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Manchester’s ‘super duper’ family festival full of FREE activities is back early next year

Winter doesn't have to be dull.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 4th December 2025

A popular festival full of free activities for all the family to get involved with is coming back to Manchester early next year.

Fresh off-the-back of the success of Manchester’s massively popular annual Christmas Parade – which is coming up this weekend, and is set to see tens of thousands of people flock to the city centre’s main shopping streets especially for the occasion – the return of another exciting event has been announced for February half term next year.

Get ready, as Manchester city centre will transform into a giant playground next year as The Super Duper Family Festival brings four free days of fun.

The popular event will feature a series of pop-up play zones at a variety of outdoor spaces and popular venues across the city centre, all of which will be free to use and ready to explore.

Super Duper Family Festival
Credit: Supplied
Super Duper Family Festival
Credit: Supplied

Taking place from Wednesday 18 February through to Saturday 21 February, this year there will be more immersive play areas than ever before – with nine different zones providing unique experiences for all ages.

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Families can dive into high-energy challenges in The Sports Hall at Great Northern, level up in The Arcade at Printworks, whirl and twirl through The Carnival on St Ann’s Square, and get playful in The Playground with Waterloo Road on Exchange Square.

You can expect everything from gaming and crafts, to pop-up performances, hands-on workshops, fun children’s activities, and so much more.

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More brand-new zones are set to be announced in the new year, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled and get ready to play.

As well as the four days of free half term fun already announced, even more Council-organised events are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Read more:

The Super Duper Family Festival is returning from 18-21 February 2026, and you can find more information about everything happening here.

Featured Image – Supplied

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Liam Gallagher says he’s ‘ready’ to make a surprise appearance at the World Cup final

Danny Jones Danny Jones Liam Gallagher 'ready' to sing 'Wonderwall' at World Cup final if England make it

Liam Gallagher has said that he is “ready” to play at the World Cup final should England make it all the way to the last two later this month.

He may have just been having some fun on social media as usual, but you never know – after all, we never actually thought we’d see him and his brother reconcile, but look how that turned out…

Yes, much like incessant posts about getting the band back together over the past few years, the legendary Oasis frontman has been enjoying seeing Three Lions fans and players alike singing to ‘Wonderwall’ after every game, and hasn’t shied away from embracing the co-option by supporters.

In his words, he may have “Irish blood”, but the Manchester-born Britpop and rock icon has an English heart, and after one person online said it’d only be right for him to fly out for the conclusive fixture if Thomas Tuchel’s side make it all the way, he gave a typically off-the-cuff response:

You could argue there’s not much in this besides an impromptu comment from a famously keyboard-happy lead singer, but stranger things have happened.

For instance, it may have come after a gradually increasing barrage of old tweets, pestering and a bit of positive peer pressure in full view of the public eye, but we did at long last get to witness an Oasis reunion with the ‘Live ’25’ world tour; however surreal it felt, it’s soon set to be relived in a documentary.

This reply comes as a response to LG’s initial post on X, in which he wrote: “It’s hard work that singing Harry Kane cmon ENGLAND cmon WONDERWALL.”

It also isn’t the only time he stoked the fire of this still only pie-in-the-sky idea, either, as after another user similarly asked if he’d fly out and sing it at the final, he simply responded, “Oh I’ll show Harry how it’s done.”

He’s not the only one to have made a rather big public proclamation this tournament, either.

Wayne Rooney ‘agrees’ to bizarre bet ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
The England and Man United legend set himself up for a fall.

As for the 53-year-old musician, he also jokingly quipped at the expense of those less keen on the idea with just as straightforward a clap-back: “Stop crying your heart out.”

Now, obviously, we’re taking this one with a big pinch of salt (enough to season ‘some lasagneee’, you could say), but who knows? There’s been plenty of big and strange showbiz stuff happening at this year’s competition in North America.

Maybe we all need to just keep tagging the Burnage boys, FIFA, England and the official World Cup page as much and hope for at least some kind of Oasis-centric surprise.

Come on, just imagine how much this would go OFF if even one of the Gallagher brothers was in the crowd, let alone this unthinkable hypothetical…

Read more:

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

Featured Images — Press shot (via Warner Music Sweden)/ITV (screenshot)/Audio North

What's On

We Are Football Fest – Europe’s largest World Cup fan park gets even bigger as ‘Big Sam’ joins the party

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson We Are Football Festival - Europe’s biggest World Cup fan park is opening in Manchester

The largest World Cup fan park not just in Manchester or the UK but all of Europe just got even bigger, as the latest ambitious project from 4TheFans is seeing them expand from Freight Island into Depot Mayfield.

In fact, the former has already sold out in just four hours, and with a former England manager set to turn up, you’d better be quick about booking your tickets…

We Are Football Festival, in partnership with Freight Island and Broadwick, will bring together 13,000 football fans in front of the biggest screens in the country to cheer on England as they continue their race for World Cup glory.

The already enormous fan park opened at Freight in June, but now they’ll be opening up the iconic Depot next door, further transforming the space into an unrivalled celebration of football, with the one and only Sam Allardyce even set to turn up on stage.

The outdoor screen has been box office vibes since minute one
We Are Football Festival by 4TheFans
We Are Football Festival by 4TheFans
The fan park will open at Depot Mayfield
The fan park spills over into Depot Mayfield
It's set to be Europe's biggest World Cup fan zone
Credit: Vision Seven

We know he was only in charge for one game, but he’s still the only England boss to boast a 100% win record, after all.

Fans have been utterly immersed in the action thanks to a massive sound system, pyrotechnics, CO2 cannons, DJs, and entertainment around the games themselves – providing just about the closest thing you can get to a big game atmosphere.

The venue is open for all late kick-offs, too, and with England now through to the quarter-final stages following that dramatic 3-2 thriller against Mexico, the heat is really starting to ramp up.

Fans can head to Freight, as well as the rooftop or garden at Depot Mayfield from 5pm kick-off on matchdays in the sunshine, now with room for even more supporters to flood into the famous Manc Warehouse for those late-night games in the warehouse.

Here’s hoping it doesn’t get much later than a 4am full-time whistle again, eh?

There’s also the dedicated ‘Footy Fun Village’, which includes sponsored activations, games zones, and more family-friendly areas, creating a safe space for fans of all ages to enjoy the tournament no matter the time of day.

4TheFans and Freight Island have also hand-picked a great selection of food traders from around the world, not to mention a top-shelf bar selection.

We Are Football Fest’s 2026 World Cup coverage also comes with dedicated 4TheFans hosts, plus Sky Sports presenters, and the matches thus far have even seen England football legends providing quality match analysis at each screening. 

Since launching, 4TheFans has welcomed hundreds of thousands of fans, and camera crews from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News, Sky Sports, England TV, and Match of the Day, to fan parks across the UK.

It’s now chosen Depot Mayfield for its World Cup fan park, where they can fill the huge space at Freight Island first before scaling into the rest of the Depot as the fan community grows and the Three Lions march on.

4TheFans is the UK’s original and biggest fan park brand, and it’s working with Freight Island and Broadwick to deliver this game-changing We Are Football Festival – the biggest and best fan park in Europe. 

5,000 early bird tickets are available from just £4.50 per person, each coming with one beer included, and are on sale right HERE.

4TheFans presents We Are Football Festival runs at Depot Mayfield until 19 July 2026.

General admission tickets include

  • 4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
  • Football legend in attendance
  • Guaranteed entry to the event
  • The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
  • Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
  • Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
  • Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders

VIP table tickets include

  • VIP table section with the best view of the giant screens and the event
  • Meet and greet with a football legend
  • 4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
  • Guaranteed entry to the event
  • The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
  • Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
  • Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
  • Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
It’s been packed for every England game up to this point
How the indoor Depot warehouse room will look
Credit: Supplied via 4TheFans

Read more:

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

Featured Images – Press shots by Vision Seven (supplied via 4TheFans)

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