It’s a tricky business, that ice skating lark, but it’s a right laugh for all and there are loads of rinks popping up in Manchester.
Beginners, professionals or clowns – there’s room for all on the city’s festive rinks.
Whether you stack it a billion times or are looking at Olympic gold, we’re just here to point you in the right direction.
Keep reading for our list of ice-rinks to visit with your nearest and dearest this Christmas.
They’re not here all year so catch them while you can!
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Boutique Ice Rink in the sky
Escape to Freight Island
An indoor ice rink has been added at Escape to Freight Island.
You can count on Freight Island to get ‘fun’ just right and this winter season they’ve knocked it out the ice-rink.
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Skate around on a mezzanine floor overlooking the buzzing festivities of Winter Island. Open all day, every day, its endless fun for all the family.
Sessions run every hour from 4pm to 10pm and adult tickets are £13 – upgrade to £15 and enjoy a Bratwurst or Hog Roast after.
Skate Manchester
Cathedral Gardens
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Skate Manchester at Cathedral Gardens. Credit: Georgie Glass.
Cathedral Gardens presents a rink for all weathers – particularly for Manchester’s wonderfully unpredictable skies.
Covered by a clear roof and a net of fairy lights it’s hard not to catch festive feelings here.
Serving an enchanting atmosphere for couples, families and friends the rink is sat in the middle of Manchester’s famous Christmas markets.
Grab your tickets online from £13.00 and have a class day out this winter!
Unreal Xmas
Barton Square
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Unreal Xmas at Barton Square. Credit: Publicity picture
An unmissable skating experience. Barton Square will be lit up on December 3 and host Manchester’s coolest ice rink ever.
Skate through a snow-covered forest and lose your friends and family in the ferns – maybe find them again at the two brand-new custom-built bars.
It’s more than just an ice-rink, it will transport you to the ultimate festive fantasy world and some markets to!
Tickets are £13 for 45 minutes and selling fast.
Tinsel Town
Trafford Centre
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It’s your chance to show the Trafford Centre what you’ve been hiding – your impeccable ice moves.
That’s right, ‘Tinsel Town’ is bringing you 600 square metres of ice covered against the elements – the fun cannot be stopped.
Tickets are only £12 so wrap up warm and whack those skates on.
More excited can be had watching Gandey’s production of ‘SNOWSTORM’ a sensational new ice-skating show.
Prepare to be wowed for 90 minutes by a spectacular production of acrobatics by an international cast of circus artistes.
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WinterFunLand
Trafford Centre
The UK’s largest Christmas funfair will be bringing you a gigantic ice-skating rink on December 19.
The ice-rink is wrapped up in a bundle of activities provided at WinterFunLand. Part and parcel with skating are funfair rides, circus shows, a Santa’s grotto and Christmas treats.
One ticket buys all the fun in this winter wonderland – how could you not?
The Clubhouse
Spinningfields
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Clubhouse will soon have its own curling lane
A month-long Christmas party is happening at The Clubhouse decked out with karaoke huts, a giant Christmas tree and curling.
A 10m long curling lane sits in the middle of the festive fun. It’s £60 and you can have up to six people, with drinks delivered to you all night long.
Curling (for those of you who don’t know) is a sport which players slide stones on a sheet of ice towards a targeted area – we can’t wait.
Featured image: Georgie Glass
What's On
Victoria Baths is ‘resurrecting’ its popular spooky silent disco this Halloween
Emily Sergeant
Halloween is on its way, and Silence of the Baths is being ‘resurrected’ for another year.
Returning for a ‘fright night of thrills’ after a sell-out debut in 2023, and then for a smash-hit revival of three of Manchester’s most iconic fallen nightclubs in 2024, Victoria Baths has announced that Silence of the Baths will be returning for its third year, transforming the stunning Grade II-listed building into one of the spookiest settings this Halloween.
For the popular one-off event, Victoria Baths is set to ‘show its darker side’, as the pool halls, Turkish Baths, and labyrinth of spaces undergo an epic Halloween makeover.
Victoria Baths is teaming up with Girls on Film for one of the best nights in the city this Halloween, as the historic space becomes a ‘haunted haven’ of glamour and ghosts.
Partygoers are encouraged to dress the part and wander through the empty pools and haunted corridors as each space is transformed into spooky playground filled with ghouls, spiders, bats, and coffins – but most importantly, good times.
From the balcony above the former pool, the Girls on Film crew will take over the silent disco with a trio of DJs on three different channels.
Hattie Pearson will be on Channel 1, Meme Gold on Channel 2, and the Channel 3 will have DJ MXw0rld.
Victoria Baths is ‘resurrecting’ its popular spooky silent disco this Halloween / Credit: Chris Payne (via Supplied)
As mentioned, ticketholders are being encouraged to ‘dress to distress’ on the night, not only because it’s Halloween, but also because the person with the most haunting look has the chance to win a Halloween Swag Bag.
There’ll be plenty of elixirs and spirits to sip on all night long, and don’t forget to strike a pose against the Baths’ iconic backdrop.
The Silence of the Baths III: The Return will take over Victoria Baths on Saturday 25 October, with doors creaking open from 7:30pm, and tickets are now on sale here and setting you back £20 each (plus a booking fee).
The event sold out last year, so early ticket purchase is recommended
All ticket purchases support the work of The Victoria Baths Trust to preserve Victoria Baths, so that communities can continue to enjoy this inspiring building.
Featured Image – Chris Payne (via Supplied)
What's On
Legendary musical CATS is coming to Manchester on its UK tour next year
Emily Sergeant
Legendary musical CATS will be taking to the stage here in Manchester next year.
A brand-new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s global sensation, CATS, will embark on a major UK tour from summer 2026 following an open-air residency at Regent Park in London – including dates at Manchester’s prestigious Palace Theatre in November.
Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, CATS is one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history.
The show originally premiered at the New London Theatre in 1981, where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances.
Since its world premiere, the musical has been presented in more than 54 countries, translated into 23 languages, and has been seen by more than 77 million people worldwide – collecting a number of awards along the way.
Legendary musical CATS is coming to Manchester on its UK tour next year / Credit: Feast Creative
This new production of CATS is produced by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, with Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, as part of Drew McOnie’s second season as Artistic Director, and it marks the third Andrew Lloyd Webber title produced by the venue in the last decade.
Unfamiliar with the show? CATS tells the story of the Jellicle cats.
From Euston station to Victoria Grove, the strays and rebels of London gather under the Jellicle moon in the hope they’ll be the chosen one.
With a legendary score featuring well-known songs like Old Deuteronomy, Macavity: The Mystery Cat, TheJellicle Ball, and, of course, the chart-topping hit Memory, this brand-new production of CATS is gearing up to be one of the best theatrical events of 2026.
“I am very excited to see a totally new production of CATS back on the stage where it belongs,” creator Andrew Lloyd Webber said on the show’s return. “I can think of no-one better than Drew McOnie to bring a new vision to the world of the Jellicles.”
Casting and the full creative team is set to be announced in due course, as is the on-sale date and link for tickets, so keep your eyes peeled.
Dolly Busby -
19th November 2021 
