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.
— Manchester Metrolink 🚊 (@MCRMetrolink) June 8, 2023
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.
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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.
Metrolink trams to Heaton Park
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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“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.”
The simple hack that can save healthcare workers and teachers money on their holidays
Danny Jones
With cost-of-living pressure ever-present in the background of most everyday lives, finding some spare pennies for a getaway feels more difficult than ever, and if there’s anyone who deserves discounts on a holiday, it’s healthcare workers.
That’s why, when we became aware of the simple hack that can save those working in healthcare services money on holidays, we thought we’d help spread the word.
We’re sure lots of you working within the sector already know plenty about this booking strategy, but for anyone who doesn’t, how do you fancy saving up to half a grand on your next jolly?
In fact, even those working in education can cut their costs, too.
With searches for ‘holiday voucher code’ up by 73% on Google, and even the likes of TikTok seeing ‘money saving tips’ up by 45%, travel agency TUI have decided to team up with the Health Service Discounts platform for 2026.
Providing those who work for the NHS with a ‘Holidays for Heroes’ (HfH) access code on various popular peak-season trips, this exclusive discount can be added on top of all other seasonal TUI deals, including the company’s ‘First Choice’ package holidays.
With the HfH code alone guaranteeing workers an extra £100 off their bookings, play your cards right, and you could get up to £500 in total discounts overall.
How to access the healthcare ‘Holidays for Heroes’ deal
Separate from standard Blue Light card savings, here’s how it works, and don’t worry, it’s all very simple:
As mentioned, education workers can also benefit from similar money off, with an extra £50 per person through the TUI x Discounts for Teachers partnership, as well.
Ella Foden-Lynch, Partnerships Manager for TUI, said in a statement: “Getting away is absolutely vital for wellbeing, especially for those working in high-stress healthcare and education roles.
“With the cost-of-living crisis still putting a strain on household budgets, we know how hard it is to stretch your pay to cover a much-needed family break. By unlocking these exclusive TUI deals, we hope to give our key workers the realistic recovery time they deserve without the financial worry.”
So, for those of you healthcare heroes and teachers looking for a well-deserved break, we urge you to find an affordable holiday that suits you very soon. With cheaper airport pints also inbound later this year, here’s hoping you save even more spends for when you’re away.
The award-winning gastropub an hour from Manchester at the end of a beautiful valley walk
Daisy Jackson
Sundays don’t come much better than a beautiful walk in the countryside followed by a top roast dinner – and there’s an award-winning pub less than an hour from Manchester that should hit the spot.
Head across to this route in West Yorkshire and you’ll find yourself strolling through surprisingly varied and very green countryside, with stunning valley views, before resting your weary legs beneath the table of one of the UK’s top gastropubs.
If you haven’t guessed it yet – we’re off to the Shibden Valley, just outside Halifax, where your gentle hike will lead you straight to the warm embrace of the Shibden Mill Inn.
The walk begins in the car park beside the pub, but don’t get tempted in for a pint just yet.
There’s an easy-moderate 5.6km circular that will lead you along a country lane, dropping down to cross a brook, then heading back up a gentle incline towards the top of the valley.
The views along the Shibden Valley from here are beautiful – lush green fields dotted with trees as far as the eye can see.
Views on the walk to Shibden Mill Inn
Then the route takes you along some wide open fields, with plenty of wildlife to spot along the way, before heading into peaceful woodlands.
You can take a break here to paddle in the stream before continuing on through farmland, with friendly horses to say hello to.
Then you’ll find yourself back at the Shibden Mill Inn, a pub that’s consistently finding itself in the prestigious Top 50 Gastropubs list.
Dating back to the 17th century, it’s a pretty white building converted from a former mill, with ivy climbing all up its walls.
There’s a sizeable beer garden – with a live musician playing when we popped in – but it’s hard to resist the cosy charm of the pub’s interior, where staff have to duck beneath the low ceiling beams and no surface feels totally straight.
The beautiful Shibden Mill InnSunday roast at the Shibden Mill Inn in West Yorkshire
The Shibden Mill Inn’s Sunday roast offering does a set menu, with two courses for £40 or three for £45, changing seasonally.
You’ll find pub classics on the starters, like chicken liver parfait and homemade soup, before delving into the main event – the Sunday roast.
We love a pub that gives you both mashed AND roasted potatoes, which the Shibden Mill Inn does, along with roast seasonal veg and a towering Yorkshire pudding.
There’s roasted salt-aged sirloin of beef, cooked perfectly pink (though they’re happy to give it a bit longer if you prefer your meat to not be blushing); or an excellent wedge of belly pork with crispy crackling.
And on the side, a portion of cauliflower cheese that is actually more cheese than cauliflower. Perfect.
Puddings are a nice mix of heavy winter favourites and lighter, fruitier desserts – but we go full stodge, with a chocolate fondant dessert topped with torched marshmallow, salted caramel, and sugared pecans, and have no regrets.
If you want to replicate this Sunday walk and roast, you can see the full circular route here.
Daisy Jackson -
9th June 2023 
