One of the Peak District’s most impressive landmarks is being turned into a pop-up cinema this spring.
The dramatic Peak Cavern will be kitted out with a full cinema set-up, plus cosy blankets and hot water bottles, for an unmissable film experience.
The next series of Village Screen events will begin later this month, with films on the bill including Dune, The Lost Boys, and Back to the Future.
Lovers of a horror film will also be able to watch The Descent – a critically-acclaimed thriller flick that’s actually set in a cave system – in the most eerily immersive setting possible.
The Village Screen at Peak Cavern in the Peak District. Credit: Nathan Dainty at It’s Nate (@itsnate.uk / www.itsnate.uk)
Visitors are greeted by live music, street food stalls, and pop-up bars before heading through to the cinema area, surrounded on all sides by stunning natural limestone walls.
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The Peak Cavern itself is one of the gems of the Peak District, with a fascinating history.
The rock formation used to be known as the ‘Devil’s arse’, because of the fart-like noises created by the water that flowed through it.
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The Village Screen at Peak Cavern in the Peak District. Credit: Nathan Dainty at It’s Nate (@itsnate.uk / www.itsnate.uk)
The Village Screen at Peak Cavern in the Peak District. Credit: Nathan Dainty at It’s Nate (@itsnate.uk / www.itsnate.uk)
The Village Screen at Peak Cavern in the Peak District. Credit: Nathan Dainty at It’s Nate (@itsnate.uk / www.itsnate.uk)
It also has the largest cave entrance in the British Isles, at 20m in height, 35m in width, and 100m in length.
Inside are the remains of a rope maker’s village – and in more modern times, it’s the Village Screen that keeps visitors flocking back here.
The full line-up of films will all be projected onto a 21ft screen, with state-of-the-art sound and lighting.
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Movie-goers can get drinks and snacks delivered to their seats during the film, and add on ‘Snuggle Packages’, which include blankets, hot water bottles, cushions, and a selection of sweets and chocolate.
The Village Screen is a small, independent events team that has been running cinema experiences at the Peak Cavern since 2017, with 60 cave events so far.
The company is also behind similar events at the Victoria Baths former swimming pool in Manchester itself.
The Village Screen was set up in 2015 to create a stunning cinema experience, showing classic films in unexpected locations – they’ve also made use of venues like Kenwood Hall in Sheffield and Hathersage Swimming Pool, plus a range of drive-in experiences.
The Village Screen’s Peak Cavern line-up for spring 2022.
Thursday 28 April – The Lost Boys, doors at 6pm, film at 8pm
Friday 29 April – The Goonies, doors at 6pm, film at 8pm
Saturday 30 April – The Descent, doors at 5.30pm, film at 7.30pm
Sunday 1 May – Back to the Future, doors at 5.30pm, film at 7.30pm
Thursday 5 May – Pulp Fiction, doors at 6pm, film at 8pm
Friday 6 May – The Lost Boys, doors at 6pm, film at 8pm
Saturday 7 May – The Rocky Horror Picture Show, doors at 5.30pm, film at 7.30pm
Sunday 8 May – Dune, doors at 5.30pm, film at 7.30pm
Friday 13 May – Alien, doors at 6pm, film at 8pm
Saturday 14 May – Princess Bride, doors at 5.30pm, film at 7.30pm
Sunday 15 May – The Goonies, doors at 5.30pm, film at 7.30pm
Featured image: Nathan Dainty at It’s Nate (@itsnate.uk / www.itsnate.uk)
Art & Culture
Full list of road closures announced for Manchester’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display 2024
Emily Sergeant
Road closures will be in place as Manchester city centre prepares for its spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks display.
Once the hustle and bustle of Christmas dies down, Boxing Day has been and gone, and we enter the time where nobody knows what day it is, everybody then begins waiting for New Year’s Eve to arrive, and for 2025 to bring new beginnings and a fresh start.
Last year was the first year since 2019 and post several COVID lockdowns where Manchester city centre hosting one of its famous fireworks displays that “say goodbye to the old and welcome in the new”, and it went down a huge success with residents and visitors alike – so it makes sense that it would return again for 2024.
Families from all across Greater Manchester are invited to the “fun-filled event” this Tuesday 31 December from 10pm.
This year’s end of the year celebration marks the first time St Peter’s Square has been used for the New Year countdown event, and also the first time that New Year fireworks will be let off from the roof of Manchester Central Library.
Spectacular New Year’s Eve firework display confirmed for Manchester. Credit: Unsplash, Chris Curry
Around 20,000 people are expected to attend the free to head on down to.
You can expect “high spirits and party tunes” throughout the night in the run-up to the midnight countdown and fireworks – which will end at 12:30am.
The Council says that, in order to ensure “a safe and celebratory event for all”, security staff will be keeping a close eye on revellers to minimise any disruption and allow everyone to see in the new year together.
To best accommodate the event and everyone attending, the following road closures and parking suspensions have been confirmed:
Road closures
From 7:30am – 2pm
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)
From 9pm – 2am
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 – 6am on 2 January
Peter Street (Mount Street to Lower Mosley Street)
From 6pm on 30 December – 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)
A number of road closures and parking suspensions will be in place / Credit: Unsplash
Portaloo toilet facilities, including accessible toilets will be available on site and the Lloyd Street public toilets will remain open until 1 am.
Hot drinks and food will be available on site, but alcohol is not permitted.
There will be no tram services through St Peter’s Square from 8pm on 31 December until the end of the fireworks display.
Full details of Metrolink service and accessible shuttle buses can be found here.
Featured Image – designecologist (via Unsplash)
Art & Culture
The all-new Cirque Wicked Wizard of Oz is coming to the AO Arena in 2025
Danny Jones
Something Wicked comes this way but not as you know because a high-flying twist on the Wizard of Oz lands in Manchester next year – only this time, make it Cirque!
That’s right, AO Arena is set to welcome the Cirque Wicked Wizard of Oz: an acrobatic take on the classic children’s story and much-loved 1939 film starring Judy Garland.
With Wicked fever having taken over the global zeitgeist following the release of this year’s feature-length adaption and even more people, theatre fans or not, going along to see the long-hailed theatre production that inspired it, it seems there’s no better time to announce this latest entry into the universe.
Set to embark on its inaugural tour in 2025, the experience is being described as ‘cirque meets panto’ and is set to deliver a magical retelling of the iconic tale like never before.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NOW ON SALE!⚡ CIRQUE WICKED WIZARD OF OZ!<br><br>Panto meets Cirque... Be amazed by a brand-new, breath-taking, Cirque staging… of the Wicked Wizard of Oz, coming to the AO Arena next year on Tuesday 23rd December 2025! 💫✨ <br><br>Buy tickets now: <a href="https://t.co/uQTPa3YJqW">https://t.co/uQTPa3YJqW</a> <a href="https://t.co/kTctGVXZIn">pic.twitter.com/kTctGVXZIn</a></p>— AO Arena (@AOArena) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOArena/status/1870046804659568980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Turning the Emerald City into the Emerald Circus, World’s Biggest Productions (the same team behind Elf: The Musical, Peter Pan and many other pantomime hits) are bringing this new concept to the masses starting in Autumn 2025, with a Manchester date pencilled in for the following winter.
Featuring a cast of more than 60, including already familiar audience favourites like Jordan Conway, Kelly Banlaki and Kev Orkian in starring roles, anyone who has seen one of their productions before will know how big and bold an affair they are.
Combine that with one of the most well-known stories on the planet and what do you get? Well, what we can only expect to be a supremely energetic, colourful and heartfelt spectacle on a huge scale.
Promising aerial stunts, amazing special effects and the big-budget perks of an arena as legendary as the AO, this is not one you’ll want to miss if you’re a musical theatre fan.
It’s also not the show the theatre company are bringing to the stage next year either, as their hugely successful run of Elf will be returning alongside Scrooge – yes, another circus spin, only this time on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Most importantly, all of these shows are fundamentally family-friendly, meaning not only can they be enjoyed by people of all ages but they’ll make for a perfect day out come the festive period.
Cirque Wicked Wizard of Oz comes to Manchester for one night only on Tuesday, 23 December 2025 with the fun starting from 7pm.
In the meantime, if you’re still in need of a musical theatre of fantasy fix, you can read all about what we made of the most recent showings of Wicked at the Palace Theatre down below.
Daisy Jackson -
10th April 2022 
