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.
Manchester’s AO Arena scoop up Take That as Keane’s Co-op Live gig is cancelled in ongoing venue saga
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s existing arena, the AO Arena, has stepped in to host more concerts that have been postponed by Co-op Live, with yet another act being cancelled too.
First it was A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, announced earlier today and now, in perhaps the most damning twist of fate for the brand-new venue, Take That’s five-night run that was set for the Co-op Live this May has now been moved to the AO Arena.
Their two June dates at the new arena are said to be unaffected.
The Co-op Live‘s official opening has been hit with several delays, with events like Peter Kay’s double bill, Olivia Rodrigo and The Black Keys all already postponed over the last week or so.
Issuing a statement after rescuing multiple Take That shows, AO Arena general manager Jen Mitchell, said: “It wouldn’t be a Take That tour without a stop-off in Manchester, so it’s great to welcome the band and their fans back to AO Arena for five nights, in the heart of this wonderful city.”
The venue has naturally welcomed the sudden flood of extra names being added to its already strong lineup for 2024, doing its best to minimise inconvenience for gig-goers who have made travel arrangements, booked hotels etc.
As for the group themselves, they also responded to their tens of thousands of fans expecting to see them from this weekend onwards.
Confessing that they’ve had to make “the difficult decision” to switch venues and although “it’s not one [they’ve taken lightly], they wanted to give fans as much notice as possible”, adding: “We thank you for your understanding and we’ll see you all soon”.
Meanwhile, Noughties favourites Keane have sadly had to shelve their Manchester show for the foreseeable following the venue’s continuing “technical issues”.
Announcing the news on their social pages on Thursday evening, they admitted that they were “absolutely gutted” but that the decision was “entirely out of the control”.
We’re absolutely gutted not to be able to celebrate 20 Years of Hopes and Fears with you at the Co-Op Live on Sunday. This is due to ongoing technical issues at the venue and is entirely beyond our control.
Notably, the huge new venue by the Etihad Stadium had to turn away fans who were already queueing for A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on Monday 1 May, after part of an air conditioning unit fell from the ceiling onto a (thankfully) empty arena floor.
Question marks had already been hanging over whether some upcoming gigs would be able to go ahead and now it seems that they will be taking place – just not at the Co-op Live…
Manchester’s decades-old AO Arena, the largest indoor venue in the UK (until the Co-op Live opens), will be welcoming Keane to its stage instead.
With so many people having been pitting the two venues against one another over the last weeks and months, let’s just say it’s quite clear who’s come out looking better at the minute…
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie moves Manchester gig to AO Arena following Co-op Live cancellation
Danny Jones
Rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has confirmed that his cancelled Co-op Live gig has now been moved to Manchester’s AO Arena this weekend.
After suddenly being lined up as the venue’s first official gig after the postponement of both Peter Kay and The Black Keys, the American hip-hop artists’ show ended up going the same as the others previously scheduled for the new arena and being pulled at the last minute.
With guests being turned away from the still-yet-to-open Co-op Live Arena just hours before the show was set to start, and Olivia Rodrigo fans being given the same unfortunate news ahead of her gig this Saturday, ABWDH has taken matters into his own hands.
Announcing the rescheduling of his concert on X, the 28-year-old artist confirmed that Wednesday night’s gig has now been relocated to Co-op’s main rival, the AO Arena.
Yesterday's canceled Manchester show has been Rescheduled for this Saturday at AO Arena! We won't give up that easy let's go!
The switch to the AO comes after A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie issued a statement admitting he was ‘heated’ about the situation.
Set to take place on Saturday, the artist – which just so happens to be his first name (yes, seriously) – had a simple message for his fans: “We won’t give up that easy, let’s go!”.
Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped the venue – which is set to become the UK’s biggest indoor entertainment venue and one of the largest in Europe when it finally does open – from announcing more events over the coming months and well into 2025.
Confirming the show on their social pages, the AO simply promised, “It’s going to be a brilliant night and we can’t wait to see you all here.”
We’re excited to welcome @ArtistHBTL and his fans to AO Arena this Saturday. 💛 It’s going to be a brilliant night and we can’t wait to see you all here. ⚡️ More ticket info will be available in due course. pic.twitter.com/Q9LKGU6RND
The AO Arena has hosted some of the biggest names in the entire world in the course of its existence and recently underwent a £50m refurbishment that included the launch of The Mezz.
Safe to say this presents an interesting twist in events when so many people have been pitting the two venues against one another.
Question marks have been hanging over whether more upcoming gigs, like Keane on Sunday 5 May, and then a five-night run of gigs from Take That will still be able to go ahead.
It remains to be seen whether other artists will follow suit in moving their shows should more cancellations/postponements be announced.
You can recap everything that’s happened so far down below:
Emily Sergeant -
15th September 2023 
