With so much happening over the two-day festival as part of the annual Halloween in the Citycelebrations – which is organised by CityCo and Manchester Business Improvement Distict (BID) – people making their way to the city centre this weekend are being encouraged to “dress up, join in, and get gruesome” to look the part.
Ghastly ghouls, wicked witches, curious cats, and more will all be welcome in Manchester city centre this Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October.
The more people in spooky fancy dress, the better.
Dressing up is all part of the fun, but if you’re feeling pretty confident about your costume this year, then there’s actually a huge fancy dress competition happening across the weekend, and this is your time to join either ‘Team Trick’ or ‘Team Treat’.
ADVERTISEMENT
All you’ll need to do is head to the one of the wristband exchanges at Market Street, Exchange Street, or Exchange Square to collect your team wristband, and this’ll unlock all your VIP experiences
Once you have your wristband, you’ll then get to take part in dance offs, screaming competitions, spooky challenges, and of course, the Halloween costume catwalk extravaganza to earn points for your team and win even win some special spot prizes too.
ADVERTISEMENT
Then you’ll want to make your way to the dance tent in Exchange Square at 4pm to find out which team is crowned the winner and celebrate at the glow in the dark disco.
There’s a huge Halloween fancy dress competition happening in Manchester city centre / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BID Families are being encouraged to “dress up, join in, and get gruesome” / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BID
While the Halloween in the City celebrations will be largely taking place over this weekend, if you’ve got a keen eye, then you may have already noticed that giant inflatable monsters with hanging tentacles, fanged teeth, and bloodshot eyes have already been starting to take over the rooftops of Manchester this week.
Dotted at 14 different locations across the city centre, you’ll be able to go on adventure to discover them at places like Selfridges, Manchester Arndale, Great Northern Warehouse, AO Arena and The Royal Exchange, AO Arena, Spinningfields, and even at the ‘spooktacular’ outdoor ice rink in Cathedral Gardens.
ADVERTISEMENT
And then on Halloween weekend itself, there’ll be even more monsters set to pop up on the ground, so keep your eyes peeled around Exchange Square.
The monsters are just the tip of the iceberg of events happening at Halloween in the City this weekend though – think a welcome procession of roaming monsters, a monster carnival, top monster bands, monster DJs, a monstrous photo trail across the city, and so much more.
Here’s just a handful of other activities you can get involved with.
MCR Monsters have also begun popping up across the city centre / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BID
Monsters Rock! Party Procession
Spooky creatures will be on the move and weave through Manchester Arndale and Market Street.
The roaming performance comes from Walk the Plank, the same creative minds behind the Manchester Day Parade, and you can expect stilt walkers, monster puppets, and a five-piece band mingling with shoppers on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October, with performances at 12pm, 2pm, and 3pm.
ADVERTISEMENT
Creepy Carnival & Dr Dee’s Portal to Another World
A Creepy Carnival, made up of a carousel, helter skelter, street food and circus performers, is going to sprawl across New Cathedral Street.
Plus, Studiotech and Treacle Studio have discovered a mystical machine made by Queen Elizabeth I’s court scientist and magician – and Dr Dee’s Portal to Another World provides a gateway for all the friendly monsters who arrive in Manchester for Halloween in the City.
This interactive light display will invite Mancs to see if the portal works in reverse and could lead to the world where the monsters roam.
Scare Skate
A massive spooky ice rink has been built in Cathedral Gardens, where skaters will whizz past a huge monster and the ice will be brought to life with Halloween-inspired music and lighting.
The Scare Skate rink is now open, and will stay in place until Halloween itself.
Rock on with your mini monster at the Monsters Rock! Music Festival, with live bands and spooky DJs all weekend, like Fat Boy Slime, Grave Haslam, and the Blessed Medusa, as well as air guitar contests, zombie aerobics, and a glow-in-the-dark disco, across three stages.
Spooky creatures will be on the move and weave through Manchester this weekend / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BIDHalloween is taking over the city all week / Credit: CityCo & Manchester BID
Halloween in the City 2022 full lineup
MCR Monsters: 25 to 31 October – Across the city centre
Monsters Rock! Music Festival: 29 and 30 October, 10am-8pm Saturday; 10am-5pm Sunday – Exchange Square, New Cathedral Street, St Ann’s Square and Market Street
Fancy Dress Challenge: Team Trick vs Team Treat: – 29 and 30 October, 10am-4pm – Various locations
Monsters Rock! Party Procession: 29 to 30 October, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm – Manchester Arndale amd Market Street
Creepy Carnival: 29 and 30 October, 10am-8pm Saturday; 10am-5pm Sunday – New Cathedral Street
Dr Dee’s Portal to Another World: 28 to 30 October, 4pm-8pm Friday; 10am-8pm Saturday, 10am-5pm Sunday – St Ann’s Square, Manchester
Scare Skate: 21 to 31 October, 11am-8pm – Cathedral Gardens
Featured Image – CityCo & Manchester BID
Sponsored
A McDonald’s x Friends festival took over Bolton yesterday, with episodes screening at Cineworld and exclusive merch available
Daisy Jackson
Friends fans, gather round – a huge event dedicated to the hit sitcom took over Bolton yesterday, with exclusive screenings and limited-edition merch – and even if you missed the Friends festival, you can still get in on the action.
The Cineworld Bolton was turned into an ultimate immersive Friends experience, all thanks to McDonald’s and its collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products (WBDGCP) and DCM.
The event was created to coincide with the release of the brand-new, limited-edition Friends Meal at McDonald’s, which features a different character collectible in each meal – a miniature Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing or Ross Geller.
McDonald’s will be taking its Friends festival to 12 locations right across the UK, bringing the beloved show to the big screen.
As well as episodes being screened in the cinema, there’ll be merch, fun photo moments, and unmissable experiences.
It took place in Bolton for one day only, with fans able to hop in a free AI photobooth that turns you into a Friends-style collectible (which you could then print onto a t-shirt and take home for free).
Then at all stops on the tour you can kick back with a free Maccies in hand to watch classic episodes on the big screen.
The limited-time Friends Meal from McDonald’s, which launched last week, features one-offs like Monica’s Marinara Sauce (Italian tomato sauce with garlic, onion and herbs), plus those adorable character collectibles.
There’s Ross with his pet monkey, Rachel serving coffee, Monica in full chef mode, Phoebe with her guitar, and Chandler and Joey with their chick and duck duo.
You can choose from a Big Mac®, 9 McNuggets®, or a McPlant® meal to gain one of the six collectibles from your local participating McDonald’s.
There’s also a chance to win one of four exclusive Friends-inspired mugs through the McDonald’s App if you’re an MMR customer.
Tickets for the Friends and McDonald’s event have gone faster than Ross can say “We were on a break”, but you can check the latest availability HERE.
JD Sports, Nike and MADE Running just hosted a historic 5k race INSIDE the Trafford Centre
Danny Jones
Native run club and growing viral fitness phenomenon MADE Running made a bit of local history this past weekend by teaming up with JD Sports and Nike to host the first-ever 5k race inside The Trafford Centre.
Yes, you read that right – and this is just the start…
Many of us have wondered what it would be like to see what the iconic Greater Manchester shopping destination is like after it closes, but in our case, these lot genuinely realised a childhood dream of ours: opening up the place for just you and your mates and running full tilt through its stunning, shiny halls.
In the case of MADE, they’re no strangers to shutting down major Manc thoroughfares with the hundreds that flock to their regular running meets throughout the week.
As for the landmark 5k run in and around The Trafford Centre, a huge turn-out of runners started outside the JD megastore on Sunday 8 February, before looping around the interior, through the food court, out into the car park and back inside – even more came out, and from all over.
The event was put on thanks to JD, in celebration of their new ‘We Run This City’ campaign, showcasing Nike Performance products.
The new range includes ‘running basics, just better’, three head-turning running shoes – the Vomero Plus, the Vomero 18, and the Pegasus Premium – and athleisure pieces that slip seamlessly into your daily wardrobe.
This latest JD and Nike campaign has been created to keep the motivation and momentum of the new year going well into 2026, with ‘the looks to run this city’.
And as part of the campaign, JD teamed up with MADE Running for the Trafford Centre run event over the weekend, which had people gathering from all over – elsewhere in the North West, the Midlands, Scotland, London and even as far as Dubai.
It’s an emotional event that perfectly captured the spirit of the Nike collection and of Manchester, with founder Hermen Dange telling the assembled runners that he was in prison just a few years ago, and now the balance of good fortune, humility and the drive to be better has transformed their lives, and continues to do the same for so many.
Fast forward to today, and he’s met with theNike CEO and his ever-growing crew are decked out in one of the hottest running shoes around right now, the ‘Vomero’, with more height and (most importantly) more comfort.
Following plenty of pre-event festivities, including a live DJ, shoe try-ons and impromptu dance-offs, the elite runners got underway, followed by hordes of others who aren’t just putting their work ethic through its paces but had an incredibly fresh start time, with people arriving from as early as 6:30am.
Not only is this way earlier than most parkruns up and down the country, but seeing such commitment from Mancs and many other attendees en masse was genuinely inspiring.
That pretty much sums up everything you need to know about what Hermen and co. have created, to be honest. You only had to see how people looked and listened to his emotional speeches before and after the run.
The run’s warm-up was quickly followed by another motivational speech to cheer runners on, with plenty of hugs and even tears shared.
MADE Running’s journey is a mad one, not least because of the countless people who’ve helped make it happen, and with Hermen informing those who travelled all manner of distances that the hope is for this to be just the first of several similar events, the inaugural MADE Running UK tour was officially teased.
Watch this space and keep your eyes peeled for dates coming soon.
And you can browse the full Nike ‘We Run This City’ with JD HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
25th October 2022 
