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
There’s a big 3D animal egg hunt happening at Chester Zoo this Easter
Emily Sergeant
Chester Zoo is gearing up to launch a new Easter egg hunt when schools are out next month – but there’s a bit of a twist.
With Easter right around the corner, and schools soon to be out across Greater Manchester, if you’re looking for something a little different to do with the kids that keeps them both entertained and educated at the same time, then Chester Zoo has got you covered.
The UK’s largest charity and conservation zoo is launching the ‘Really Wild Egg Trail’ at the start of April.
There’s a big 3D animal egg hunt happening at Chester Zoo this Easter / Credit: Chester Zoo
All set to be a proper “educational adventure”, the trail will see giant 3D eggs hidden around the zoo’s 128-acre site – but the catch is, each of the hidden eggs belong to animals that you might not expect to hatch from eggs.
With an interactive map specially designed by National Geographic, there’ll be a total of six hidden eggs to seek out.
Once little explorers have found all six eggs hidden around the zoo, they can then make their way over to the on-site gift shop to pick up a Nat Geo Kids magazine that’s usually worth £4.99 for free.
There’ll be a total of six hidden eggs to seek out around the zoo / Credit: Chester Zoo
“This Easter you can expect something a little different at Chester Zoo,” Customer Development Manager Elinor Trigg said ahead of the start of the trail next month.
“From the largest lizard in the world to tiny invertebrates, this educational adventure will help to shine a spotlight on our world-leading breeding programmes that are helping to save some of the most endangered animals on the planet, while connecting children to the natural world.”
“We’re home to more than 27,000 animals here at our charity zoo,” she continued.
“The trail is a wonderful way to learn more about some incredible, endangered species and, at the same time, take part some Easter-egg fun.”
Massive new musical featuring songs by Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley to have world premiere in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Manchester will host the world premiere of a massive new musical this autumn, when the official Stock Aitken Waterman musical debuts here.
I Should Be So Lucky will be a brand new show that will celebrate the legendary production trio, who were behind some of the biggest hits of the 1980s.
Stock Aitken Waterman worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Bananarama and Jason Donovan, and more than 30 songs from pop royalty icons will feature in the new theatre show.
You can expect to be dancing in your seat at the Manchester Opera House to songs including I Should Be So Lucky, Never Gonna Give You Up, and Love In The First Degree.
The original musical will follow young couple Ella and Nathan as they take the biggest step of their lives – marriage – but it doesn’t all go to plan.
Promotional posters for the new production say ‘the wedding is OFF, but the honeymoon is ON!’.
Rick AstleyKylie Minogue and Jason DonovanI Should Be So Lucky. Credit: Supplied
I Should Be So Lucky has been written and directed by Debbie Isitt and choreographed by Jason Gilkison, and will open at the Manchester Opera House on 1 November.
It will then head to play the Christmas season at Leeds Grand Theatre & Opera House from 12 – 30 December 2023 as part of a UK tour, the dates of which will be announced soon.
Mike Stock said: “We have been approached many times over the years to authorise a musical using the songs from the Stock Aitken Waterman catalogue and have always resisted, until now! What Debbie, Jason and the team behind the show have created is a truly original and shamelessly enjoyable rollercoaster ride through our hits.”
Debbie Isitt said: “The music of Stock Aitken Waterman has been the soundtrack to both my life and the lives of all my friends. Their songs range from wonderful ballads to real pop anthems to dance floor classics, which are all perfect for an original musical.”
I Should Be So Lucky will be at the Manchester Opera House between 1 and 25 November. You can book tickets now here.
Dolly Busby -
19th November 2021 
