Travel & Tourism

Travel advice for how to get to Parklife festival in Heaton Park – and home again

Travel passes, trams, buses, and more information.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 9th June 2023

Parklife is one of the UK’s biggest music events and it all takes place right here in Greater Manchester this weekend – so it’s time to start planning your travel there and back.

70,000 music fans are expected to stream in to Heaton Park on each day of the two-day festival, ready to see headline performances from Aitch, The 1975, Fred Again and The Prodigy.

And with no overnight camping, all 70,000 will need to make their way home again afterwards…

Mercifully, the planned Metrolink strike this weekend has now been called off, so there are now a few different ways to get to Parklife. 

If you’re heading up to Heaton Park for Parklife 2023, here’s all the information you need about trams, travel passes, shuttle buses and even walking.

ADVERTISEMENT

Essential Parklife information

The Parklife Travel Pass

The Parklife travel pass is a festival essential, giving you a few options of transport to the festival site with one ticket.

The pass costs £5 per day and will give you access to both the Parklife Shuttle Bus – which drops you directly inside the festival site – and the Metrolink tram services to Heaton Park.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tickets are sold through the Parklife website and are electronic, so you just need to show it on your phone when you board the bus.

The Metrolink trams are one of the easiest ways to travel to Parklife
The Metrolink trams are one of the easiest ways to travel to Parklife

Trams will be running to Parklife on a six-minute frequency from town – Heaton Park is your closest tram stop, which will drop you near the West Gate entrance.

After the festival, you’ll need to use Bowker Vale, as Heaton Park tram stop will be closed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Metrolink services will keep running until the site is cleared, but be prepared to queue to board one.

In the city centre, several stops will be closed so that crowds can be managed safely – these are listed below and on the TfGM website.

Saturday 10 June

  • Market Street and Shudehill – Closed all Saturday
  • Heaton Park – from 9pm until the end of service
  • Piccadilly Gardens – between 3pm and approximately 5pm
  • Exchange Square – between 12pm and approximately 5pm

Sunday 11 June

  • Heaton Park – From 9pm until end of service
  • Exchange Square – between 12pm and approximately 5pm
  • Piccadilly Gardens – between 3pm and approximately 5pm
  • Market Street – between 3pm and approximately 6pm
  • Shudehill – between 3pm and approximately 6pm.

Parklife shuttle buses

This is one of the easiest ways to get to and from Parklife, with dedicated shuttle buses whizzing people between the city centre and the festival site.

The Parklife shuttle bus will depart from the corner of Aytoun Street (M1 2DD) and Minshull Street, near Piccadilly train station, with drop-off right inside the festival site.

Buses will depart at least once every ten minutes.

ADVERTISEMENT

The first bus on Saturday will depart at 9.30am, while the last one will leave at 4.30pm. On Sunday, first buses are at 10.30am and the last is at 4.30pm.

On both days, the return bus service from Heaton Park to Manchester city centre starts at 6.30pm and will continue to operate until the venue is cleared. Drop off will be on Church Street.

Taxis 

Parklife. Credit: Jordan Curtis Hughes

There’ll be a couple of taxi ranks near the Parklife festival site – a Manchester Hackney Carriage Taxi Rank in Blackley New Road and a Bury Hackney Carriage Taxi Rank outside the Woodthorpe pub on Bury Old Road.

If you want to pre-book your own private hire vehicle, they need to pick you up from the pick-up point at Sainsbury’s near Heaton Park.

As always, watch out for unlicensed taxis, which are unregulated.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pick-up and drop-off

There’ll be a few road closures in place for Parklife and congestion is to be expected when people are leaving the festival.

There’s a designated pick-up point at Sainsburys on Heaton Park Road for anyone who’s getting a lift there or back.

Junction 19 of the M60 will be closed from 7pm on both nights. Access to the pick-up point will be via Victoria Avenue and Middleton Road.

You can find details of all the road closures here.

Walking back to the city centre 

Walking all the way to town from Heaton Park might not be top of your agenda, but it’s actually one of the most straight-forward ways to get back home.

ADVERTISEMENT

There’s usually a crowd of festival-goers trudging back down Bury Old Road, a walk which takes about an hour.

Obviously only attempt the walk if you’re in a group you feel safe with and look out for each other.

What travel bosses say

Sean Dyball, TfGM’s Head of Customer Experience, said: “Parklife is one of the biggest events in Greater Manchester’s calendar, and we hope everyone who attends has a safe and enjoyable weekend.

“With around 70,000 people each day, and thousands more expected to be in the city centre over the weekend for other big events, including Soccer Aid, it will be very busy on public transport and on the roads.

“Extra staff will be on hand and we’ll have as many services as possible running to help people get around, but where possible, people should consider making short journeys by walking or cycling.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We’ll keep our website and social media channels updated throughout the weekend and I’d encourage people to check before and during their journeys to make sure they have the latest information and advice to hand.”

For full Parklife travel advice and updates, head to tfgm.com/getting-to-parklife.

Featured image: Parklife

Travel & Tourism

‘Christmas chaos’ on the cards as Manchester tram drivers vote on staging strike action next month

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant A Metrolink tram in Manchester city centre

There could be major disruption to festive travel in Greater Manchester next month, as hundreds of tram drivers are currently voting on whether to strike.

Almost 320 tram drivers are being balloted over working conditions and fears around fatigue.

The drivers – who are members of the union, Unite – all work for KeolisAmey Metrolink Limited at the Warwick Road South and Queens Road depots in Manchester – and they operate trams on all routes in Greater Manchester.

As it stands, the drivers’ shift patterns currently mean they have to work 450 hours over a 12-week period, which results in some having to work 50 hours on, followed by just two days off, then back into another 50-hour work pattern.

Drivers also have fewer rest days compared to all other operational departments, and this is said to be causing safety concerns around fatigue.

‘Christmas chaos’ is on the cards as Manchester tram drivers are currently voting on staging strike action next month / Credit: TfGM

Drivers say they concerned about operating heavy vehicles while exhausted and unable to have proper breaks, but after raising the issue with management, Unite has been told there is ‘no funding available’ to support any ‘meaningful’ improvements to working patterns.

Instead, management has asked drivers to start work earlier – which Unite says is only ‘adding insult to injury’.

The ballot is set to close on 11 November, and if drivers vote in favour of industrial action, strikes could then begin in late November, causing widespread cancellations and delays throughout the region during the busy festive shopping period – particularly coinciding with Manchester’s world-famous Christmas Markets, known for attracting millions of visitors to the city each year.

“Any strike action will cause a great deal of disruption but it is entirely the fault of Metrolink, which is not taking the issue of driver fatigue seriously,” commented Unite Regional Officer, Colin Hayden.

Read more:

“It is dangerous for fatigued workers to be driving trams and they should not be put in this situation.

“We are demanding that Metrolink and Transport for Greater Manchester work with Unite to find a solution to this problem to avoid industrial action.”

Featured Image – Janus Boye

Travel & Tourism

In pictures – A rare Bornean baby orangutan has been born at Chester Zoo

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson A rare Bornean organutan has been born at Chester Zoo

A tiny Bornean orangutan has been born at Chester Zoo, with heartwarming new pictures showing the baby with its mum Leia.

The arrival of the critically-endangered infant has been hailed as an ‘important step forward’ in the efforts to safeguard the species.

Photos shared today Chester Zoo show the new arrival clinging to its experienced mum Leia, looking – if we’re being honest – quite furious to be here.

But the infants adorably grumpy face is a huge moment for the zoo and the species, which is highly threatened due to deforestation, illegal hunting and conflict with people.

This ranks them as a species requiring the highest conservation priority, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Chris Yarwood, Assistant Team Manager of Primates at Chester Zoo, said: “Leia is a wonderful mum. She’s extremely attentive and has spent the first few days holding her baby close, feeding regularly and forming a really strong maternal bond. It’s a huge privilege to witness.

“The baby is still tiny and we haven’t yet been able to determine the sex – but what really matters is that it’s healthy and that Leia is doing a brilliant job, as we knew she would.

“Any birth of a Bornean orangutan is incredibly special given how threatened the species is. It’s an important step forward for the international conservation breeding efforts that are working to prevent this iconic animal from disappearing forever.”

The tropical forests of Borneo – the only place on Earth where Bornean orangutans are found in the wild – have suffered devastating losses in recent decades, with more than 40% lost since the year 2000 due to unsustainable palm oil production, logging, agricultural expansion, poaching and illegal hunting.

A rare Bornean organutan has been born at Chester Zoo
A rare Bornean organutan has been born at Chester Zoo
A rare Bornean organutan has been born at Chester Zoo

Bornean orangutans are one of three orangutan species, all of which are critically endangered. Chester Zoo is the only zoo in the UK to care for two of them – the Sumatran and Bornean orangutan.

As one of the planet’s closest living relatives to humans, they play a vital role in maintaining the health of their rainforest ecosystems.

Cat Barton, Policy Lead on Deforestation-free Commodities at Chester Zoo, added: “Chester Zoo has worked with partners in Borneo for more than 20 years to safeguard wild orangutan populations, restore rainforest habitats and tackle the root causes of deforestation.

“Through long-term initiatives like wildlife corridors, community engagement and reducing human-wildlife conflict, we’ve supported efforts that have now helped the area where we work – the Kinabatangan – earn recognition as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This is a huge milestone for our partners at HUTAN and for global conservation.

“Closer to home, we continue to champion the use of sustainably sourced palm oil, encouraging individuals and businesses to make better choices that protect rainforests and the countless species that depend on them.

“With palm oil found in so many everyday products – from biscuits to shampoo – choosing certified sustainable options is one of the simplest, most powerful actions people can take to help wildlife, including orangutans like Leia’s baby.”

Featured image: Chester Zoo

More Travel & Tourism

A walk around Hardcastle Crags in Autumn. Credit: The Manc Group

Feature

Hardcastle Crags – the prettiest autumn walk in the North West with a great restaurant at the end

Boroughs

Thousands of elderly and disabled people to get free 24-hour bus travel across Greater Manchester

Dunham Massey in Autumn. Credit: James Beck

Sponsored

Dunham Massey – The corner of Greater Manchester with unbeatable autumn landscapes and one of nature’s great spectacles

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches