For the first time since Covid, Manchester will have a firework display on New Year’s Eve.
The city will once again ring in the new year with a free dazzling display over the city’s skyline, featuring a live DJ set and a huge countdown to midnight.
The family-friendly event will be taking over Castlefield Bowl this year, with capacity for 10,000 people on a first-come first-served basis.
Manchester’s New Year’s Eve firework celebration will be the first to take place here since we rang in 2020 – and we all know what happened after that.
The event will kick off at 10pm on Sunday 31 December with a live DJ set from Hits Radio DJ Jordan Lee.
Then as the clock strikes midnight and we welcome 2024, a huge firework display will illuminate the skies.
Manchester City Council has confirmed that this will be an alcohol-free event, with bag searches in operation, and bags should be limited to being no bigger than A4 size.
Councillor Pat Karney, Christmas and New Year spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: “No-one can deny that 2023 has proved to be quite the year for Manchester with a list of successes in the fields of culture and sport as long as your arm, added to a rapidly growing global reputation as a city to do business with.
“Coming as it does after the dark days of the last few years, we think the time is now right to show how proud we are of our fantastic city and to celebrate it as we close the door on 2023 and look ahead to 2024 and beyond.
“This in no way means we’ve forgotten how hard life is for a lot of people just now, but we do know that bringing people together helps – it’s what Manchester does best.
New Year’s Eve fireworks will return to Manchester this year. Credit: Unsplash
“Mancunians really are the best people in the world and we can’t think of a better way of welcoming in a new year filled with new possibilities for all of us, than spending it with those we love.”
Castlefield Bowl is in a residential part of Manchester and as such, revellers will be asked to clear the area promptly after the New Year’s Eve fireworks have finished.
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 this part of town.
“I will therefore be working closely with local Deansgate councillors and the Castlefield Forum to ensure that we minimise any nuisance for local residents.”
The event is being delivered by the city council in partnership with Hits Radio.
Road closures for Manchester New Year’s Eve firework display
Duke Place (Duke St – Arena) – 8.30pm – 1am
Rice Street (Duke St – Arena) – 8.30pm to 12.45am (Resident vehicles managed in and out of closure)
What we know about Oasis’ Heaton Park reunion shows based on their first comeback gig in Cardiff
Danny Jones
Ok, so there’s no more need to pinch ourselves or double-take every time we check our phone: Oasis aren’t just back together, they’ve now kicked off the reunion and following those incredible Cardiff scenes, we’re already thinking about what this means for their Heaton Park homecoming.
There simply isn’t a brick-and-mortar Manchester venue big enough to hold as many Manc fans as want, need and deserve to see them back on stage after waiting all this time, so it’s only fitting that barely a month on from Parklife, the massive outdoor space will welcome us all back to witness history.
Quite literally millions of people tuned into various livestreams on Friday evening to see Oasis return at the Principality Stadium, so lots of you will have already seen plenty from the colossal concert – including that bald bloke balancing a pint on his head – but there was, understandably, a lot to take in.
So, with that being said, here’s what we hope, we think, we know about Oasis’ highly anticipated Heaton Park shows based solely on the details we gleaned from Cardiff night one.
The timings (roughly)
For starters, one of the most important things fans will be hoping to know is when Oasis got back on stage, as well as the set times of the other ‘Live ’25‘ support acts.
Liam, as per usual, was the mouthier of the two Gallagher brothers and let the cat out of the bag early on X (Twitter), before being clearly told off by management and deleting the details shortly after; still, it was confirmed that the main event for Friday and Saturday night gets underway at 8:15pm.
However, these things are always subject to change, as both Richard Aschroft and Cast were slightly premature on night one in Cardiff, and who knows what other arenas will be like for the rest of the reunion tour?
Another big debate online that has raged ever since the Oasis reunion was confirmed is the subject of what they’re going to play from their extensive catalogue.
Obviously, most people could rattle off most of the all-time favourites and cobbble together a pretty decent ‘greatest hits’ of Oasis setlist, but people have been more concerned with what the opener, closing track, and encore will be.
Having watched all of these moments back multiple times already, we can confirm the first track was the classic intro ‘F***in’ in the Bushes’, as many fans suspected, followed by ‘Hello’ as the first full song, rather fittingly.
As for the last track in the main running order, the crowd got to bounce up and down to ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ before the legendary ‘Champagne Supernova’ beckoned the very end of the first night in Cardiff.
— The Rock Revival (@TheRockRevival_) July 4, 2025
They’ll still be reactive
That being said, this inaugural comeback show was somewhat of a pilot for the rest of the ‘Live ’25 world tour, which now totals more than 40 dates, and any good artist knows that tweaking the setlist from show to show can be key to not only to success, but keeping things fresh for you and the audience.
As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised if you see Oasis mix things up as the nights roll on, especially when playing multiple gigs in the same city as they’re doing pretty much everywhere for this reunion.
That flexibility isn’t just limited to song choice either: Liam did his famous twist on the ‘Wonderwall’ lyrics and told the crowd, “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh”, and in case you haven’t seen it already, they also took a moment to honour a late Liverpool star.
There were lots of little details on night one in Cardiff, but this was a very nice touch from Oasis.
A bigger focus on production than ever
The glimpse at the AV presentation seen above is just a small taster too. From the various clips we’ve seen on social media over the last 24 hours or so, Oasis aren’t just back playing music together, but they’ve levelled significantly in terms of production and stage design.
Now, if you’ve ever been to see either of the brothers’ solo shows, you’ll know that football and, more specifically, references to Man City, often feature at some point.
Noel, in particular, has maintained a strong City presence in his set, be it the blue colour palette, the MCFC badge, or even a tall cut-out of manager Pep Guardiola half during most High Flying Birds gigs.
Cardiff night one was no different as his LG instructed the crowd to turn around and do the familiar ‘Poznan’ celebration regularly seen up in the stands of the Etihad Stadium.
Gallagher brothers kick off Oasis world tour with Cardiff show, as Liam tells fans 'do the poznan'.
It was bits of comedy like this that’s been one of the biggest part we’ve missed about Oasis; both Liam and Noel have always been very humorous in their own ways over the years, but they were never funnier than in those old clips you see of them cracking each other up in their younger days.
Despite being estranged for more than a decade and a half and who knows how many years of bad blood overall, they look to have at least put it to one side and what was once a combative back and forth from a distance has circled back around to brotherly banter – or at least we hope it has.
We’re not going to pretend they absolutely adore all of a sudden, but they’re at least trying and recognising each other’s roles.
As you can see, those snaps of them smiling during the first reunion photo shoot back together don’t appear to be just for show.
Seeing the two of them walk out holding hands sent the internet into an absolute frenzy of emotion and had people joking that they were finally going to message their own troublesome relative and at least try to mend fences.
But that was just one small moment.
The duo have always admired and respected their respective talents, but for the first time in even longer than the 16-year hiatus itself, it seems like there’s some genuine love there again. See for yourself:
They’re still as massive as they ever were – if not more so
All this is to say that, in short, Oasis’ first comeback show in Cardiff isn’t just the start of the ‘Live ’25 reunion tour that will span the globe, it’s also confirmation of something people began to question in their lengthy absence…
They really are the biggest and, in so many people’s opinions (including our own), the greatest rock band of all time.
From what we can tell, it feels like one of those watershed music moments where you have be there in person to truly see and believe it – not to be part of some exclusive ‘I was there’ comeback, but because we can’t thing of any other reunion that has had this kind of impact.
Roll on the five nights at Heaton Park and strap in, folks, because you will never forget it.
I've never felt so excited about a gig I didn't even have a ticket for! I'm so glad you had a great time, the clips I've seen looked INCREDIBLE.
Featured Images — Oasis (via X)/Finnlay K (via Instagram)
What's On
Grassroots music venue The Yard announces new outdoor festival – and it’s got a great name
Thomas Melia
City centre grassroots music venue The Yard has just announced its new outdoor festival, where you can expect lots of impressive local live music.
Independent and grassroots music venue, The Yard, is known for hosting some of the best gigs, creative events and live music in the city, and this festival is no different.
Titled ‘Stranger Ways’ – if you don’t get that reference, then we don’t know what to tell you – anyone attending can expect to hear music that champions Manchester’s indie spirit, with a lot of local talent represented in the lineup.
Alex Spencer is set to headline day one of Stranger Ways Festival.The Yard is a brilliant venue known for hosting a variety of live music events.Credit: Supplied
This talent has seen praise from the likes of Lady Gaga and The Coral, even getting his track ‘Nightmares’ featured in EA Sports FC25 (FIFA).
They’ve seen massive success this year playing at the Isle of Wight Festival earlier this summer and supporting ‘Every Breath You Take’ penman Sting in Cardiff.
Another of our picks for Manc artists of the month for June, Arkayla. Named after “a terrible Oasis demo” from 1991, the band will be stopping by to sing a couple of their hits, too.
The band are already making waves, quite literally, receiving plays from one of the biggest rock radio stations in the UK, Radio X.
Wigan band The Lilacs are set to headline day two of Stranger Ways Festival.Arkayla are one of the headliners for The Yard’s new outdoor festival.Credit: Supplied
And of course this festival falls during Oasis’ massive reunion tour, so it would be rude not to have a tribute act, or two, performing at this outdoor festival – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Carpets and The Oasis Experience.
Now, as far as tribute bands go, that’s up there with one of the best and quietly clever names we’ve heard since we came across, well… Stranger Ways.
Speaking of Oasis, every ticket purchased for The Yard’s outdoor festival, Stranger Ways, gets entered into a prize draw to win tickets for one of the Burnage boys’ Wembley gigs with an overnight stay.
Stranger Ways Festival is taking place at The Yard across 19 and 20 July – To access the full lineup and grab your tickets, you can find everything you need to know HERE.
Anyone who has managed to bag themselves those precious Oasis tickets is in luck too, as if you can show proof on arrival to The Yard, you can guarantee yourself free entry.
Daisy Jackson -
21st December 2023 
