The Bridgewater Hall, one of Manchester’s finest music venues and concert halls, has announced a busy programme of Christmas events this year.
The beloved landmark has a schedule that includes something for all ages, from family-friendly shows and carol singing to epic orchestral evenings.
Over the course of the festive season, the Bridgewater Hall will host the music of the world’s greatest composers, travel back in time with nostalgic swing nights, and welcome in fans of all ages to get into the festive spirit.
This year’s schedule includes appearances from Sir Karl Jenkins, Horrible Histories, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, and loads more.
Have a read below for the five big Christmas events at Bridgewater Hall this year.
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Christmas with Sir Karl Jenkins
Christmas with Sir Karl Jenkins
The Bridgewater Hall will welcome a musical icon this Christmas, with a very special evening with Sir Karl Jenkins.
He’ll be conducting a spell-binding night of carols and festive classics, brought to life by the Manchester Concert Orchestra and presented by John Suchet.
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Expect choirs, a full orchestra and a timeless evening of live music to get you into the Christmas spirit.
There’ll be music from Sir Karl’s hit festive albums Joy To The World and Stella Natalis, including Silent Night, Dulci Jubilo, Healing Light and plenty more.
Can you think of a more magical way to ring in Christmas than with traditional carol singing on Christmas Eve? Because we can’t.
The ultimate night of carolling will hit the Bridgewater Hall this winter, led by the inimitable Jonathan Cohen and featuring West End star Louise Dearman.
Belt your heart out to the likes of The Twelve Days of Chrismtas, Winter Wonderland, Frosty The Snowman, and plenty more beloved carols.
The Music of Zimmer vs Williams returns to Bridgewater Hall this Christmas
Composers don’t get much more iconic than Hans Zimmer and John Williams, who between them have crafted the most legendary movie music soundtracks of all time.
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The 70-piece Manchester Concert Orchestra will be performing a selection of these in an almighty concert, where you’ll hear live renditions of soundtracks including Star Wars, Interstellar, Harry Potter, The Holiday, Pirates of the Caribbean, E.T., and loads more.
This night will be an epic head-to-head battle between two of the film industry’s composing greats.
The legendary Horrible Histories team will bring Horrible Christmas to the Bridgewater Hall in December, taking audiences on a festive romp through British history.
From Victorian villains to medieval monks, partying Puritans to terrible Tudors, and even a visit from St Nicholas himself.
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The show will follow a Christmas that’s under threat from a jolly man in red (clue – it’s Santa), and one brave child’s mission to save the day.
It’ll be a night packed with family-friendly laughs, villains, and seasonal cheer.
Wrapping up the seasonal programme at the Bridgewater Hall is The Glen Miller Orchestra, stepping back in time to relive the music that defined an era.
The UK’s most celebrated big band will perform war-time chart-toppers from the 1940s, harking Manchester back to the golden age of swing.
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Special guest Ray McVay will join the orchestra on stage, adding to the concert’s vintage charm.
And for the second half of the show, the band will don the iconic US Army Air Force uniforms of the Second World War for a truly immersive experience.
Hordes of people dressed as giant poos run through Manchester for bowel cancer awareness
Danny Jones
If you happened to be in town on Thursday and noticed a bunch of people dressed as giant poos running through the city centre and wondered, ‘What the hell is going on?’, it was this…
We know Manchester has a serious case of the runs, what with the annual Marathon and Great Manchester race, both just around the corner (one literally just next week), but this takes the cake.
On a more heartfelt note, although there is an obvious and innate silliness to this now annual get-together, it’s all for a very important and worthwhile cause.
Uniting for a fourth time, the Pall Mall Medical team (along with a couple of us here at The Manc) are hoping to flush out the stigma and silence surrounding bowel cancer awareness.
Credit: The Manc Group
Starting from Pall Mall’s very own clinic on King St, more than 105 runners laced up their shoes and popped on emoji suits, toilet costumes, daft poo hats and more for a 5k jog around the city centre alongside local run club, Blaze.
They even tried to make the route in the shape of a poo, too.
Why such a specific number, you ask? Well, that’s the exact number of people who are sadly diagnosed with bowel cancer across the North West every single week.
It’s an alarming statistic, but once you pair it with the fact that they make up the rising number of new cases being reported in the country – more than a whopping 41,000 each year – you can see why they’re desperate to get more people talking about the disease.
Moreover, the rate among under 50s has also seen a concerning rise since the 90s, but this also means that the earlier it’s caught, the better people like Pall Mall can help with treatment.
The sooner it’s spotted, the greater the chance of survival, with 90% of those diagnosed at the earliest possible stage surviving for five years or more; that’s why these lot are hoping to better the discourse around bowel-related issues.
Besides offering important scans and blood tests for numerous health conditions, they also boast the dedicated and revolutionary ColoAlert® testing service, which is a German import that’s more accurate (around 85%) and effective than most others here in the UK.
It has quite literally proved to be a life-changing bit of kit for so many, and for Pall Mall’s Dr Chun Tang, this whole initiative has a deep personal connection.
Having sadly lost his father to the illness, as well as his brother being diagnosed with bowel cancer, he knows all too well how important increasing the conversation is – bowel cancer being the second biggest killer in the UK after lung conditions.
Even before you book in a check-up, Dr Tang says it’s simple to spot noteworthy signs at home: “Any blood in the stools, streaks in your poo, on the pan or on the paper; any changes in your digestion such as diarrhoea, constipation and [continued] fatigue, then see your GP or come visit us at Pall Mall.”
Best of all, the money raised with the latest ‘Poo Protest’ all goes towards Bowel Cancer UK, so well done to everyone involved.
For once, we couldn’t be happier to hear so many people talking sh**.
Throughout April, Pall Mall are offering £75 off the ColoAlert® Bowel Cancer stool test, and 20% off the Virtual Colonoscopy in Aprilo. To find out more about the event and book an appointment, you can click right HERE.
We Are Football Festival – Europe’s biggest World Cup fan park is opening in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The largest World Cup fan park in all of Europe is set to open in Manchester this summer, in an ambitious project from 4TheFans, in partnership with Freight Island and Broadwick.
The We Are Football Festival will bring together 15,000 football fans in front of the biggest screens in the UK to cheer on England as they race for World Cup glory.
The enormous fan park will open in June at Depot Mayfield, transforming the space into an unrivalled celebration of football.
Fans will be immersed in all the action thanks to a massive sound system, pyrotechnics, CO2 cannons, DJs, and entertainment around the games themselves, providing the closest thing you can get to a big game atmosphere.
The venue will be open for all late kick-offs and every moment of the World Cup too, with the potential for some games to run well into the early hours.
Fans can head to the rooftop or garden at Depot Mayfield for a 5pm kick-off in the sunshine, or enjoy late-night games in the warehouse.
We Are Football Festival by 4TheFansThe fan park will open at Depot MayfieldIt’s set to be Europe’s biggest World Cup fan zone
There’ll also be a dedicated Footy Fun Village, which will feature sponsor activations, games zones, and family-friendly areas, creating a safe space for fans of all ages to enjoy the tournament.
And 4TheFans and Freight Island will deliver hand-picked and exclusive bar and food traders from around the world.
We Are Football Festival will welcome a special 4TheFans host plus Sky Sports presenters, and will even have genuine England football legends for quality match analysis at each screening.
Since launching, 4TheFans has welcomed hundreds of thousands of fans, and camera crews from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News, Sky Sports, England TV, and Match of the Day, to fan parks across the UK.
It’s now chosen Depot Mayfield for its World Cup fan park, where they can fill the huge space at Freight Island first before scaling into the rest of the Depot as the fan community grows and the Three Lions march on.
4TheFans is the UK’s original and biggest fan park brand, and it’s working with Freight Island and Broadwick to deliver this game-changing We Are Football Festival – the biggest and best fan park in Europe.
5,000 early bird tickets are available from just £4.50 per person and are on sale HERE.
4TheFans presents We Are Football Festival will run at Depot Mayfield from 11 June until 19 July 2026.
General admission tickets include
4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
Football legend in attendance
Guaranteed entry to the event
The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
VIP table tickets include
VIP table section with the best view of the giant screens and the event
Meet and greet with a football legend
4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
Guaranteed entry to the event
The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
Daisy Jackson -
17th October 2025 
