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6 festive ice rinks to visit in Manchester this winter

Dolly Busby Dolly Busby - 19th November 2021

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

All the free things you can get with a Great Manchester Run finisher’s medal this year

Danny Jones Danny Jones freebies for great manchester run 2025

What’s the best part about doing the Great Manchester Run, we hear you ask? All the freebies, of course. You’ll be glad to hear there are more free things than ever for finishers this year.

More than 35,000 runners are set to take on the challenge, be it the half marathon or the 10k, and we firmly believe every single one of these legends should be entitled to as much free stuff as possible.

If it were up to us, they wouldn’t pay for anything all day, but hey, we make don’t make the rules.

So yeah, without further ado, here are all the freebies you can get for taking part in the Great Manchester 2025.

Free stuff and offers for Great Manchester Runners to cop in 2025

Without further ado, here are a tonne of freebies, discounts and deals you can grab by simply flashing your finisher’s medals:

free cocktails great manchester run
salon madre cocktails
Credit: The Manc/Supplied
  • Dishoom – Complimentary 330ml Kingfisher/Kingfisher Zero (0.0%) for anyone with anyone dining with a finisher’s medal.
  • Blacklock – Free glass of fizz on us with your medal.
  • Maray –  Free glass of fizz/pint (or non-alcoholic beer/soft) for anyone with a medal who is dining on Sunday
  • Electric Shuffle – Free house wine, prosecco or pint for anyone with a 2025 medal.
  • Salon Madre – 2-4-1 margaritas all day Sunday for anyone with a race medal. 
  • Suki Suki – Free bao bun for anyone with a medal.
  • Refuge/Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – 100 free pints of Manchester Union Beer (first come, first served)
  • Hello Oriental – Discounted soft serve ice cream, plus a free beer or soft drink with any meal for all finishers
  • The Shack – Flash your medal to claim a free glass of Prosecco or beer, plus parties with medals get 20% off their food bill.
  • Dough Religion (House of Social) – half price slice at Manchester Jazz Festival on Sunday
Credit: The Manc Eats

Read more:

We’re sure a few free bits and bobs for half-marathon and 10k runners, but there are all the ones we’ve come across over the past week or so.

That being said, if you spot any, feel free to drop them in the comments and share the wisdom.

Last but not least, participants and spectators alike can find all the important information they need ahead of race day down below.

And just know, no matter how the day goes, we’re SO proud of you already!

Great Manchester Run guide 2025 – everything you need to know
Go and smash it.

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

Featured Images — The Manc Group

What's On

Tate McRae at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for ‘Miss Possessive’ tour

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Canadian performer Tate McRae is bringing her viral bangers to Co-op Live, Manchester for a night of sass, synths and of course dance breaks.

The time has come to let all your ‘exes’ know, put your ‘Sports car’ in drive and get ready to ‘run for the hills’ because it’s finally time for Tate McRae to take to the Co-op Live stage in Manchester.

McRae initially started out playing original songs on her piano and posting them on YouTube, like fan favourite ‘One Day’, before blowing up online thanks to her breakout single ‘You Broke Me First’.

Now the Calgary-born talent, four albums deep and only 21 years old, is ready to perform to 23,500 Manchester fans at our city’s largest indoor entertainment venue.

Tate McRae gig guide

Tate McRae is visiting Manchester twice, 23 May and 25 June, playing Co-op Live.
Tate McRae is visiting Manchester twice, 24 May and 25 June, playing Co-op Live.

Tate McRae UK tour dates

  • Mon 19 May – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
  • Tue 20 May – London, UK – The O2 Arena
  • Fri 23 May – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
  • Sat 24 May – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
  • Sun 22 June – Nottingham, UK – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
  • Tue 24 June – London, UK – The O2 Arena
  • Thu 25 June – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live

Tate McRae tickets for Co-op Live gig

‘What would you do?’ if I told you that there were tickets left for Tate McRae’s Co-op Live shows in Manchester, because there just might be.

Any fans of this Canadian pop star will have to act fast because there are only a select number of precious tickets left for both of her Manchester dates.

Tickets for both Tate McRae’s shows on Saturday, 24 May and Thursday, 25 June, are selling fast and are in high demand.

You can grab the few that are left HERE.

Tate McRae setlist

  • Miss possessive
  • No I’m not in love
  • 2 hands
  • guilty conscience
  • Purple lace bra
  • Like I do
  • uh oh
  • Dear god
  • Siren sounds
  • Greenlight
  • Nostalgia
  • that way / chaotic / One Day
  • you broke me first
  • run for the hills
  • exes
  • bloodsonmyhands
  • she’s all i wanna be
  • Revolving door
  • It’s ok I’m ok
  • Sports car
  • greedy

What are the stage times for Tate McRae in Manchester?

Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm meaning the Canadian performer might have her set wrapped up before the clock hits ’10:35′.

Anyone attending can expect the doors to open at 6:30pm with a kick-off time of 8pm and support from New Zealand star BENEE, best known for soundtracking lockdown with her huge hit, ‘Supalonely’, collaborating with the likes of Gus Dapperton, Spacey Jane and more.

How to get to Co-op Live

Tram

For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.

Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.

Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Bus

You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.

Getting there by car and parking

If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue, but this must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are designated drop-off areas.

The postcode is M11 3DU and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.

Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day, though estimates will obviously vary:

  • Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
  • Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
  • Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.

There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:

  • Ashton Moss (Ashton line) – 183 spaces and 12 disabled spaces
  • Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
  • Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces

Walk/cycle

Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.

Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.

For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.

Expect nothing but hits from 21 year old superstar Tate McRae when she performs at Co-op Live, Manchester.
Expect nothing but hits from 21 year old superstar Tate McRae when she performs at Co-op Live, Manchester.

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

Featured Images — Press Shots

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