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Coca-Cola confirms the return of its famous Christmas Truck tour for 2023

All together now... "holidays are coming".

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 6th November 2023

It’s official, “holidays are coming” as Coca-Cola has confirmed its famous Christmas Truck will be touring the UK again this year.

It’s not Christmas until you’ve gone and got a Coca-Cola from the giant red van, right?

Well luckily, we won’t have to wait too much longer to get to do that once again, as the company has confirmed that ‘Holidays Are Coming’, The Hoot reports, and has taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share the news after an eager fan questioned when the Christmas Truck would be returning.

@TimWorth1 asked “Hey @CocaCola_GB, is there going to be a truck Christmas tour this year?”

The soft drinks giants replied, stating: “Hi Tim! We can confirm that there will be a Truck Tour this year however our team are still finalizing the details so keep an eye on our socials for updates. Thanks The Coca-Cola Team.”

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Last year, the Coca-Cola road trip took on what was dubbed a “magical winter market” setting, with activities, festive food huts, and an ‘elfie selfie’ photo opportunity, as well as the chance to get your hands on personalised Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar and Coca‑Cola Original Taste.

The Coca-Cola Christmas Truck dates way back to 1995, where the catchy jingle “holidays are coming” has given fizzy drinks lovers a taste of Christmas in a red bottle ever since.

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The festive packaging, paired with real-life visits from the Christmas Truck, have made the company an unforgettable Christmas tradition, and in recent years, people have queued in their hundreds to grab a free sample of the festive-themed drink and snap a selfie with the big red truck.

Coca-Cola has confirmed the return of its famous Christmas Truck tour for 2023 / Credit: Coca-Cola

In 2020, the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck UK tour skipped a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic – but with a confirmed return for 2023, we can now start to begin guessing when exactly it will hit the road, and which cities across the UK it’ll be stopping off at to hand out its refreshing drinks.

The truck made three stops in Manchester last year, so it’s expected that our city will get a slice of the action once again this festive season.

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Although the final dates and locations for the van are yet to be announced, we’re pretty confident that Manchester will make the cut, given the fact it’s appeared on the Coca-Cola Christmas roadmap for as long as we can remember.

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Where do you think we’ll see the Coca-Cola truck pop up in Manchester this year?

Featured Image – Coca Cola

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Co-op Live has been named the number one arena in Europe following its debut year

Danny Jones Danny Jones Co-op Live arena best in Europe

Despite a rocky opening month or so, Manchester’s Co-op Live made the ultimate instant recovery and has now been named the number one arena not just in the UK but all of Europe.

Manc music venues being best in class? Sounds about right.

Yes, even despite some obstacles, delays and early hiccups, Co-op Live‘s debut year as a live music and indoor entertainment venue has seen it beat out the likes of the long-established and iconic O2 in London to take the top spot.

The inaugural 12 months of the arena have not only seen it welcome all manner of music legends, as well as live sporting events such as the UFC and WWE, but the arena welcomed more visitors than any other venue across the continent during that time.

co-op live top venue for ticket sales in europe
Credit: Press Shot (supplied)

Hosting 105 events since opening, Co-op Live was officially ranked the number one arena for gross ticket sales in the UK and Europe by Pollstar this week.

Names to have graced the industry-leading stage so far include Liam Gallagher, Stevie Nicks and Take That; Peter Kay, Elbow, Sabrina Carpenter, Paul McCartney, and so many more.

Commenting on the successful start, Tim Leiweke (CEO and chairman of the Oak View Group behind the venue) said: “Our ambition was to bring the world’s best music arena to one of the world’s greatest music cities and we are thrilled with the reaction from fans and artists alike over this past year.

“Co-op Live’s revolutionary acoustics investment has already attracted some of the world’s biggest artists and events to Manchester, with many more to come.  And our sustainability commitment will ensure we remain responsible contributors to Manchester and the planet for years to come. 

“We believe that amazing venues can transform cities for the better, and Co-op Live has done just that.”

It’s fair to say we’ve had some truly unforgettable nights in there already – and that’s just in the last month alone. Case and point:

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Artists themselves have fallen in love with it as well, with LG himself putting it on a par with one of the most iconic arenas on the planet.

With a continued commitment to achieving ‘Net Zero’ status too, the venue’s carbon reduction technologies, solar panels, heat pumps and rainwater harvesting, not to mention the recently refreshed CityLink walking in partnership with the Climate Pledge, are all things we can be proud of.

Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, went on to add: “We are delighted with the success of Co-op Live’s first year, and to see it taking the top spot off London.

“It shows Manchester is the home of live music in the UK, with Co-op Live bringing so many exclusives from artists like Bruce Springsteen to the city and Oasis playing massive hometown shows this summer – 2025 is going to be one of the biggest ever for our city’s music scene.”

Meanwhile, things are feeling less fortunate at the grassroots end of the spectrum, as the Music Venue Trust is imploring people to get behind a vulnerable Manc music institution.

Music venue charity issues ‘shocked’ statement ahead of impending Manchester closure
We can’t forget about the small-cap venues that get things started.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

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25,000 free footballs are being given away across the UK

Danny Jones Danny Jones Barlcays bank giving 1000 free football across the UK

A total of 25,000 free footballs are up for grabs this month as part of a new scheme from Barclays, who are giving them away to mark a special anniversary.

The British multinational universal bank, which boasts over 850 branches and more than 48 million customers worldwide, has been supporting the beautiful game for a quarter of a century now and has been the primary Premier League sponsor since the 2001/02 season.

Approaching 25 years helping fund and promote English football, they’ve come up with a new initiative to celebrate, simply called the ‘Lost Ball Project‘.

We’ve all seen scenes like these before.

barclays free footballs
lost ball project
Credit: Barclays (supplied)

Tapping into the national and generational memory of losing a ball to a pond, up a tree, over a fence or on a roof and so on, Barclays are making up for those heartbreaking little losses – one ball at a time.

Lost Ball will see the bank give away 25k footballs across the UK, with Barclays customers able to claim a free ball for themselves or someone else who has lost theirs.

Already up and running, the scheme is off to a flyer and free footies will be available until Thursday, 22 May, so we wouldn’t wait around.

The bank has played an integral role throughout the British football pyramid for decades now, sponsoring to only the Premier League but also the WSL, Barclays Women’s Championship; the Northern Irish Women’s Football Association, Scottish Women’s Championship and the Scottish Women’s League One

They’ve even put together this emotive, albeit a bit tongue-in-cheek video:

Excellent song choice.

As they put it, the mission of the Lost Ball Project is simple: “Let’s keep the nation playing the beautiful game. Because there’s no football without grassroots football.”

In addition to backing established leagues, they have continued to support the country’s footballing community at large, especially in terms of the women’s game.

For instance, the Barclays Girls’ Football School partnership with The FA has seen the number of participating schools rise from 3,000 in 2019 to 20,000 in 2024, helping more than 2.5 million schoolgirls access football.

Important work done from the ground up.

Credit: Supplied

Barclays’ Group Head of Sponsorship, Tom Corbett, said in a statement: “We are immensely proud of our pioneering work and funding to grassroots football over the past 25 years.

Giving away 25,000 balls to replace our customers’ ‘Lost Balls’ means they will never be without the one thing you need to be able to play the game we’ve supported at Barclays for all these years.”

If you bank with the group, you can find out how to claim your free football HERE.

We quite fancy a kick around now.

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Featured Images — Barclays (supplied)

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