The big Jubilee weekend has arrived, and Manchester will be buzzing with activity all weekend.
With four days to celebrate in this bumper bank holiday, there’s plenty of time to get stuck in over the coming days.
Manchester City Council have organised plenty of action in the city centre, and bars and restaurants across the region will be throwing special events to mark 70 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
That’s in addition to the street parties that will spring up all over Greater Manchester over the coming days.
Here’s a guide to the major events taking place, and all the information you need to get involved yourself.
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Queen’s Jubilee jamboree
City centre, 2-5 June
Piccadilly Gardens. Credit: Unsplash
Manchester City Council has planned free events right across the city centre over the Jubilee weekend, including a ‘complete transformation’ of Piccadilly Gardens into a bustling marketplace, with live music and dance performances.
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There’ll also be a beacon lit in St Peter’s Square at 9.45pm on Thursday, and a free Sunday Funday event in the Central Library, with a day filled with vintage films, crafts and face painting between 12pm and 4pm.
The East Lancashire Railway (ELR) is giving all people named Elizabeth a ride for free through the picturesque Greater Manchester countryside.
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The heritage railway will also host special performances from the era during the long weekend, with each station along the line celebrating in true 1940s / 50s fashion with food, vintage stalls, and live music from local acts.
Manchester’s popular shipping container village Hatch is hosting its very own ‘Street Party’ over the Jubilee weekend, with a platinum line up of the best events all taking place under one roof over.
Kicking off on Wednesday 1 June and running right through to Sunday 5 June, as with any street party, the Oxford Road venue will be adorned with bunting and party decorations to get everyone in the royal mood, and partygoers can expect everything from a raft of the best DJs to live music, street food, so much more.
The Queen inspects the Royal Guard of Royal Marines from HMS Newfoundland during her visit to Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), 11 April 1954. Credit: IWM
The Imperial War Museum’s main exhibition space will host projections showing the Queen’s history with the military throughout her reign – both in war and in peacetime.
Visitors will be able to view rarely-seen archive material in an immersive and unique setting.
King Street Townhouse will be transformed into an English country garden, with arrangements of summer blooms like lavender and rosemary filling the hotel.
They’ll be serving a special Jubilee afternoon tea with Manchester Gin cocktails, and screening classic British films like Notting Hill and Paddington.
Manchester’s favourite party bar will be celebrating HRH with both a special menu and a series of events.
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Expect Coronation chicken bagels, British-inspired kronuts and cruffins, and limited-edition cocktails.
The Jubilee Weekender events will include a Royal Baby Grand Slam on Wednesday, and a ‘Queens through the Ages’ event with Herstory on Friday night.
Jubilee Tea Dance Jive
The Trafford Centre, 2 June
Jubilee Tea Dance Jive / Credit: The Trafford Centre
The Trafford Centre will come alive with performances to bring together all age groups, who will perform contemporary and traditional tea dances.
To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in style, this lively and heart-warming entertainment will be performed to iconic numbers including Elton John, Spice Girls and Queen on Thursday 2 June between 1pm-3pm by the Miss Joanne Farnell School of Dancing on the main stage located in The Orient.
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It will be open to members of the public to watch and enjoy.
You can find out more here.
Joshua Brooks – Street party bottomless brunch
Joshua Brooks, Princess Street, 2-4 June
Popular city centre venue Joshua Brooks is hosting a Queen’s Jubilee-themed Street Party Bottomless Brunch this week, and it includes the choice of one main from all-day kitchen favourites like burgers, burritos, and halloumi dippers, and combines them with 90-minutes of bottomless drinks.
Taking place on Thursday 2 – Saturday 4 June from 12pm-5pm, there’ll also be teacakes and prosecco on arrival.
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Tickets will set you back £25 per person, and you can make a booking here.
Cloudwater X Levanter – The Queer Ju-Beer-lee Festival Bank Holiday
KAMPUS, 2-5 June
Cloudwater x Levanter / Credit: KAMPUS | Cloudwater Brewery
Manchester’s neighbourhood KAMPUS will play host a solid ten weeks of back-to-back block parties from its canalside garden, with each weekend seeing guest DJs take to the decks to spin tunes from different corners of the world – and this weekend’s event is celebrating the Queer Ju-Beer-lee Festival bank holiday.
Free-flowing beer will come courtesy of Manchester brewery Cloudwater, and food will be provided by Ramsbottom favourites Levanter serving up tapas, giant paella, and charcuterie boards aplenty.
This weekend, you can expect to celebrate the best of British in honour of Queen Liz, with arty bags and a street party at the ready, pouring fresh beer from the Queer Brewing Project.
Jubilee Street Party / Credit: Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
A whole host of Manchester’s best DJs and bands will descend onto The Refuge’s terrace on Friday 3 June to celebrate the Jubilee in royal style.
Curated by The Refuge team, the Jubilee Street Party will showcase a diverse range of up-and-coming talent, alongside established names from around the city and beyond playing music with a tongue-in-cheek nod to the royal family from 1-10pm.
It’s not all about the live entertainment though, as partygoers can also expect to tuck into an array of different street party nibbles and a themed cocktail menu fit for a queen.
The Stamford Quarter in Altrincham. Credit: Jody Hartley
The Stamford Quarter in Altrincham will take advantage of the bumper bank holiday weekend with a garden party, offering activities, family fun, and entertainment all the way down George Street.
Think afternoon tea, face painting, strawberries and cream and Pimms, and workshops, as well as live music (including 40s-style swing and jazz) and roaming performers.
There’ll be brass bands positioned around the gardens at RHS Bridgewater this weekend, with performances from the Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band, Astley Youth Band and Farnworth and Walkden Band.
Featured image: Unsplash / Craig Shepheard, Demotix, NTB scanpix
What's On
All the free things you can get with a Great Manchester Run finisher’s medal this year
Danny Jones
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:
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
Tate McRae at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for ‘Miss Possessive’ tour
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.
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, 24 May and 25 June, playing 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.
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.
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 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.
Daisy Jackson -
1st June 2022 
