The spooky season is finally here, and Halloween in the City is returning to Manchester this weekend to celebrate.
With so much happening over the two-day festival as part of the annual Halloween in the City celebrations – which are organised by CityCo and Manchester Business Improvement Distict (BID) – visitors to the city centre this weekend are being encouraged to “dress up, join in, and get gruesome” to look the part.
It won’t be something you see every day, but everything from ghastly ghouls, to wicked witches, curious cats, and more will all be welcome in Manchester city centre this Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 October.
The more people in spooky fancy dress, the better.
While the Halloween in the City celebrations will be largely taking place over this weekend, if you’ve got a keen eye, then you may have already noticed that giant inflatable monsters with hanging tentacles, fanged teeth, and bloodshot eyes have been starting to take over the rooftops of Manchester this week.
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Dotted at eleven different locations across the city centre, you’ll be able to go on adventure to discover them at places like KAMPUS, Selfridges, the Manchester Arndale, Great Northern Warehouse, Printworks and The Royal Exchange Manchester, Spinningfields, and at the ‘spooktacular’ Cathedral Gardens outdoor ice rink.
And then on Halloween weekend itself, there’ll be even more monsters set to pop up on the ground, so keep your eyes peeled around Exchange Square.
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The monsters are just the tip of the iceberg of events happening at Halloween in the City this weekend though – think a welcome procession of roaming monsters, a monster carnival, top monster bands, monster DJs, a monstrous photo trail across the city
Here’s a round-up of everything you can get involved with.
Credit: CityCo / Manchester BIDCredit: CityCo / Manchester BID
A ‘monsters welcome’ procession
Walk The Plank, who also create the annual Manchester Day parade, are putting on a crazy procession of monster puppets, stilt walkers and a five-piece band across the Halloween weekend – and everyone is invited.
Visit the home of Manchester’s mad-for-it scientist, Dr. Mancenstein, encountering dragons, giant marauding crows, Mr Arsenic the castle butler and eerie groundskeepers along the way whilst dodging the man-eating plants.
Free to attend, her garden and cemetery is also home to a menagerie of creepy characters.
Get up close and personal with giant monster Scary Gary at this year’s Monster Lab, located in Exchange Square. You can also make your own slime at the Monster Slime School and create your own mini monsters to take home.
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Dr Mancenstein’s radioactive lab assistant will be on hand to help with all your weird and wonderful experiments.
Billed as a ‘family-friendly freakshow’, New Cathedral street will be transformed for spooky season with roaming circus monsters, sideshow stalls, a kids’ carousel and a traditional helter-skelter.
You can also get up close and personal with the inflatable monster, Creepy Annie.
A trail of spooky photo opportunities across the city
Discover eight different spooky backdrops scattered across the city, ranging from a ‘monster invasion’ Manchester skyline, to depictions of the Grimm Reaper, aliens, zombies, the marshmallow man, dragons and creepy castle gates.
There will also be backdrops featuring Cbeebies and CBBC characters – perfect for the little ones.
Known as ‘The Keeper’s Nests’ these giant magpie puppets draw inspiration from the rhyme “One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told…”.
The pair will stalk the streets at a height, looking down from their rickety nests in search of secrets.
DJ Ghostman isn’t the first selector to hide his identity, but he might be the first to do so with a bed sheet. Find him playing a host of Halloween hits and monster bops from the Monster DJ Truck on Market Street across Halloween weekend.
Don’t forget to follow the fun over on Halloween in the City’s socials too – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Featured Image – CityCo / Manchester BID
What's On
An ‘extraordinary’ new Live Aid musical is coming to Manchester on its UK tour
Emily Sergeant
An ‘extraordinary’ new musical based on Live Aid is coming to Manchester as part of an upcoming UK and Ireland tour.
Producers Jamie Wilson Productions say they’re ‘thrilled’ to announce that Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical will head out on a big UK and Ireland tour starting out in March 2027, and visiting loads of major cities along the way – including Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Nottingham, and plenty more.
The production take us back to 13 July 1985 – the day music united the world.
Live Aid was an unprecedented global music event that brought 1.5 billion people together, and they all have a story to tell about ‘the day rock ‘n’ roll changed the world’.
Now, more than 40 years on from that famous day, audiences in Manchester will get to discover the behind-the-scenes story of Live Aid in a whole new way, as Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical is the story behind the greatest gig in music history.
What makes Just For One Day special? Nostalgia, relevance to today and a message for the new generation 🤘 pic.twitter.com/wRBV4Ar1Hv
— Just For One Day | The Live Aid Musical (@liveaidmusical) June 9, 2025
With hit songs by Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Who, U2, Queen, Madonna, The Police, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, and more all featuring, these iconic artists made history at simultaneous charitable concerts in London and Philadelphia.
The musical is written by John O’Farrell and directed by Luke Sheppard, with musical supervision, arrangements and orchestration by Matthew Brind, choreography by Ebony Molina, and casting by Stuart Burt.
“Just For One Day brilliantly reimagines why Live Aid worked then and why the humanity of that day still matters now,” commented Bob Geldoff.
“I’m delighted that more of the UK and Ireland will finally get to see this extraordinary and compelling musical. The reaction the show gets continually surprises and amazes me, standing ovations and people come back time and again, introducing the Live Aid story to new generations.”
Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical will arrive at Manchester Opera House in May 2027.
Tickets went on general sale this morning (Wednesday 17 December) at 10am, and you can get your hands on them via ATG Tickets here.
Featured Image – Supplied
What's On
You can step inside a fashion show with Vogue’s immersive ‘Inventing the Runway’ show in Manchester
Thomas Melia
A Vogue immersive show titled ‘Inventing the Runway’ has arrived Manchester, and it’s even co-created by Anna Wintour herself.
Ever fancied learning more about the fashion world? Well, now’s your chance to hear everything you need to know from global fashion leaders and lifestyle magazine Vogue.
The Anna Wintour-approved immersive experience comes alongside the announcement of Factory International‘s Winter lineup, which features another new event all about voyaging to the moon.
Vogue: Inventing the Runway incorporates interviews, visual media and more to help attendees visualise fashion shows of the past, present and future.
Visitors will be surrounded by incredible visuals on all sides (including underfoot), fully stepping inside the world of high fashion.
As well as understanding how fashion shows became the pinnacle of a designer’s vision, this runway-themed display also includes looking back at iconic moments of fashion and pop culture.
‘Inventing the Runway’ by Vogue is focusing on outfits worn by models and A-listers alike, with narration from the one and only Cate Blanchett.
A glimpse inside Vogue: Inventing the Runway. Credit: The Manc Group
You can expect to see curated pieces by significant creative minds in fashion history like Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and lots more.
Throughout the Vogue experience, as well as coming visually face to face with fashion, you will also hear a soundscape that perfectly reflects this innovative industry with a fusion of classical and pop music.
This fashion exhibition uses the same Lightroom technology behind the impressive David Hockney experience that opened back in December.
Anna Wintour, Chief Content Officer, Condé Nast, and Global Editorial Director, Vogue said: “At Vogue, we’ve been lucky enough over the decades to see many incredible runway shows, which have often told the story of fashion as much as the clothes themselves.”
“This Lightroom experience is a wonderful opportunity for a lot more people to experience first-hand the thrill of watching the history of fashion unfold right in front of them.”
You can experience Vogue’s ‘Inventing the Runway’ immersive show from 18 December to 10 January.
Find out more information and grab your tickets HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
26th October 2021 
