It’s official… Manchester Christmas Markets have been named the best in the UK, according to a new analysis for 2023.
Of course, us Mancs already knew this, but it’s always nice to have it confirmed, right?
In case you hadn’t heard, Manchester‘s flagship festive event has officially returned to spread some cheer right across the city centre for another year, as the annual Christmas Markets opened to the public on Friday 10 November.
The iconic annual event is an absolute staple in Manchester’s festive events calendar, and always draws in thousands of visitors from all across the globe each year.
More than 225 stalls have now popped up across nine sites throughout the city centre, with iconic ski chalet-style market stalls having taken over Piccadilly Gardens – which has once again been transformed into the ‘Winter Gardens’ – as well as Market Street, Cathedral Gardens, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Square, The Corn Exchange, and King Street.
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The little wooden huts lining our streets give visitors the chance to tuck into a wide range of festive foods and drinks, and shop for Christmas gifts from countless independent traders.
Manchester Christmas Markets have been named the best in the UK for 2023 / Credit: Flickr
It’s not uncommon for Manchester Christmas Markets to regular feature among the conversation when it comes to naming the country’s best Christmas markets, but this year, a new analysis by online car-buying platform, cinch, has seen our city’s annual festive event come out on top as the absolute best the UK has to offer.
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The team over at cinch looked at looked at TikTok popularity, average hotel costs, predicted days of snowfall, and the duration of 35 different market events to come up with a top 10 list that determines the best Christmas markets to visit for a festive road trip this year.
Manchester has taken the top spot on the list, and is closely followed by the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, and fellow North West neighbours Liverpool.
It’s according to a new analysis by cinch of 35 Christmas Markets nationwide / Credit: Manchester City Council
#ManchesterChristmasMarket is the most viewed hashtag on TikTok, with a whopping 13.3 million views, while the analysis found that the average cost of an overnight weekend stay is £246.84 during December.
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Due to Manchester’s average of 1.3 days of snowfall in December, there’s only a 0.042% chance of snowfall at the markets.
Manchester markets last 42 days, making it the 13th longest of the markets in the study.
Top 10 best Christmas Markets in the UK for 2023
Manchester
Edinburgh
Liverpool
Glasgow
Aberdeen
Birmingham
Hyde Park (Winter Wonderland)
Leicester
Belfast
Canterbury
Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Canterbury, and London’s iconic ‘Winter Wonderland’ in Hyde Park are some of the other cities to claim top 10 spots.
Speaking on the findings of the new analysis, Sam Sheehan – who is the Motoring Editor at cinch – said Manchester is “the place to be” for anyone looking for “the ultimate Christmas market experience” in the country this year.
He explained: “According to our findings, Manchester is home to the best Christmas market in the UK.
“Receiving a whopping 13,300,000 views on TikTok, as well as offering festive food and fun for 42 days, it’s no surprise that Manchester’s Christmas market stands at the top of our merry list.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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Music charity launches exclusive giveaway after naming Liam Gallagher as newest ambassador
Danny Jones
A local grassroots music charity is holding a special giveaway of exclusive Oasis x adidas Originals merch to celebrate Liam Gallagher becoming their latest ambassador.
The legendary British frontman and global rock icon is no stranger to teaming up with charities, but this latest project is seeing him focus on his hometown and the Manc music scene more than ever.
Brighter Sound, who are based right here in Manchester city centre, announced the one and only Liam Gallagher as their latest collaborator on Monday, 1 June, but that’s not all.
As mentioned above, they’re also holding a prize draw to raise funds for the cause, with some special kicks up for grabs – and they’re a model that became collectors’ items almost instantly.
The local music development organisation, which has been helping support young artists and aspiring creatives for more than two and a half decades at this point, revealed Liam would be teaming up not only to help promote fellow Mancunians in and around the music industry.
But there’s still much more to it than that.
With this special fundraising initiative also on the table – as are a limited edition pair of his sold-out adidas Achille SPZL trainers (including the extremely rare and highly sought-after Japanese-exclusive version) as part of the giveaway – this marks a commitment to supporting up-and-coming talent.
All proceeds from the charitable prize draw will go towards a crucial pot of money that will then go directly towards backing rising musicians across the region.
In case you haven’t seen the shoes in question, both Liam and his elder sibling Noel teamed up with adidas Originals during the Oasis Live ’25 merch boom and reunion tour phenomenon as a whole, each creating their own special ‘Spezial’ design. You can see more of them down below.
They obviously flew off the shelves rather quickly.
Speaking in an official statement, the 53-year-old said of the fresh partnership: “I’m honoured to be an Ambassador for Brighter Sound and support the new generation of creatives launch their music projects. We need more help for the arts, especially for the working class.”
Getting to work in and around his native territory across Greater Manchester will no doubt be an added bonus for the Burnage-born Gallagher brother.
As for Brighter Sound, the organisation’s director, Kate Lowes, added: “It’s a real honour to be working with Liam and his team on this special prize draw, and to welcome him as an ambassador for Brighter Sound. Manchester is an incredible place for music – and Liam and Oasis are a huge part of that story.
“This partnership reflects a shared commitment to making sure that more amazing talent continues to grow from the city and find its place on the world stage.”
For anyone looking to enter the prize draw and help support Brighter Sound’s work across Greater Manchester, you can do so right HERE.
Featured Images — Brighter Sound (supplied)/Jonnysmirth (via Wikimedia Commons)
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Four North West towns named among Britain’s top 10 seaside ‘property hotspots’ for 2026
Emily Sergeant
Four North West towns have been named among Britain’s top 10 ‘property hotspots’ by the sea for 2026.
You may already be familiar that, every year, leading property listing website Rightmove takes a look at all the cities, towns, and residential areas across the UK where house prices saw a significant hike on average last year, and puts together a top 10 list.
The ‘hotspot’ table is made up of a variety of locations where prices rose the most, when compared to the end of the year prior.
But now, they’ve done a special seaside version too.
Of course, “Manchester‘s got everything except a beach” so it won’t come as a surprise that no Greater Manchester towns are featured on this list, but that isn’t the case for the rest of the North West though, as Merseyside and Cumbria are well represented.
In fact, it’s actually the North West that’s taken the top spot, as Bootle in Merseyside has been named Britain’s top seaside house price hotspot, with asking prices having risen 11% in the past year alone, and that’s even with an average house price still way below the national average at £141,680.
Four North West towns have been named among Britain’s top 10 seaside ‘property hotspots’ for 2026 / Credit: James Feaver | Gabe Fender (via Unsplash)
Second place can be found just 10 minutes further up the coast in the town of Crosby, where the average asking prices are up 9% compared to last year, reaching £330,900.
Wallasey comes in at sixth place on the list, with house prices rising 7% to £200,753 on average, while Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria ranks at number nine with house prices increasing 6% to an average of £185,169.
Rightmove says the data shows that coastal living remains ‘relatively accessible’ in several areas, with nine of the top 10 fastest growing seaside locations still priced below the national average, and across more than 100 coastal areas analysed, more than 80% also have an average asking price below the national average (£378,304).
“The fastest-growing seaside markets this year show that demand for coastal homes in many areas remains resilient, even as overall price growth across the UK stays more modest,” commented Colleen Babcock, who is Rightmove’s property expert.
“While some locations are seeing strong price increases, there are still many areas where living by the sea is more affordable, giving buyers a wider range of options depending on their budget.”
Emily Sergeant -
20th November 2023 
