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.
Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”