sit in, curries are carefully ladled onto patterned mismatched plates and served alongside the city’s best naan breads.

Cafe Marhaba is particularly well-known for its £8 rice and three deal – a local staple – where you can choose any three curries for a filling lunch.

At the time of writing, Abdul stressed that there are no plans to close the restaurant for the time being.

So you can still get your rice and three fix at this Manchester institution – and if you miss it, you’ll forever regret it.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

News

Manchester United reveal first impressions of new stadium and Old Trafford Regeneration scheme

Danny Jones Danny Jones First impressions of new Old Trafford stadium redevelopment

Manchester United, their chief architects and the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force have finally revealed their first impressions of what the new stadium and surrounding area could look like.

After naming Foster + Partners as the lead designers on the new ‘Wembley of the North’ last week and teasing further details surrounding their Old Trafford masterplan, supports now have their first glimpse at what the task force is hoping can be achieved with the soon-to-be-redeveloped stadium and region.

In addition to creating over 92,000 jobs in the immediate area and across nearby boroughs, one of the biggest claims they have made is that the regeneration scheme will inject an “extra £7.3 billion in GVA [gross value added] for the UK economy each year.”

Presuming these projections are to be believed, Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham might be right when he says this could be “the biggest regeneration scheme ever seen in this country.”

Man United shared the lengthy reel featuring concept art and quotes from figures partnering with the Old Trafford Regeneration scheme, including Mayor Burnham, club legend and local entrepreneur Gary Neville and task force’s chair, Lord Sebastian Coe, among others.

Coe, a retired Olympic track and field athlete himself turned sports administrator and former politician, echoed Burnham’s sentiment, adding: “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create something special.”

Lord Foster (of Foster + Partners), who was born just down the road in Reddish, Stockport, also expressed his excitement about being part of the project and building upon “the foundations of Manchester’s industrial heritage.”

The club stated that the overall scheme “will benefit the local community, attract new residents, increase job provision, and make it a vibrant destination for visitors from Manchester, the UK and all around the world”, and the Mayor assured no public money will be used in the development.

You see some snapshots of the would-be teaser video down below:

new stadium CGIs manchester
regeneration task force
new man united stadium CGI images
The first impressions of what a new Old Trafford stadium could be look like (Credit: Man United via screenshot)

The plans will see ‘New Trafford’ – we have no idea if that’s actually its name or not, by the way, just an easy working title for our purposes – erected as the first 100,000-seater stadium not only in the North but the entire country, surpassing the current largest (Wembley) by a full 10k.

However, as the full update from United explains, the plans go far beyond just creating a new football ground: they want to develop the entire Old Trafford district and pump money into both already valuable areas like the Trafford Park industrial complex and under-utilised areas.

The regeneration team has also been tasked with helping carve out plans for “new mixed-use developments around the stadium and in the adjacent Trafford Wharfside area” as well as along the River Irwell towards Salford Quays.

As you see, while these small snippets might only be artistic impressions at this stage, the CGIs have also been backed up by the first models designed by the architects.

You can see more here:

old trafford regeneration scheme images
The plan is to make the Old Trafford area a full on sporting, leisure and entertainment destination.
new old trafford stadium model
trafford redevelopment
Credit: Man United x Old Trafford Regeneration (screenshot)/Sky Sports (via YouTube – screenshot)

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Other stats about the Old Trafford Regeneration scheme that follow these first impressions include an estimated 1.8 million additional visitors to the multi-purpose stadium and more than 17,000 new homes following investment in the surrounding areas.

The club and their regeneration task force are eyeing up a total of one million square meters of new developments/redeveloped plots, so it goes without saying that this could change the face of a good chunk of Greater Manchester forever.

With talk that Man United now intend to keep the existing Theatre of Dreams to house the women’s team and preserve their storied history – rather than bulldoze as many first feared – what you do make of this first look at the potential future of your stadium, Reds?

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Manchester United (via Screenshot)/Sky Sports YouTube

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