What's On

A timeline of free daily activities for kids by celebs during UK lockdown

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 26th March 2020
[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_PanelImage_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]
[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_PanelText_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget]

What's On

Manchester to celebrate National Play Day next week with 100+ FREE activities for families

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Manchester is set to celebrate National Play Day next week, and there’ll be more than 100 free activities for families to join in with.

You may remember that Manchester City Council announced it would be bringing 14 weeks of free activities for children to parks across the city this summer, as Parktastic returned by popular demand with everything from sports, games, arts, and crafts, to dance, drama, nature activities, storytelling, and messy play to get stuck into.

And now, a packed programme of activities to celebrate National Play Day – which is taking place this year on Wednesday 5 August – has been revealed.

There’ll be whole series of free events taking place right across the city on a drop-in basis throughout the day – with more than a hundred different activity sessions taking place in the city’s parks, libraries, community centres, and youth clubs.

Families can also head on down to two big Family Fun Days taking place on the day – one at Platt Fields Park, and one at Boggart Hole Clough.

ADVERTISEMENT

Activities will run from 11am through to 2pm at both parks, and will include things like sports coaching, circus skills, cycling taster sessions, live demonstrations, storytelling, and a range of other interactive and hands-on experiences.

National Play Day is actually a country-wide celebration of a child’s right to play, but the day has a special significance for Manchester this year, coming off the back of the city earning recognition from UNICEF as a Child Friendly City last month.

ADVERTISEMENT
Manchester is celebrating National Play Day next week with 100+ free activities for families / Credit: Manchester City Council

“Having fun and playing with other children is such an important part of growing up and helping children and young people of all ages to gain confidence and develop their skills,” commented Councillor Julie Reid, who is the Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People at Manchester City Council.

“We’re very lucky in Manchester to have so many fantastic parks, playgrounds, and sports and leisure facilities across the city for our children and young people to enjoy, as well as amazing libraries, galleries and museums right here on our doorstep.”

Read more:

Cllr Reid said Manchester’s National Play Day on Wednesday 8 August will be offering ‘a whole host’ of different activities for young people to get involved in and enjoy.

You can find out everything happening on the day here.

Featured Image – Artem Kniaz (via Unsplash)

What's On

Co-op Live appears to tease major Mariah Carey Christmas gig sending fans into a frenzy

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

All we want for Christmas… is Mariah Carey in Manchester.

And maybe, just maybe, our Christmas wish might come true very soon, as Co-op Live has taken to social media today to tease its next gig announcement with its hundreds of thousands of followers, and without jumping to conclusions, it does appear to be hinting at the queen of Christmas herself making an appearance.

Look, we know it’s only July and right in the middle of summer, but even if you think it’s too early to be talking about the festive season, you have to admit that the potential of Mariah Carey coming to Manchester is worth getting excited any time of the year.

The US pop powerhouse last performed in our city nearly a decade ago now when she brought her famous All I Want For Christmas show to the UK for the first time ever, taking to sold-out Manchester Arena stage on 10 December 2017.

Mariah has not performed in Manchester since, but all that could be set to change as Co-op Live has hinted that an announcement is ‘coming soon’.

Taking to its official social media platforms today, Co-op Live posted a very festive-themed AI video of snow falling on the arena as the camera zoomed in and the instrumental of Mariah’s absolutely iconic hit ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ playing in the background, and the caption hinting at the song’s title too.

Of course, we could be wrong, it might not be Mariah at all, but if the 300+ comments from fans in a frenzy thinking the same as us are anything to go by, it’s looking like we might be right.

“The countdown to Christmas is on,” Co-op Live said in its video, before letting fans know that they would be getting some form of confirmation soon.

Read more:

So, is it Mariah then? What do you think? Only time will tell, so stay tuned.

Featured Image – Picryl

More What's On

Blossoms intimate gig Deaf Institute Manchester

Art & Culture

Blossoms to play special ‘intimate’ 10th anniversary gig at The Deaf Institute, Manchester

Luke Little live Netflix event

Sport

Luke Littler is challenging amateurs to beat him at darts as part of a live Netflix event

Evening with Obama event Manchester

City Centre

Former US President Barack Obama is coming to Manchester for a special ‘Evening With’ event

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches