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Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 – all you need to know-ho-ho

Come on, that's an excellent pun and you know it.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 3rd December 2025

Now we’re into December, the Manchester Christmas Markets have returned both to the city and even to Albert Square for 2025, not to mention it’s bloody COLD, we think it’s fair to say the holiday season is well and truly underway – plus, the annual parade is now just around the corner.

Time to wrap up warm, pick your perfect spot, grab a hot drink and watch as a train of coloured ribbons and giant puppets flood the streets.

Yes, that’s right: not only can Mancs enjoy the return of the festive firework display this winter, but this year’s Christmas parade is taking place this weekend, and the fun-for-all-ages event is promising to be as magical as ever.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the 2025 edition.

manchester christmas parade start point
We managed to catch it right at the start last year. (Credit: The Manc)

MCR Christmas Parade 2025 – all the important info

When is the Manchester Xmas Parade this year?

For starters, if you’re wondering what time the Manchester Christmas Parade starts this weekend, the fun will be kicking off from 1pm on Sunday, 7 December and will last around an hour from start to finish.

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MCR Xmas Parade route

As for where it will be heading and when, the procession will follow a circular route that starts and ends back at Manchester Cathedral, before heading through the city centre, running along some major roads and passing notable landmarks.

It is as follows: Manchester Cathedral – Victoria Street – Deansgate – John Dalton Street – Cross Street – Market Street – St Mary’s Gate – Deansgate – Victoria Street – Manchester Cathedral.

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There will be two accessible viewing areas available on a first-come basis – one on Cross St (outside Boots) and one on Deansgate (outside House of Fraser).

You can see a full map of the Manchester Christmas Parade route for 2025 down below.

MCR Xmas parade route map
Credit: Manchester City Council (supplied)

People coming into the city centre for the parade should note that the busiest sections of the parade route are likely to be previously mentioned Cross St and St Mary’s Gate.

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Manchester city centre road closures for Sunday (7 Dec)

8am-5pm

  • Victoria Street (Deansgate to Cathedral Approach)
  • Cateaton Street (Deansgate to Exchange Square)

11am-3pm

  • Victoria Bridge Street (Chapel St to Deansgate)
  • Deansgate (Victoria St to John Dalton St)
  • John Dalton Street (Southgate to Clarence St)
  • Cross Street (John Dalton St to Corporation St)
  • Market Street (Cross St to Exchange St)
  • St Mary’s Gate (Exchange St to Deansgate)

11am-6pm

  • St Ann’s Street (Deansgate to Cross St)

As well as the city now having entered what is expected to be one of its busiest periods, it’s also worth reminding that the Metrolink tram service is scheduled for more strikes this weekend, so plan accordingly when heading into town.

It’s also worth noting that these closures will obviously affect parking and bus lanes, as well as some trams and taxi ranks.

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Thankfully, there are special Xmas pop-up park and ride services on the Bee Network running during this period to ease congestion and help more people get around. You can read more here:

More Metrolink disruption expected as further tram strikes have been scheduled

What’s new this year?

There are, of course, always new additions each year, and there’s more never-before-seen content coming for 2025, too.

With even more community groups now taking part than ever, the completely free, family-friendly parade will not only be led by the usual ‘Reindeer Ensemble’ – a talented troupe of eight synchronised dancing reindeer – but a new fantastic ‘Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle’.

Think Christmas meets Willy Wonka, meets Sugar Rush from Wreck-It Ralph and more.

Standing more than four metres tall and surrounded by a giant cavalcade of stilt walkers and dancers, the spectacularly decorated castle slowly rotates as it glides along and is sure to be a particularly must-see moment for the youngsters this year.

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mcr xmas events
who is performing at manchester christmas parade 2025?
Credit: Supplied)

We’re not going to spoil too much else for you this year, as we always find it’s more fun to be surprised by what we see whilst stopping roadside.

Let’s just say there’ll be plenty more Christmassy characters and fantastical festivities in store.

Local councillor Pat Karney, Christmas spokesperson for MCC, said of the 2025 parade: “Manchester is one hundred per cent the best city in the world when it comes to celebrating the festive season.

“There is nowhere that does Christmas quite like we do, and our iconic Christmas Parade has been a big part of our celebrations over the last three years, helping make magical memories for thousands upon thousands of Mancunians.

“It’s the heartwarming event of the season and our special Christmas gift to the city. Grab your Santa hat and some tinsel, and come down and join us. Don’t miss it!” There’s plenty more on this week, too…

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The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 1 – 7 December 2025

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Featured Images — Manchester City Council (supplied)/The Manc Group

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Manchester City have announced a special away day fan zone for festive fixture

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man City away day fan zone for Nottingham Forest

In a real added bonus for away fans making the roughly two-hour journey to their only fixture over the festive period, travelling Man City supporters are being treated to a dedicated away-day fan zone for their upcoming game against Nottingham Forest.

Now this is the kind of backing we want to see from big teams.

That’s right, for those visiting Nottingham for the meeting against the fellow Premier League side and one-time European Cup winners, Manchester City will be putting on a special and exclusive fan zone.

Confirmed on Christmas Eve ahead of the match this coming Saturday, 27 December, the club revealed a quick glimpse of the pop-up supporters’ park.

man city away day fan park nottingham game

As detailed in the announcement, the public events space known as ‘The Nest’ will be open exclusively to away-ticket holders heading to the City Ground.

Perfect for a quick pit-stop before and after the clash, the venue is one of the closest you’ll find to the stadium itself and, better still, is located roughly just a 10-minute walk away from the railway station.

Handy, isn’t it?

Regularly hosting the likes of Notts County fans, the main ground floor situated on Iremonger Road has a capacity of more than 1,200 people.

There will be a huge bar offering a wide selection of alcoholic and soft drinks, plus plenty of street food to enjoy. Here’s hoping the players don’t indulge in too many of those this Christmas, especially following Pep Guardiola’s ‘fatty’ comments.

UK supermarket ‘bans’ Manchester City players following Pep Guardiola press conference
They kick off at 12:30pm, but will everyone make the weight?…

Once again, Man City have advertised this as an away-day ticket-holder-only event, so we would probably call ahead and double-check if you’re a Blue who just so happens to live/be in the area and want to go along.

It also goes without saying that this will serve as an ideal and presumably trouble-free place to celebrate after the result, as it’s a strictly sky-blue event and we’d wager the title contenders and serial trophy winners to come out on top.

So, if you needed any extra assurance that making the approximately 81-mile trip to Nottingham, we’d say potentially going top at Christmas and cheersing a few pints with your mates on a would-be concourse designed just for you is plenty of added motivation.

As for those of you staying firmly in Greater Manchester this holiday season, there’s no reason you can’t still have a little away day of your own:

Read more:

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

Featured Images — Manchester City (via X)/The Manc Group

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10 of the very best British Christmas specials and episodes to watch on TV this holiday season

Danny Jones Danny Jones Best British Christmas TV specials of all time

‘Tis the season to sit on your backside and do nothing but gorge on mountains of food and watch TV for hours on end as you make your way through all the Christmas specials and best of British telly you can muster.

Now, there’s nothing worse than when it feels like there’s nothing on you’re stranded in that spot on the sofa that’s too comfy to vacate, so that’s where we come in.

Along with all the usual stuff you’ll find in the TV guide at this time of year, we thought we’d round up some of the very best Christmas specials made here in the UK and Ireland to have ever aired – that way, you’ll have a steady supply of festive viewing and barely need to move an inch.

In no particular order, let’s get stuck into it, shall we?

The best British Christmas TV specials of all time

10. Gavin & Stacey – Christmas Specials (2008, 2019 and 2024)

Where else to start than with the pride of Wales and a series that millions watch from start to finish every year? Gavin & Stacey.

Still revered as one of the most beloved comedies to ever come out of the UK, their two festive specials are also part and parcel (pardon the pun) of many Brits’ Christmas.

It still feels a bit weird going back and watching Corden as Smithy before the days of American fame, that first Nessa entrance; Uncle Bryn being, well, Bryn – even the soundtrack takes us back – but after the huge success of last year’s Gavin & Stacey finale, we’re ready to cry buckets all over again.

Viewers find just ONE flaw with ‘perfect’ Gavin and Stacey finale

9. The Office – ‘Christmas Special’ (Part 1 and 2)

Next up is not only this particular telephile’s ultimate Christmas TV event but possibly one of the very best episodes of British telly in history. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant broke new ground with this genre-defining comedy, and while they fine-tuned cringe throughout the series, this was pure heart.

Rom-com juggernaut Richard Curtis dubbed this two-part Christmas special spread across just 96 minutes as the culmination of what he believed to be “one of the great romantic stories of all time” between Tim and Dawn, and the perfect end to a “masterpiece”.

You’ll hear no arguments from us.

Is it the best Christmas special in British TV history?

8. The Royle Family – Christmas Specials (1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012)

Another classic not only British but fundamentally Manc comedy, The Royle Family might just be one of the best things Greater Manchester ever produced – and that’s saying something – and perfectly captures the comfortable monotony of sitting in front of the telly for hours on end.

That goes doubly so for the multiple Christmas specials, of which there are many and while they all do a great job of creating that familiar feeling of a Northern front room that the series was so good at throughout its entire run, the 1999 Christmas with the Royle Family special where the late great Caroline Aherne’s water breaks and that tear-jerking scene with Ricky Tomlinson…

It gets us every time.

Set just down the road in Wythenshawe, it still has us weeping just as much now as it did back in the day.

7. Peep Show – ‘Seasonal Beatings’

Cauliflower may or may not be traditional, but one thing we can agree on is that watching Peep Show‘s hilariously miserable, ill-mannered, tense, ever-awkward and bloody brilliant Christmas episode from 2010 is very much part of our annual holiday ritual.

The fifth episode of the seventh season – which many would rightly champion as peak-era Peep Show – may only last less than half an hour, but it feels like an eternity of familiar festive agony and walking on eggshells before the fantastic crescendo that is Mark pouring gravy into a shredder.

‘Merry Chris-Mark!’

If you don’t think Peep Show’s Christmas special/festive episode is one of the best in British TV history, you’re just wrong, sorry.

6. Ted Lasso – ‘Carol of the Bells’

Approaching the halfway mark, and we’re going to be somewhat controversial and introduce not only a very contemporary pick but one that isn’t technically a UK production, but the show is set entirely in England, and if there’s one thing it has tried to be since the start, it’s almost too cookie-cutter British

Now, we’re going to qualify that we have a weird relationship with Ted Lasso; it’s by no means the funniest thing we’ve ever seen, and the broad-strokes American look at football is frustrating at times, but one thing this show does do well is being deeply sincere, and never more so than in its Xmas special.

Plus, you get to hear Hannah Waddingham sing her pipes off – what’s not to like?

Christmas is about reminding your loved ones how much they mean – regardless of what you make of the show, this episode nails that.

5. Extras – Christmas Special (Part 1 and 2)

Our penultimate pick is also our second Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant creation: the Extras Christmas special, which aired back in 2007 and still has some of the funniest gags in the history of British TV as far as we’re concerned.

Managing to rope in even more big names for this equally cringeworthy and even painful to watch at times conclusion to the show, which also ran for just two series like The Office, the frustrating arc of Gervais’ main character Andy Millman is such a great payoff when all is said and done.

Only an hour and a half in total, well worth sticking on if you’ve never seen it before.

Just look at how many famous faces they managed to rope in for this fantastic two-parter. (Credit: Press Image via BBC)

4. Doctor Who – ‘End of Time’ (Part 1 and 2)

From a David Tennant cameo to him in arguably one of his greatest-ever performances in his final full-time appearance as the space-travelling Time Lord in what we are officially declaring the best Doctor Who Christmas special to date, and some of Russell T. Davies’ very best work.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 15 whole years since the national treasure said goodbye to the role in the gut-wrenching two-parter, which also saw the return of John Simm as ‘The Master’, but we’re still confident that there hasn’t been a better Xmas/New Year’s Day special pairing than the one below.

Here’s hoping RTD’s recent comeback will see a return to form by the next one in December 2026.

That delivery of ‘I don’t wanna go’ still makes us well up.

3. Gone Fishing – Christmas specials (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025*)

As we gradually approach the end of our list, we want to give so much deserved love to what we think isn’t just the underdog of British telly but an unsung hero when it comes to spotlighting friendship, positive male relationships and downright fraternal love.

It’s Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Finishing – the festive editions. We know we’re biased, but we really love the one with Paul Heaton. If you’ve ever sat down to watch an episode of this laid-back, laughter-filled show, you’ll know that these two can often achieve that warm, heartfelt and cosy feeling regardless of whether it’s Christmas or not.

It’s also a great antidote to any latent toxic masculinity left on screen, and with some serious emotion being laid bare in these Christmas special episodes, especially for us, this is what reality TV should be. We’re already looking forward to the next instalment at 9pm on Christmas Eve.

2. Click & Collect

Ok, we promise this is the last Merchant mention on this list, as we’re intensely aware of some bias on our end, but this straight-to-TV BBC short film really took us by surprise when we first saw it and is well worth setting aside a nice round hour to enjoy.

Not only does the core premise feel like a very relatable scenario for many parents rushing to sort out everyone’s Christmas presents in time, but it’s a touching tale of family, kindness and sparing that extra bit of patience during what can be a tough time of year for lots of people.

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Trust us, you’ll love it.

Asim Chaudhry is fantastic.

1. Only Fools & Horses – ‘Heroes and Villains’

And finally, what better place to round off this list than with only the series consistently voted the greatest British comedy of all time, but the episode that is widely considered its best-ever Christmas special? It can only be Del Boy and Rodney dressed up as Batman and Robin in ‘Heroes and Villains’.

Now, there is a whopping total of 18 Only Fools Christmas specials, and we’re sure everyone has their own personal favourite, but surely there isn’t a single one more iconic than the first episode of the legendary 1996 festive trilogy.

It also sets up events for ‘Time on Our Hands’, one of the most moving scripts they ever wrote – but it all starts with the much-loved duo plodding through the mist in capes.

It’s still regarded as the best British comedy ever, but where does it rank on the list of all-time greatest Christmas TV specials?

A very Christmas special mention…

Father Ted – ‘A Christmassy Ted’

Not technically British, we know, but the cult Irish hit remains one of the funniest comedies to ever come out of our corner of the world, and if you’ve never seen Ted, Dougal and a bunch of other clergymen get stuck in a women’s lingerie section like it’s a warzone, you’re seriously missing out.

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Mrs Doyle is her typical quick-witted self, and Father Jack can be found making the occasional outburst from his chair as usual and overall, ‘A Christmassy Ted’ is a very funny bit of seasonal telly.

Not strictly British but still one of the best Christmas specials in TV history if you ask us.

Read more:

Come on, you have to agree – we absolutely smashed that.

Some old, some new, some maybe a little bit out of left field, but all absolutely guaranteed to keep you entertained this festive period.

If you think we’ve made the cardinal sin of missing an all-time TV great, then please feel free to give it to us in the comments and educate us on the best British Christmas specials.

In fact, one of our other writers, Emily, has forced me to add a line about The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Specials too… so here’s the line. You can also find her round-up of all the best new bits coming to the box this holiday season down below.

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Five of the best things to watch on TV this Christmas 2025
Happy watching!

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

Featured Images — BBC (press images)

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