Hundreds are set to march through the streets of Manchester city centre to mark International Women’s Day next month.
The annual ‘Walk for Women’ has been confirmed for a 2024 return.
After returning to the city in 2022 from a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then proving to be a massive success once again last year, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the hugely-popular ‘Walk For Women’ is back in a couple of weeks time, and it’s expected that hundreds will meet to parade through the city centre in the name of equality.
The much-loved event is a celebration of the significant economic, political, and social achievements that women have made since they first won the right to vote just over 100 years ago.
Organisers of the annual event say the walk is a brilliant opportunity to come together with family, friends, colleagues, and likeminded strangers to share a passion for equality and creating opportunities for Manchester women.
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A huge ‘Walk For Women’ will parade through Manchester city centre next month / Credit: Manchester City Council
Anyone planning on attending is encouraged to creatively chant and cheer, bring instruments along with them to bang and clang, create banners and posters to convey messages of support, and even prepare to belt out and sing-along to some musical performances too.
This year’s ‘Walk for Women’ is being held the day after International Women’s Day 2024 (8 March) on Saturday 9 March from midday to 2:30pm.
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As always, the event is completely free to take part in, and everyone is invited to join.
Hundreds will meet to parade through the city centre in the name of equality / Credit: Manchester City Centre
The official route will begin on Mount Street behind Manchester Central Library, and then will make its way to Albert Square, before turning onto Brazennose Street and making a right to Deansgate – with the final stop being Manchester Cathedral.
The parade’s theme this year is called ‘Inspire Inclusion’, and is said to be a nod to the countless women from across all ages and backgrounds who have made “aspirational strides”, and continue to “trail-blaze through barriers” in areas such as galvanising women’s economic empowerment, forging access for women and girls to have quality education, and training and promoting creative and artistic talent.
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Councillor Joanna Midgley, who is the Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said organisers are expecting an “even bigger and better” turnout for this year’s event.
Those keen to attend can register their interest for the parade now / Credit: Manchester City Council
“The walk around our amazing city is a celebratory moment for progress and women everywhere,” Cllr Midgley explained, “but it’s also a vivid reminder of the continuing work that needs to be done to challenge negative attitudes and obstacles surrounding women and girls.
“The support on this day is a pivotal reflection of all that has been done and all that is to come for women’s equality.”
Find out more about this year’s ‘Walk for Women’ on the Manchester City Council website here, and see all the road closures here.
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Former GMP officer jailed after being found guilty of several online child sex offences
Emily Sergeant
A former police officer from Salford has been sentenced after being found guilty of a string of online child sex offences.
Following a trial back in July, 35-year-old Michael Aspinall was sentenced at Preston Crown Court earlier this week (Monday 14 September) after being found guilty of three counts of attempting sexual communication with a child.
It comes after Aspinall – who was employed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) at the time of the offences – was arrested in October 2024 by detectives from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), and was immediately suspended from duty following his arrest.
The investigation began after evidence was obtained that Aspinall had been communicating online with individuals that he believed to be children, but he was in fact communicating with a police officer.
Following this series of interactions, he was charged with various offences.
In addition to his eight-month sentence – which has been suspended for two years – Aspinall will also be placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years, subject to a five-year serious crime prevention order, and have undertake 20 days of rehabilitation, GMP has confirmed.
He has additionally been added to the College of Policing’s barred list.
An application to request forfeiture of Aspinall’s police pension has also been made to the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester.
“Aspinall’s offending was clearly unacceptable for any right-minded member of society and particularly inappropriate for a serving police officer,” commented Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Humphreys, from GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate.
“His actions put the whole police service under scrutiny, but thanks to the hard work and diligence of undercover officers, he was arrested, found guilty, and has now received his punishment.”
DCI Humphreys concluded: “[Aspinall’s] actions take away from the hard work of the men and women who work so hard for their communities every day, and it is only right that anyone committing these sort of offences are rooted out.”
Emily Sergeant -
22nd February 2024 
