Heaton Park is preparing to host a spectacular festive celebration this winter – with Lightopia returning for a new, socially-distance edition of adventures, lights, lanterns, sculptures and shows.
The 2020 edition of Lightopia promises a feast for the senses, including dazzling sound and light displays and a socially-distanced magical illuminated trail.
The Grade I-listed Heaton Hall will serve as a backdrop to the new Christmas showcase – featuring Santa’s sleigh, glistening snowflakes and a giant interactive piano for guests to create their own winter soundtrack.
The festival will also be home to an immersive Astronomy display, Zodiac Sign installation, and Musical City that encourages visitors to dance their way through the lights.
The popular Animals attraction will return, and much-loved installations from 2019 can be re-visited in the Discovery space.
Kids can leap right into a fairytale of candy, flowers and characters at the Woodland Fairytale area, whilst the Lakeside water show promises a “visual masterpiece”.
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Shimmering walkways have been designed to create a safe environment with wider footpaths to maintain social distancing, with dragon sculptures dotted around Lightopia’s food stalls and licensed bars.
There will also be three entry points to reduce queuing and direct access to two car parks.
Ian Xiang, Creative Director of Lightopia, says: “We are excited to bring Lightopia back to Manchester, and have once again created a world in which light, sculpture and art combine with traditional, Chinese lantern-making techniques to create an immersive experience, full of light and stories.
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“We want our guests to become part of the Lightopia story, helping to create new forms of art as they interact and engage with the luminescent sculptures that trail through Heaton Park.”
Lightopia will be open to the public from Friday 20 November until Sunday 3 January.
Opening times are between 5pm to 10pm, and last entry is 8.30pm daily.
The event will remain closed on Mondays, Tuesdays (except during school holidays) Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Keep up to date with announcements via following Lightopia on Instagram and Facebook @lightopiafestival and Twitter @lightopiafest #Lightopia
What's On
A massive social for Manchester runners is happening in the city centre this winter
Danny Jones
With the bulk of race season nearly over, the local running community is finally starting to wind down and indulge in some well-deserved rest and relaxation – well, that and a sprinkle of clubbing, as the massive Cross Club Social for Manchester runners is back for 2025.
Following a successful sophomore edition last winter, the MCR Cross Club Social is returning for another proper good bash and looks to be shaping up nicely.
Hosted at a brand new venue, with sets from Manc-based DJs, karaoke and even giveaways on the night, the runners are going BIG this year.
So, if you’re part of a local running club or even just a Greater Mancunian who’s partial to a bit of jogging and looking for a night out, you’d best keep 8 November free.
Credit: Cross Club Social
Combining forces once again, the third iteration of the Cross Club Social sees multiple Manchester running clubs putting on one of the biggest parties of the year, with people from all over the community turning up to swap their trainers for dancing shoes.
Ticket prices have crept ever so slightly this year, mainly because of just how well attended the 2025 event was, but also to help raise money for their official charity partner.
However, it goes without saying that all newcomer clubs and solo runners in general and welcome to come along to this year’s event, which is also the first to be held at Fairfield Social Club near Angel Meadows Park – the more the merrier, as far as these lot are concerned.
For example, here’s a taste of the kind of turnout it got last year…
Early bird access will be on sale from 10am this Friday, 10 October, with the general admission tickets going live at the same time next week (17 Oct).
The social itself will run from 5pm until midnight, with last entry at 8:30pm, and you can bank on there being some kind of after-party elsewhere on the night. Get ready to grab your tickets HERE.
It’s also worth noting that the two previous years sold out fast, so make sure you put in a PB-worthy performance when it comes to that online shopping basket if you want to be there.
Once again, the Manchester Runners Cross-club social is a completely non-profit event; all funds from ticket sales go directly towards setting up the next one, back into the running clubs who take part, and to charitable organisations like The MCR 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness.
Lady Gaga is a tour-de-force of talent at the Co-op Live Manchester
Clementine Hall
Lady Gaga proves she’s a truly world-class act after two sold-out nights at the Co-op Live Manchester, as if we needed any reminding.
The city of Manchester has been flooded with harness-wearing, mesh-sporting little monsters over the past two days.
And that’s because the absolute icon that is Lady Gaga brought her ‘Mayhem Ball’ to the Co-op Live for two nights.
I don’t think you’ll find anyone who doesn’t know who this fabulous woman is. Over the past decade, she’s won an Oscar, headlined the Super Bowl, performed in blockbusters alongside Al Pacino, no less, and her songs are literally ingrained into our minds.
It’s been a whole 11 years (yes, really) since she performed in Manchester, and it’s safe to say she was back with a bang.
The performance was split up into five distinct acts, and each one was as exhausting and exhilarating as the next.
She begins the show by bopping out of a comically huge red dress, but this staging was only the start of what madness was about to ensue.
Luckily, we’d been prepared by the other half of the Audio North team, who had the equal privilege of seeing her on night one and were left similarly speechless.
Throughout the 30-song epic, we had crutches, sand pits, cages, skeletons, enough wigs to produce an amateur production of Annie, and we didn’t question any of it. Why would we? It’s Lady Gaga.
Kicking things off with ‘Bloody Mary’, the two and a half hour marathon didn’t leave any stones unturned.
We had all the bangers, from ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Paparazzi’ to ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Applause’, it had us wondering why any other superstar even bothers putting a song out these days.
Pop is in a good place at the moment with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and so on, but you can make a strong case for Gaga having helped pave the way for every lady in the business ever since.
Gaga truly had us in the palm of her hands (or claws at one point), even more so when she left the stage to de-robe and show her more vulnerable side for the last two songs – beanie firmly on.
It wasn’t just a concert: this was a fully-fledged tour de force of talent that Manchester won’t forget any time soon.
Sometimes there’s no point in intellectualising why someone has that ‘X-factor’; sometimes you just have to take a step back and say WOW.
The Manc -
14th August 2020 
