It’s that time of year again – the Manchester Christmas Markets 2023 are on the way, with dates and opening times confirmed.
It’s one of the biggest events in the city’s calendar, drawing in thousands of visitors every year eager to sip on mulled wine and scoff down bratwursts.
Things are about to get pretty festive in Manchester, as the return date for the city’s legendary Christmas Markets this year has been announced to spread some cheer right across the city centre.
This means that the city centre’s main hubs and streets, including Exchange Square, St Ann’s Square, King Street, and Market Street, will be lined with wooden huts right selling festive food, handmade gifts, and so much more before we know it.
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Cathedral Gardens is once again playing host to the iconic Ice Rink, with a range of food and drink stalls alongside it, and that’s already open for business. That Christmas Markets site started on Thursday 26 October.
How long are the Manchester Christmas Markets 2023 on for and what date do they close?
The Manchester Christmas Markets will be open for six weeks this year, between 10 November and 21 December.
But the Cathedral Gardens site, which is home to the ice rink, will remain open right through to Sunday 31 December.
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That’s plenty of time to get to grips with all 225 stalls across nine sites.
What are the opening and closing times for the Manchester Christmas Markets 2023?
These are the opening and closing times for each of the Manchester Christmas Markets sites:
Piccadilly Gardens, aka The Winter Gardens – Open daily from 10am to 9pm (street food stalls open until 6pm, craft stalls open until 8pm)
King Street – Open daily 10am to 9pm (Craft stall open until 8pm)
St Ann’s Square – Open daily 10am to 8pm
New Cathedral Street – Open daily 10am to 8pm
Exchange Square and Corn Exchange – Open daily 10am to 9pm (Craft stalls open until 8pm)
Market Street – Open Monday to Saturday 10am to 8pm. Open until 6pm on Sundays
Cathedral Gardens – Open daily 10am to 9pm (Craft stalls open until 8pm)
Confirming the Christmas Markets’ return, Councillor Pat Karney, who is Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson, told the MEN: “With the last rays of summer sun now fading fast, it’s time to track down the tinsel and get ready for Manchester’s favourite time of the year.
“And with only 8 weeks to go until the opening of Manchester’s world-famous Christmas markets it will be glühwein and bratwurst time before we know it.
“Mark it on your calendars with 10 November – Christmas starts here.”
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Festive cheer will soon be lining the city centre streets once again / Credit: Manchester City Council
Cllr Karney had already previously confirmed that the Christmas Parade will also be back this year after it proved to be such a smash-hit success during its inaugural year in 2022. You can expect to see runaway Christmas presents, Jack Frost, Snow Queens, and of course, Santa, make their way through the city centre’s streets once again.
Dates for this free family-friendly event are yet to be confirmed, with the Council telling residents to keep their eyes peeled for more announcements in the coming weeks.
Trams are officially coming to Stockport as part of £2.5bn investment package
Emily Sergeant
It’s official… Stockport is finally getting trams.
It’s been a long time coming, so long, in fact, that rumours first began swirling all the way back in July 2022 when then Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted at in PMQs, all before Mayor Andy Burnham insisted in October 2023 that he had ‘big ambitions’ to deliver the project once and for all, but now it’s finally been confirmed.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has today revealed that Stockport will be connected to the Metrolink tram network thanks to a £2.5 billion funding boost from the Government.
At this moment in time, Stockport is one of only a few boroughs in the region that’s not currently connected up to the expansive Metrolink network, but all of that is set to change very soon, as Greater Manchester is beginning the construction of the town’s very-first tram line.
It will help deliver:
🐝 Eight rail lines and 64 stations into the capped system by 2028
🐝 A new tram line to Stockport
🐝 A new tram-train service connecting Bury, Heywood, Rochdale and Oldham
While the intention for trams to eventually travel to and from the town has been known for quite some time now, there hasn’t been much talk of timelines or when this would actually become a reality.
For now, it seems there’s still no timelines as such, but at least there’s confirmation.
The confirmation that trams will be coming to Stockport forms part of a lineup of exciting transport announcements this week, all of which Andy Burnham has called a ‘game-changing moment’ that will ‘underpin Greater Manchester’s green growth’ for years to come.
Trams are officially coming to Stockport as part of a £2.5 billion investment package / Credit: TfGM
Other announcements include the fact that Greater Manchester‘s Bee Network is to become a fully-electric, zero-emission public transport system by 2030, local rail lines will be brought into the Bee Network before the end of the decade, fully joining up bike, bus, tram, and train travel for the first time outside London, and the introduction of new electric buses, tram lines, tram stops, and transport interchanges.
North Manchester, Bury, and Oldham are the areas set to receive new Metrolink stops to support delivery of thousands of new homes, and Oldham, Rochdale, Heywood, and Bury will all be connected to each other via the Bee Network.
“Building on our strong track record, we can now move at pace to deliver the next phase of the Bee Network – creating the UK’s first fully electric, zero emission integrated public transport system by 2030,” commented Mayor Andy Burnham as the funding package was announced this week.
The Bee Network become a fully-electric, zero-emission public transport system by 2030 / Credit: TfGM
“With a pipeline of major transport projects better connecting our towns and cities, and local rail lines brought into the Bee Network, our communities will be the first outside London to be served by fully joined-up bike, bus, tram, and train travel.
“Greater Manchester has had a decade of growth faster than the UK average, and this funding can be the key to unlocking even more growth in the decade to come.
“It’s a major boost for our own plans to deliver £10bn of investment over the next 10 years, build thousands of new homes, create skilled jobs, and open up new opportunities right across our city-region.”
Featured Image – TfGM
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Police still searching for answers six months after remains of baby girl found in Little Hulton park
Emily Sergeant
Six months on after the remains of a baby girl were found in a park in Little Hulton, police are still searching for answers.
It was on 20 November 2024 that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received a call from a member of the public reporting the discovery of what appeared to be human remains in a park in the Little Hulton area of Salford – but it was only when officers and detectives attended the scene that they determinted the remains to be that of a baby girl.
At the time, police referred to the baby simply as ‘Baby A’, but it’s now be confirmed that they chose to name her Ava.
Since that day, a dedicated team from GMP’s Major Incident Team has worked ‘tirelessly’ to uncover the truth about who Baby Ava was and what led to her being left alone.
Detectives have followed up on hundreds of public tips, conducted thousands of hours of house-to-house enquiries, reviewed extensive CCTV footage, and collaborated with police forces and agencies across the country in pursuit of identifying who baby Ava was and securing justice for her… but as of yet, there are no answers.
Police are still searching for answers six months after the remains of a baby girl found in a Little Hulton park / Credit: Google Maps
Information from the public also led police to speak with potential witnesses nationwide, and time was also spent trawling the national missing person database, focusing on cases involving females who were potentially pregnant and reported missing, yet these were unsuccessful.
To this day, police continue to work closely with a range of experts.
Currently, a botanist is helping detectives determine how long Ava may have been at the discovery site, and work is continuing with an anthropologist, archaeologist, and specialists in dental and bone analysis to establish Ava’s age and ethnicity.
As investigations continue at a rapid pace, police have reissued their appeal to the public for information.
Police have since named the baby Ava as their search for answers continues / Credit: GMP
“We will never forget Baby Ava, and despite the challenges in the investigation, we’re committed to uncovering the truth,” commented Detective Chief Inspector Charlotte Whalley, from GMP’s Major Incident Team. “We are more determined than ever to find who Ava is, who her parents are, and all of the possible scenarios and circumstances which have led Ava to being separated from them.
“I know how heartbreaking this case has been for the communities of Greater Manchester and beyond. The support and compassion we’ve received has been unwavering, and we share the sadness felt for Ava as we continue our search for answers so that we can lay her to rest.
“If you are baby Ava’s mum, please know that you are not alone. You can contact us directly or ask someone you trust to reach out on your behalf. We want to help you.”
Anyone with any information that may be of assistance is asked to contact police on 101, quoting log 1319 of 20/11/24, or by heading to the Major Incident Public Portal here.
Emily Sergeant -
15th September 2023 
