The Bridgewater Hall has unveiled its series of Christmas events, featuring family-friendly events, Christmas carol sing-alongs, and magical ballet.
The festive season at the beautiful arts venue will be absolutely packed with seasonal cheer and incredible performances.
Several of the events are geared towards younger theatre-goers, including Raymond Briggs’ animated classic The Snowman and the Halle’s Family Concert.
On Christmas Eve, people will be invited to sing along to Christmas classics, with an orchestra and a choir.
Here’s everything included in The Bridgewater Hall’s Christmas events series.
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A Dickensian Christmas – 11 December
A Dickensian Christmas at Bridgewater Hall. Credit: Publicity picture
This event will feature a selection of Victorian carols, classics, and readings from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Songs will include Joy to the World, Ding Dong Merrily on High, and In the Bleak Midwinter, plus carols like Good King Wenceslas and O Come All Ye Faithful.
The soundtracks from the greatest Christmas films of all time will be brought to life by the Manchester Concert Orchestra at The Bridgewater Hall this month.
Songs will come from the likes of Elf, Home Alone, Love Actually, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Snowman, Gremlins, White Christmas, The Polar Express, E.T., and Miracle on 34th Street.
It’ll be festive overload when the ultimate Christmas party returns to The Bridgewater Hall, with special guest singers Kerry Ellis and Ricardo Afonso.
They’ll be joined by Jingle Bell dancers for an extravaganza of music, song and dance, including Step Into Christmas, Fairytale of New York, and Let It Snow.
Horrible Histories – Horrible Christmas – 20 December
Hit children’s brand Horrible Histories will be back on the stage with a Christmas tale this year.
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They say: “When Christmas comes under threat from a jolly man dressed in red, it’s up to one young boy to save the day – but can he save Christmas?
“From Victorian villains to Medieval monks, Puritan parties to Tudor treats, join us on a hair-raising adventure through the history of Christmas in the company of Charles Dickens, Oliver Cromwell, King Henry VIII and St Nicholas as they all join forces to save the festive season!”
Warm up your vocal cords and get ready for the biggest, most festive sing-along of the year.
Jonathan Cohen will lead audiences through Christmas songs and seasonal classics like Frosty the Snowman, Merry Christmas Everyone, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and a whole host of carols too.
The UK’s most renowned big band is returning, swinging back in time playing Glenn Miller’s own arrangements of favourite wartime chart toppers and hits from the forties, directed by legendary band leader Ray McVay.
Expect songs like In the Mood, Little Brown Jug, Moonlight Serenade, American Patrol and The Dam Busters March.
One of the world’s best-loved ballets will be back at The Bridgewater Hall, sweeping audiences away to a fairytale world where toy dolls spring to life, the Mouse-king and his mouse-army battle with the Nutcracker Prince and we travel through the Land of Snow to an enchanted place where the magic really begins.
It’s the first time the critically acclaimed Varna International Ballet have performed in the UK.
From drone shows to free ice lollies – what went down at Parklife 2025
Daisy Jackson
It’s been a few days since Parklife 2025 wrapped up, and now that we’ve all caught up on sleep we’re looking back on some of the highlights you might’ve missed.
With such a stacked line-up of live music, it would be impossible to have seen everything – from that sizzling final set from Charli XCX to Morgan Seatree’s emotional hometown show, plus viral sensation Interplanetary Criminal filling Matinee and D.O.D. getting the whole Big Top dancing.
One moment that you couldn’t possibly have missed if you were on the ground at Parklife festival was a surprise drone show which dazzled overhead on Saturday night.
As rap legend 50 Cent wrapped up his huge headline set on The Valley stage, and The Hangar came alive to the sound of Pawsa, fans got an extra special treat way up in the skies.
Hundreds of drones came together in an impressive, illuminated aerial display, starting with a 10-second countdown that stopped festival-goers in their tracks.
The drones then flew in formation to create iconic shapes like a yellow JD Sports duffle bag, an adidas shoebox, and the shape of a slowly-rotating Climacool trainer – and what a trainer it is.
The adidas drone show on Saturday nightadidas handed out Climacool-branded lollies and slushies50 Cent on The Valley stageadidas handed out Climacool-branded lollies and slushies
That wasn’t the only bit of attention the Climacool footwear got at Parklife either – thankful fans were treated to free Climacool branded ice lollies and slushies on their way into the festival on Saturday.
As the sun beat down on Heaton Park (bar the odd brief downpour, classic Manchester), adidas and JD Sports arrived in an ice cream truck with the coolest drop at the festival.
There was a helping hand from social media sensation Yombo to hype up the crowd before the festival had even got started.
The Climacool has a textile lining and upper work, with a perforated midsole to allow airflow and keep your feet fresh – perfect for any city adventure (and pretty perfect for a day at Parklife, we discovered).
If the Climacool trainers have caught your eye – either in the sky, at the Climacool ice cream truck, or on social media – then the good news is you can now shop them for yourselves.
Manchester bar announces huge giveaway of margaritas to celebrate first birthday
Daisy Jackson
A cocktail and shuffleboard bar in Manchester city centre is throwing a weekend-long party to celebrate its first birthday, and there are free cocktails up for grabs.
Electric Shuffle is kindly offering to give all of us presents for its birthday, with an epic free margarita giveaway.
That’s alongside an almighty party that includes resident DJs, live music performances, giveaways, exclusive offers, a cracking happy hour and a free photobooth.
The Deansgate activity bar, which has 15 interactive high-tech shuffleboards to play, each one loaded with different game modes, is celebrating one year in the city centre between Friday 20 and Sunday 22 June.
They’re throwing a three-day-long celebration, kicking off at 5pm on Friday with a giveaway of margaritas for the first 250 guests through the doors.
Then there’ll be an Electric Shuffle birthday prize game, where each slide of the puck could unlock prizes like bar tabs, brunch tickets, branded merch, cocktails, pizzas and more.
Singer-songwriter Luke McColl will be playing live during the evening, and you’ll be able to dive into a free photobooth all evening.
Electric Shuffle ManchesterFood and drink at the premium gaming barElectric Shuffle Manchester turns one
Moving on to Saturday’s celebrations – expect happy hour deals all day long, like £4 pins and £7 Sarti Spritzes, complimentary shuffleboard hire (you need to pre-book HERE), a special late brunch session between 5pm and 7pm, and more prize giveaways.
This part of the birthday party will be soundtracked by resident DJs and a live set from Elle Graham.
And if you thought that was the end of the party, you’re mistaken.
On Sunday, Electric Shuffle will host free shuffleboard all day long.
All summer, there’ll be a Margs and Margs deal, where you can get two margarita cocktails and a margarita pizza for just £25.
Electric Shuffle’s first birthday celebrations take place between 20 and 22 June.
Daisy Jackson -
7th December 2022 
