Manchester will be throwing a huge party to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla – slap bang in the middle of Piccadilly Gardens.
Manchester City Council is inviting people to head into the city centre to watch the historic occasion on two big screens.
The new monarch will be coronated at Westminster Abbey – the same place his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned some 70 years ago – on Saturday 6 May.
The huge event is going to be live-streamed to chosen locations across the country, including our very own Piccadilly Gardens.
The area has also become the main hub of the Manchester Christmas Markets in recent years, and has hosted screenings of major sporting events too.
A range of traders will be invited down to sell everything from food and drinks to face paints for little ones.
Here’s what’s going on across the bank holiday weekend.
Saturday 6 May
Piccadilly Gardens. Credit: Unsplash
A ‘party fit for royalty’ has been announced for Saturday, including airing the BBC Live Coverage of the Coronation in Piccadilly Gardens on large screens.
Visitors can dine on street food and Coronation treats, while kids can have their faces painted.
Or you can head across to the historic Manchester Cathedral and watch the Coronation from there instead, free of charge.
The platforms in Piccadilly Gardens will remain open until 11pm, with food, drink and entertainment into the night.
Sunday 7 May
The Coronation fun will continue the day after the main event, with a Coronation Big Lunch picnic planned in Piccadilly Gardens.
There’ll be picnic tables, benches and food stalls, with similar events happening in cities towns and villages across the country.
In the evening, the Coronation Concert will be live streamed in Piccadilly Gardens and residents are invited to enjoy the world-class entertainment in the city centre.
Starting on Monday 8 May, to mark His Majesty The King’s Coronation, thousands of organisations across the country will be participating in the Big Help Out. The Big Help Out is a scheme encouraging people across the country to volunteer and help out their local communities.
Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Donna Ludford, said: “The Coronation of His Majesty the King Charles the III and Queen Consort is a landmark occasion, and I am pleased that Manchester is joining in with the Coronation fun.
“From joining in with the events in Piccadilly Gardens, to celebrating at home, there’s a range of ways that communities all over the city can get involved with the celebrations and I hope that it will be a weekend to remember for all.”
Star of hit CBBC show Operation Ouch! to host live Q&A and meet and greets in Manchester this summer
Emily Sergeant
Little Mancs can meet the star of one of their favourite TV shows at the Science and Industry Museum this summer.
In case you hadn’t heard, Operation Ouch! is back in Manchester again with a fresh new experience for 2025, and this time around, visitors can journey through an ear canal covered in gooey wax, squeeze past sticky snot, and delve deeper into how our brains interpret the world.
Thousands of families from across Greater Manchester and beyond have already visited the city centre museum make the most of the new exhibition, and get stuck into the wide range of immersive and interactive activities it has on offer.
But for those who haven’t been able to pay a visit yet, this summer couldn’t be a more ideal opportunity to do so.
That’s because Dr Xand Van Tulleken – who is one of the presenters of the BBC showOperation Ouch! – will be at the museum in a couple of weeks time to meet visitors as part of his myth-busting mission to answer some of the public’s deepest questions about our senses.
The Science and Industry Museum has unveiled its ‘summer of senses’ programme / Credit: Science Museum Group
Dr Xand Van Tulleken will be at the Science and Industry Museum for one day only, and will not only join mini medics on their voyage through the senses, but will also be on-hand to answer brain teasers from the audience during a series of live Q&As.
Whether it’s banging on a super-sized eardrum, venturing into a massive eyeball, or even taking a whiff of a ‘smell library’, this world-premiere exhibition dives into the science behind hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell – and Dr Xand will be there every step of the way.
Dr Xand’s visit comes amid a senses-themed summer programme at the city centre museum, where visitors can enjoy everything from silent discos and science shows, to a ‘bogie lab’, brain-boggling challenges, and loads more during six weeks of activities inspired by its latest exhibition.
Book your tickets to visit Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You on Tuesday 12 August, for any of the time slots between 11:30am – 1pm, and 2:45 – 4:15pm for the opportunity to grab a selfie with Dr Xand from inside the exhibition.
Tickets will cost visitors £10 each, with those under three going free, and a range of family discounts available.
Find out more about the exhibition and get tickets here.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group
What's On
Road to Victory returns for massive Euro 2025 final screening at AO Arena
Danny Jones
England are in another final, and you know what that means: Road to Victory is returning to Manchester for another massive screening at the AO Arena as England’s women’s team prepare to defend their Euros trophy.
Sarina Weigman’s side made it to their second consecutive European final on Tuesday night following more late drama for the Lionesses against Italy.
The squad, which has seen a number of personnel changes since Euro 2022, managed to make it through to the final in the eleventh hour thanks to another stoppage-time equaliser from Michelle Agyemang and even more tense follow-up from a scuffed spot-kick by Chloe Kelly.
Will they ever stop giving us heart palpitations at major tournaments? Probably not, but the big watchalong party inside the AO Arena, which will see thousands turn up to watch the Euro 2025 final, is sure to deliver plenty of excitement either way.
For anyone unfamiliar with the massive fan zone – one of THE biggest in all Europe, in fact – Road to Victory is the unparalleled supporter party by AIX (Amplified Immersive Xperiences) Live, who specialise in the top-end of audio-visual matchday viewing vibes.
Having hosted huge screenings for the previous men’s Euros and the Qatar World Cup, and even inspiring a massive watchalong of last season’s Europa League final at the venue, Road to Victory (RtV) is just about as big and bold as it gets.
Think BOXPARK in London only bigger, more interactive and, dare we say it… better?
Yes, we do dare say it; having attended RtV on multiple occasions since it landed here back in 2022, we can confirm you won’t find an atmosphere quite like it anywhere else. At least not in Greater Manchester, anyway.
Case and point:
With doors to the women’s Euros screening opening at 4pm, there’ll be plenty of time for pre-match build-up before the game gets underway, and there’ll be plenty of entertainment, light displays, food, drinks and more – it’s just up to Manchester fans to be in full voice.
The Women’s European Championships certainly have a more all-ages, family-friendly feel to them, but Road to Victory and the AO Arena are still ensuring they deliver a palpable match-day energy.
Tickets are already live following England’s place in the last two of the Women’s Euros now confirmed, it’s merely a matter of securing yours and finding out who, out of Germany and Spain, will meet them in the final this weekend.
Once again, the 2025 Women’s Euros final kicks off at 5pm on Sunday, 27 July, and you can grab your tickets for the Road to Victory screening at the AO Arena in Manchester right HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
28th April 2023 
