And now, we have the return of Festive Sundays to add to that exciting list.
After proving to be a smash-hit success during their inaugural year in 2022, with families flocking to the city centre in their thousands to make the most of the free events, it’s now been confirmed that a series of four ‘Festive Sundays’ will enchant audiences in the run-up to Christmas this year too.
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‘Festive Sundays’ are returning to Manchester city centre this Christmas / Credit: Manchester BID
The city centre’s main streets will, once again, be filled with “captivating” parades and performances that are set to “surprise visitors of all ages”.
Organised by Manchester BID, in partnership with Manchester City Council and Manchester Markets, this year’s Festive Sundays event series starts on Sunday 26 November and will see roaming performers and illuminated acts take to the streets across St Ann’s Square, King Street, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Square, and Manchester Arndale every following Sunday until 17 December.
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The Christmas parades this year are promising to “capture the imaginations” of little Mancs, and “bring festive magic to all”.
Organisers have given a quick run-down of each event and what to expect.
Families are expected to flock to the city centre in their thousands to make the most of the free events / Credit: Manchester BID
Sunday 26 November
Where? Manchester Arndale, Exchange Square, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Street, St Ann’s Square, King Street, and Deansgate
What time? 12pm – 7pm
Kicking the series of ‘Festive Sundays’ off in style is a magical takeover across the city centre with giant roaming puppets, street performers, and live music, all accompanied by the vibrant sights and sound of the Fat Cat Brass Band and Bloco Band, who will bring “Christmas cheer and tunes” to the streets of Manchester.
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Sunday 3 December
Where? All across the city centre
What time? From 1pm
The “heartwarming event of the season” returns again this year, and organisers are promising it’ll be “even bigger and better” than last year.
Manchester’s free Christmas Parade will once again bring joy to thousands of spectators, both young and old – with processions of spectacular characters, magical performances, and extraordinary acts weaving their way through the city’s streets to “sprinkling pure festive magic”.
The city streets be filled with “captivating” parades and performances / Credit: Manchester BID
Sunday 10 & 17 December
Where? St Ann’s Square
What time? 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm
Ready to entertain visitors as they sip on their hot chocolates and dig into Yorkshire pudding wraps, the final two Festive Sunday events will see a stunning ‘Toy Procession’ take to Manchester’s iconic Christmas Markets.
Created by Walk the Plank, the procession will feature giant stilt-walking acts of Christmas crackers, sugar plum fairies, toy soldiers, Christmas elves, a sparkling fairy mouse, and more, who’ll all bring magical street entertainment to Manchester on the run-up to Christmas Day.
Trailer released for new Harlan Coben thriller series Lazarus filmed in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The trailer for Harlan Coben’s newest thriller series filmed in Manchester has been released ahead of airing later this month.
You may remember that, back in January of last year, Netflix confirmed it would be creating two more new Harlan Coben shows, following the smash-hit success of Fool Me Once starring Manchester’s-own Michelle Keegan – titled Missing You and Run Away.
Missing You went on to air on New Year’s Day this year, and it was announced in late January that Run Awaywas set to begin filming, again in Manchester, very soon.
But it turns out it’s not only Netflix that Harlan Coben fans need to be keeping their eye on, as Amazon Prime Video is now getting in on the action too.
First look images have been shared ahead of the release of Harlan Coben’s new thriller series filmed in Manchester / Credit: Ben Blackall (via Prime Video)
Prime Video has now released the official trailer for the highly-anticipated new thriller series Lazarus, which is based on an original story idea and written by the New York Times best-selling author, Harlan Coben, alongside his regular writing collaborator, BAFTA-winner Danny Brocklehurst.
Coben has worked with the critically-acclaimed Hyde-born screenwriter – who is most-famous for being the creator and writer of Sky One’s Brassic – for the creation of Lazarus, and it’s expected to be around the sixth time the pair have collaborated, with their previous successful works including Safe, The Stranger, and Stay Close.
Lazarus is set to follow title character Joel Lazarus who returns home after his father Dr Jonathan Lazarus dies by suicide, and begins to have disturbing experiences that can’t be explained.
He quickly becomes entangled in a series of cold-case murders as he grapples with the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder 25 years ago.
The six-part thriller series stars big names like Sam Claflin as Joel Lazarus, and Bill Nighy as his father Dr Jonathan – with supporting performances coming from Alexandra Roach, David Fynn, Karla Crome and Kate Ashfield, to name just a few.
The show will be executive produced by Harlan Coben and Danny Brocklehurst, alongside star Sam Claflin, BAFTA-winner Nicola Shindler and Richard Fee for Quay Street Productions – which is part of ITV Studios.
All six episodes of Lazarus are set to be exclusively released Prime Video on Wednesday 22 October in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Featured Image – Ben Blackall (via Prime Video)
What's On
Manc music legends James announce MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Emily Sergeant -
14th November 2023 
