TfGM issues travel warning ahead of Manchester’s ‘busiest’ weekend of the year

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A Manchester Metrolink tram wrapped in Pride colours / Credit: TfGM

An annual travel warning has been issued ahead of what is always one of Manchester’s “busiest” weekends of the year.

Greater Manchester‘s social calendar is never any more packed than it is on August bank holiday weekend, and 2024 is set to be absolutely no different – with Manchester Pride, Bolton Food & Drink Festival, Festa Italiana, major gigs at Wythenshawe Park, Peter at the AO Arena, and loads of other exciting fringe events on the lineup this weekend.

That’s not all either, as it’s also a big weekend for sport too, as Premier League football returns to the Etihad Stadium when Manchester City face Ipswich Town, as well as Test cricket at Old Trafford for England vs Sri Lanka.

So, as you can see, we’ve got a pretty hectic few days on the horizon… and along with that comes thousands of people travelling into Manchester city centre and across the wider borough.

With an influx of people expected, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has, unsurprisingly, done what it does every year and issued a travel warning, urging passengers to “plan ahead” if they want to avoid delays with the number of different events taking place over the next four days.

Saturday is set to be the “busiest day”, according to TfGM, with the cricket, football, annual Manchester Pride Parade, Peter Kay, and New Order at Wythenshawe Park all happening on this day, so in this instance, the region’s transport provider is reminding people that the tram is the best way to travel in and out of the city.

On top of this, TfGM is also “strongly advising” against driving into the city centre, due to a number of road closures that will be in place over the weekend.

There will be several road closures and parking suspensions around Wythenshawe Park over the weekend, with New Order and Blossoms headlining the Saturday and Sunday night events respectively, and more details for this can be found on TfGM’s dedicated Wythenshawe Park webpage, while everything you need to know about the two gigs can be found here:

TfGM has issued its annual travel warning ahead of Manchester’s ‘busiest’ weekend of the year / Credit: TfGM

On the Sunday for Blossoms, a dedicated shuttle bus service will operate between Stockport Interchange and Wythenshawe Park – with buses leaving the interchange every 10 minutes from 4pm, and following the concert, services will run to Stockport until the site is clear (approximately 1am).

Trams will be running with a 15-minute frequency across the whole Metrolink network, and 7.5 minute frequency for the weekend events.

“This bank holiday weekend is shaping up to be a busy one with lots of fantastic events happening across Greater Manchester,” commented Fran Wilkinson, who is TfGM’s Customer and Growth Director.

“While you’re heading out for a good time, we’ll be here to keep you moving and make sure you can get where you need to be, so if you are heading to one of the many fantastic events this weekend, we’d urge you to plan ahead to make your journey as smoothly as possible.

“But most importantly, we hope everyone has a great time.”

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More general travel information about the bank holiday weekend can be found on TfGM’s dedicated webpage here.

Featured Image – TfGM