The UK’s first ever indoor Nerf Action Experience activity centre has officially opened its doors, where Mancs can battle it out in four different zones.
The enormous experience has taken shape at Trafford Palazzo – and it’s absolutely epic.
Visitors are greeted by a retail space selling Nerf products, from tiny American footballs to a huge range of their iconic Nerf blasters.
But the real fun begins beyond that. Once you’re kitted out with your very stylish safety goggles and have gone through a safety briefing, you’re released into the Nerf Action Experience battle zones.
There’s an enormous arcade area filled with competitive challenges, like a climbing wall, basketball hoops, snowboarding and a reaction training wall.
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Upstairs is a ‘training zone’ where you can get to grips with the Nerf blasters, shooting moving targets, testing your reload speeds and trying to blast floating balls out of mid air.
The real attraction here is the two battle zones, where you’re placed into two teams to try and claim victory.
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You can duck and weave your way around the Mission X spaceship or try to capture the flag in Chaos City, a dystopian landscape.
Plans for Nerf Experience Manchester were submitted way back in 2021, and construction was subsequently put on hold, but it officially opened earlier this week.
It’s a joint venture by Manchester-based leisure group Rocafella Leisure, and entertainment discovery platform Fever, the new NERF Action Xperience is the first of its kind in the continent and is sounding set to one of the region’s best days out for all the family.
Trafford Palazzo’s newest addition is the first location in a UK-wide rollout of NERF Action Xperience venues over the next five years, and is creating 50 new jobs.
Tickets will set you back £16.50, or £20 each including protective goggles, and are available to book here.
Spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks display confirmed for Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Manchester will celebrate New Year’s Eve with a spectacular FREE fireworks display, the council has confirmed.
This year, the dazzling display to ring in the new year will be set off from the roof of the city’s landmark Central Library building.
Mancs will be able to gather in St Peter’s Square as the city waves goodbye to 2024 and welcomes a new year.
The family-friendly New Year’s Eve celebration has never taken place at St Peter’s Square before, nor has the iconic Manchester Central library hosted any sort of fireworks display.
The fireworks spectacular and New Year countdown will take place on Tuesday 31 December between 10pm and 12.30am, hosted by local radio presenter and DJ Joe McGrath.
With a rough capacity of 20,000 people, there’ll be a festive atmosphere in the city centre – but Manchester City Council has stressed that alcohol is not permitted at the New Year’s Eve fireworks event.
Councillor Pat Karney, Christmas and New Year spokesperson for Manchester City Council, said: “If there’s something we do well in Manchester, it’s getting together for a big celebration – and there’s no better time for a big do than New Year’s Eve.
“This is the time to remember the year we’ve just had and to look ahead to the new one and all it may bring, surrounded by the people we love.
“Mancunians of all ages love a party, and this New Year’s Eve is going to be fantastic – a chance to dance the night away, with one of the biggest fireworks displays in the region for everyone to enjoy.
“All you need is your dancing shoes, party spirit and your nearest and dearest. Grab hold of those and we can’t wait to see you in St Peter’s Square for the last party of 2024.”
Spectacular New Year’s Eve firework display confirmed for Manchester. Credit: Unsplash, designecologist
There are a few things you need to know ahead of the event – attendees are asked to limit bag sizes to no larger than A4 in size, with bag searches in operation at the entrances.
It will be a standing room only event though there’ll be a managed designated accessible viewing area located on the Metrolink tram platform closest to Central Library, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Portaloos, public toilets until 1am, and hot drinks and food will all be available on site.
Event staff will make sure St Peter’s Square is cleared promptly after the event and once the fireworks are over to minimise disruption to local residents.
Councillor Pat Karney added: “We want everyone to be able to enjoy New Year’s Eve, including the growing number of local residents who live in town.
“I will therefore be working closely with local councillors and others to ensure that we minimise any nuisance for city centre residents.”
Important road closures and event information for the New Year’s Eve fireworks in Manchester
A number of temporary but necessary traffic management measures will be put in place in the run-up to and on the day itself so the event can go ahead.
Road closures – 31 December 2024
7.30pm–2am
Peter Street westbound (Mount Street to Lower Mosley Street)
Peter Street eastbound (Deansgate to Lower Mosley Street)
Oxford Street (Peter Street to Portland Street)
George Street (Oxford Street to Dickinson Street)
St James Street (Oxford Street to Dickinson Street)
Bale Street (Lower Mosley Street to Hall Street)
Hall Street (Bale Street to Oxford Street)
9pm–2am
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Lower Mosley Street (Windmill Street to St Peter’s Square)
Princess Street (Cooper Street to George Street)
Back George Street (Princess Street to Dickenson Street)
Parking suspensions from 8am on 29 December until 6am on 2 January
Peter Street (Mount Street to Lower Mosley Street)
Parking suspensions from 6pm on 30 December until 6am on 1 January
Oxford Street (Lower Mosley Street to Portland Street)
Lower Mosley Street (Windmill Street to St Peter’s Square)
Princess Street (Cooper Street to George Street)
George Street (Oxford Street to Princess Street)
Back George Street (Princess Street to Dickenson Street)
Museum Street (Windmill Street to Peter Street)
Southmill (Windmill Street to Bootle Street)
Accessible parking
Unreserved accessible event parking is available on Mount Street.
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 23 – 29 December 2024
Emily Sergeant
It’s here, Christmas week is FINALLY here.
The festive season has properly been in full swing across Greater Manchester for a good couple of weeks now, but considering the big day itself is actually here this week, there’s loads of Christmas-themed events and activities for the whole family to be getting up to across the region, just as you’d expect.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though? We’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide to help you out.
Here’s some of our recommendations.
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Skate Manchester 2024
Cathedral Gardens
Monday 23 December 2024 – Wednesday 1 January 2025
Skate Manchester 2024 / Credit: Matt Eachus (via Supplied)
What’s a festive season in the city without Skate Manchester?
Back once again for 2024, Skate Manchester is festive staple, and this year, skaters can glide across a gleaming ice path and spin around a dazzling seven-metre Christmas tree taking centre stage in the middle of the rink.
Families, friends, and festive fun seekers will be able to enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas whatever the weather has in store for our city this year too, as although the rink will be outdoors in the heart of Cathedral Gardens, the ice is fully covered.
East Lancashire Railway’s beloved Santa steam train rides are back for more festive fun this Christmas.
Running right through until Christmas Eve, ELR’s ‘Santa Specials’ are your chance to hop on board an old-school steam train and travel through the magical Irwell Valley to make “enchanted memories” that last a lifetime.
The famous festive steam trains have become an essential part of Christmas for many families in the North West, and there’s still some tickets left available.
Bar Hütte’s legendary karaoke cabins are back in Manchester once again.
Bringing Alpine vibes, cosy furnishings, twinkling lights, live music sessions, and flowing drinks to two city centre locations from this Thursday onwards, dozens of cosy private hüttes neatly-positioned under twinkling lights are now open down at both Kampus and Great Northern Square.
There’s also a handful of other events on the lineup throughout the festive season, including live music and DJs, wreath making workshops, and movie nights.
A brand-new festive hub has arrived in Spinningfields, and you’ll be able to visit a new ice rink, drink cocktails in a snow globe-like rooftop dome, and get merry in a yurt.
Winter Assembly at Courts Club is home to the city’s newest, fully-independent ice rink, On Ice, as well as lots of different food traders serving up winter gyros from Lucky Gyros, festive grilled cheeses, boozy hot chocolate, German BBQ specials, and so much more.
Cheshire Oaks’ beloved grotto is back for 2024, and the big man in red and his trusty elves are taking to the skies once again this year.
Running on the Designer Outlet’s Big Wheel every Thursday to Sunday throughout December, the ‘Santa in the Sky’ experience is the perfect way to celebrate Christmas as a family this winter, and make memories to last a lifetime.
Looking for something else to do at Cheshire Oaks this month? There’s plenty of other festive events happening in the run-up to Christmas.
With alpine lodges, festive drinks, Yorkshire pudding wraps, and of course, a helter skelter, The Winter Village is now open at Cheshire Oaks.
Christmas films like Home Alone, The Grinch, and The Polar Express will also be screened in the lodge, and plus, did you know that Cheshire Oaks is home to the UK’s largest Christmas tree, that you can actually go inside?
Find out more and grab tickets to any events here.
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The Holiday – Film With Live Orchestra
Bridgewater Hall
Monday 23 December
The Holiday – Film With Live Orchestra / Credit: Universal Pictures | Julio Rionaldo (via Unsplash)
You can watch The Holiday on a big screen with a live orchestra playing the soundtrack in Manchester this week.
Since its release nearly two decades ago, watching The Holiday has become an annual tradition for millions worldwide every time the festive season rolls around – but how would you like to watch this classic in the most magical way possible? Streamed live onto a big screen in the theatre with a complete concert orchestra playing its soundtrack by the legendary Hans Zimmer?
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Well now you can, as The Holiday Live is coming to Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall this Monday, following a sell-out success last year.
Find out more and see if you can grab some last-minute tickets here.
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The Grotto
Trafford Centre
Monday 23 & Tuesday 24 December
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The Grotto at the Trafford Centre / Credit: Supplied
The main man is making our northern city his new home at one of Greater Manchester’s biggest shopping centres this winter time.
Running all the way up until Christmas Eve, Santa is swapping the cold air of the North Pole for the cloudy skies of Manchester, as he starts his annual journey around the world by making a visit to our region.
Not only is Santa travelling with his grotto, he’s also giving visitors the chance to experience the world of the North Pole as he brings the chilly destination to the Trafford Centre.
The magnificent grounds of Tatton Park have been transformed into a ‘glittering winter adventure’ for the festive season.
Families will be whisked away into a world of folklore, enchantment, and enthralling performances as they enter the gardens of the stunning Tatton Park in Cheshire for an immersive, festival-like experience known as Yuletide.
Organisers say the captivating event promises to be a “truly magical experience” where folklore stories come to life through storytelling and live music.
Spectrum: A World of Illumination / Credit: Supplied
A brand-new Christmas attraction to get us all in the festive spirit has now opened.
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Just outside of Manchester, titled ‘Spectrum: A World of Illumination’, this spectacular never-seen-before trail is lighting up Cheshire with a month-long residency in Knutsford, and will be running every day in December besides Christmas Day, plus a few extra dates in November.
The immersive maze features moving giant candy canes, overhead Christmas-inspired installations like a laser show, and tunnels of light.
Not enough light trails on this list for your liking?
As the nights draw in and the temperatures drop, light trails are pretty much a given every time the festive season rolls around, and luckily, there’s plenty of them dotted across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, and across the North West this year.
If deciding which immersive experience to head on down to over these next couple of weeks is a tricky task for you though,
Christmas Screenings at King Street Townhouse / Credit: KSTH
Elf, Love Actually, and Home Alone are just some of the classic Christmas films hitting the big screen at a hidden cinema in Manchester.
Film fans looking for some wholesome festive fun are being invited to get themselves down to one of Manchester’s most popular hotels, King Street Townhouse, in the run-up to the big day itself, as it’s very-own exclusive cinema will be screening a jam-packed lineup of fan-favourite festive films over the next couple of weeks.
It may be Christmas week itself, but we understand not everyone is down to do festive things all the time, so here’s a couple of other suggestions.
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David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)
Aviva Studios
Monday 23 December 2024 – Saturday 25 January 2025
David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) / Credit: The Manc Group
One of the most influential British artists of the 21st century, David Hockney, is taking you on a personal journey through 60 years of his art in the revolutionary Aviva Studios, and it’s now open for everyone to pay a visit.
This is a real sensory encompassing experience, from the grand and vibrant projections on the walls, to the sound system which will be playing throughout the exhibition.
Hockney opened this installation in London, and this is the first time these pieces of art have left the country’s capital to be viewed by even more spectators.
Winter Holiday Programme / Credit: Science Museum Group
One of Manchester’s most popular museums has been transformed into an immersive ‘Light Lab’ for the festive season.
This is your chance to escape the cold and brighten up the winter holidays with an adventure though light and colour, as the Science and Industry Museum is currently running its full festive events programme and there’s loads to get involved with.
You can also explore a gaming extravaganza, and be engrossed by festive-themed science shows at the city centre-based museum this December.
Wicked The Musical / Credit: Jennifer DiNoia / Limited Engagement
Wicked The Musical has landed in Manchester and has taken over the iconic Palace Theatre stage for the festive season.
Sure, there may be a major motion picture adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande currently on in the cinema right now, but if you’re keen to see the beloved musical production on stage in the way it was originally intended, then you can head on down to the Palace Theatre to see the story of Elphaba and Galinda live.
Of course, this has been one of the hottest tickets in town for quite a while now, but there’ll still some last-minute seats left to get your hands on, so keep your eyes peeled.
A major Jurassic World exhibition that’s been mesmerising visitors all over the world has now arrived here in Greater Manchester, and it’s recently been announced that it’ll be sticking around until the new year.
Based on the beloved blockbuster film franchise, this official award-winning experience is one of the fastest-selling exhibitions in history.
Manc visitors will be able to walk through the iconic Jurassic World gates, explore some richly-themed environments, and encounter a life-sized Brachiosaurus, Velociraptors, and the most fearsome dinosaur of all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.
A groundbreaking new immersive exhibition exploring our relationship with the natural world is now open at Manchester Museum.
‘Wild’ look at how people are creating, rebuilding, and repairing connections with nature, and how the natural world has traditionally been presented and idealised through Western art, as well as looking at some unique approaches to environmental recovery too.
The exhibition will also crucially look at how we can tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis by making the world more wild.
Daisy Jackson -
16th September 2023 
