Summer has pretty much bid us goodbye at this point, and autumn is waiting around the corner, but this week starts off with the region, the country, and much of the world, paying their respects to the late HM Queen Elizabeth II, who died aged 96 on 8 September – with the State Funeral taking place on Monday at 11am, and a national bank holiday declared for the day.
Aside from the State Funeral though, with another week, comes an events calendar filled with lots getting up to, so once again, we’ve cherry-picked a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide.
As always, some of the events we’re going to mention are completely free, while others will set you back a few pounds, and many will need to be booked in advance.
Here’s our top picks.
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HM Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral
Manchester City Centre
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Monday 19 September
Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral / Credit: The Royal Family
The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is to be shown for free on several big screens in Manchester city centre.
For those who wish to publicly pair their respects, Manchester City Council has confirmed that big screens in the city centre will show coverage of the State Funeral from 9am in three popular locations – Cathedral Gardens, Exchange Square, and inside Manchester Cathedral.
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Each site will be open to the public without the need for tickets.
There will be bag searches in operation and access to the squares will be limited when they reach capacity, but the Council has confirmed that people will be able to move in and out of the big screen areas throughout the day.
Find out more about where to watch the State Funeral for free in Manchester here.
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Wythenshawe Hall
Wythenshawe
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Tuesday 20 September – onwards
Wythenshawe Hall / Credit: Manchester City Council
Wythenshawe Hall is to reopen to the public this week after a highly-anticipated restoration project has officially been completed.
The long-awaited repairs to the Grade II-listed 16th-century timber-framed historic house – which stands proud in the heart of Wythenshawe Park – come after it was forced to close due to an arson attack back in 2016, but Manchester City Council and Conlon Construction have since undertaken “extensive refurbishment works” costing over £6.7 million to “consolidate the damage”.
Work was carried out to ensure the building is “brought back to its former glory”, and so future generations and residents can enjoy the Hall once again.
Manchester‘s New York-inspired ‘sky park’ at Castlefield Viaduct has finally opened to the public for the first time ever.
After the National Trust announced its ambitious vision to create an urban green space in the heart of the city centre by tackling the challenge of “greening” the Grade II-listed Castlefield Viaduct and celebrate the history of this well-known landmark over half a year ago, visitors are now able to enjoy the park in all its glory.
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Thousands of plants, shrubs, trees, and more have been planted to transform the giant 330-metre steel viaduct into an elevated park.
100 people a day are able to visit the Castlefield Viaduct, and entry onto the structure will be free, but a booking system will be in place to help manage numbers.
The Manchester City Stadium Tour / Credit: Manchester City
Families can go behind the scenes at Manchester City’s Stadium to “experience the magic”.
Expertly-guided by City’s Tour Guides and filled with interesting stories, facts, and anecdotes from throughout the club’s history, Manchester City’s ever-popular immersive tours of the Etihad Stadium are running throughout the year, and they have recently been rated in the top 1% of Tripadvisor experiences in 2022.
Tickets are on sale, and will set adults back just £25 each, while it’s £15 for those under 18, and anyone under the age of five can go for free.
Coronation Street Stars Tour / Credit: Coronation Street: The Tour
Coronation Street’s famous ‘Stars Tours’ have returned, and it means you can meet “mystery” cast members on the legendary cobbles.
Just as the name suggests, the Stars Tours not only include the standard 90-minute guided tour of the external Coronation Street set in MediaCityUK, but they also give you the opportunity to meet the a surprise cast member from the show.
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While bosses of the official guided tours are keeping names of the mystery cast members who are set to make appearances close to their chest, they have assured fans that they’ll pop out to say hello, and pose for pictures, as well as letting you in on a few filming secrets or a story during the special events too.
Looking for some new restaurants and bars to try out in Manchester city centre this month?
As ever, a host of exciting new restaurants and bars are opening in Manchester in September.
New arrivals are varied, ranging from a non-profit cafe and bookshop being opened by the charitable arm of a local solicitors firm, to a no-nonsense butty shop where you’ll find established local bakers building hench sandwiches from the bread up.
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On top of all this, think a new arrival in the old Northern Quarter Cafe Cafe, a swanky new cocktail bar in a bank vault, a new chicken wing shop, dessert cafe and more.
You can read our round-up to find out where to put on your list this month here.
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Laughterama 2022
Castlefield Bowl
Wednesday 21 – Sunday 25 September
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Laughterama 2022 / Credit: Laughterama
Laughterama is an all-new five-night festival that’s set to combine a packed lineup of some of comedy’s multi-talented names, with a handful of the city’s best-loved bars and traders from right across the street food scene.
A new venture from the sibling team behind a series of successful comedy festivals running annually across London and the South, comedy fans heading on down to Castlefield Bowl for Laughterama 2022 this week can expect a mix of the biggest names in stand-up to take to the same stage as some of the brightest new talents.
James Acaster, Aisling Bea, and Rosie Jones are just some of the famous names on the lineup, and it’s promising to be “a seriously good time in the heart of the city”.
Manchester Food & Drink Festival 2022 / Credit: MFDF
Manchester Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) has been delayed as a mark of respect for Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, and will now celebrate its 25th year in the city from this week – with a special roster of events lined up that brings together some of Manchester’s top chefs as it marks a quarter of a century in the city.
From a host of live fire pit feasts to a dedicated wine and fizz festival at NOMA, there are some exciting events for this year’s festival.
The main Festival Hub in Cathedral Gardens is where much of the action will be happening, but elsewhere, there’s a packed schedule of event, an artisan market overflowing with local produce, and a wide selection of local street food traders showcasing the best that Manchester has to offer.
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Find out more about MFDF’s postponed celebrations here, and read more about what to expect from the full festival lineup here.
Two of the most popular foodie favourite events are back at Manchester’s largest street food fair GRUB – which is currently based at the Red Bank Project just outside of the city centre in Cheetham Hill.
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The GRUB Food Fair this week will see the likes of Igloo Pizza, Osaka Local, Zapp, and more serve a wide range of mouthwatering delights for you to try, while on Sunday, whether you’re plant based or just curious, there’ll be big handful of the finest vegan food traders there for Plant Powered Sundays to show you what it’s all about.
Both events are free to attend, and you can find more information here.
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Oktoberfest
Escape to Freight Island
Friday 23 – Sunday 25 September
Oktoberfest / Credit: Escape to Freight Island
Oktoberfest celebrations are kicking off in Manchester this weekend.
In a bid to properly celebrate the traditional Bavarian folk festival full of beer, authentic food, a travelling funfair, and more that was first held all the way back in 1810, and has been held annually from mid / late September ever since, Escape to Frieght Island at Depot Mayfield is bringing “steins and good times”.
Inside the huge Ticket Hall venue, you can expect a weekend of German beer, comedy comperes, oompah bands, and special food offers.
Keen to find some of the best things happening in Manchester this September that you can still grab tickets for?
There’s a whole host of brilliant new Manchester gigs, club nights, and events this month.
Whether you’re a die-hard gig goer or a late-night raver, or an all-day festival type, there’s something on this list for you to get excited about.
September Events 2022 / Credit: Carl Cox | Rob Jones (via WHP)
You can read our round-up of which events to add to your list this month here.
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Art All Dayer
Manchester City Centre
Saturday 24 September
Art All Dayer: Autumn Edition / Credit: Cotton On MCR
An autumn edition of the Art All Dayer event is happening this Saturday in a brand-new venue.
The Art All Dayer is “Manchester’s biggest art event, from Manchester’s best creatives” hosted by Cotton On MCR, and with the autumn edition set to take over 100 Barbirolli Square (Floor 5), you can expect everything you know and love about the Art All Dayer, but bigger then ever before.
They’ll be an art fair, drop-in workshops, and endless stalls of Manchester-based creatives selling arts, crafts, jewellery, ceramics, textiles and more.
With more than 160 consoles and hundreds of games to play, Power UP is back at the Science and Industry Museum for the first time in three years, taking ticket-holders on a journey through five decades of gaming, with everything from retro arcade games, to state-of-the-art virtual reality, and so much more.
Power UP is taking place every weekend and school holiday all the way through to December 2023, and every ticket includes unlimited play all day.
Wing Fest 2022 / Credit: The Manc Group & Wing Fest
Big fan of wings? Consider yourself somewhat of a chicken wing connoisseur? Fancy uniting with thousands of other wing lovers at the world’s biggest chicken wing festival in just a couple of months? Well, you’re in luck – Wing Fest is returning to Greater Manchester this weekend, and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
Wing Fest 2022 is set to bring together the UK’s very-best to serve up a whopping 200,000 wings over a two-day period.
Taking place at the Trafford Centre, here you’ll find 20 different street food traders, restaurants, BBQ teams, and pop-ups from across the country serving up their signature bites, as well as the UK’s finest chicken experts showcasing their culinary skills in a bid to be crowned the ‘Wing King or Queen’.
Pitbull at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, stage times, setlist and more
Danny Jones
People of the world and more specifically Manchester, get ready for the time of your lives because Pitbull is coming to town for his Co-op Live debut, and so is an army of fans in bald caps.
That’s right, ‘Mr Worldwide’ himself is playing his biggest-ever Manc show this Sunday as part of his global ‘Party After Dark’ tour, with European legs starting this month.
His UK and Ireland leg got underway with a double header in Dublin earlier this week, and now Pitbull is coming to Manchester for the first time in seven years.
Safe to say he’s hit on a bit of a renaissance since then, and his fandom – however random it may seem at times – is rampant right now. Exhibit A:
Pitbull gig guide | Manchester – all the important info
As for those of you looking to dress up as the currently viral rapper and singer this weekend, here’s everything you need to know about his 2025 gigs.
Pitbull UK/IE tour dates
5 June – 3 Arena, Dublin
6 June – 3 Arena, Dublin
8 June – Co-op Live, Manchester
9 June – The O2, London
10 June – The O2, London
Are there tickets left for Pitbull in Manchester?
Now, if any of you are looking to score some last-minute tickets for Pitbull in Manchester, we have some good news and some less good news: there are a fair few tickets left, however, they are pretty pricey as verified resale.
The lowest we’ve found clocks in at just under £90 (before fees), and some would set you back even more than VIP packages start from.
Nevertheless, if you’re just thinking, ‘Dale! Let’s make some memories’, then you can see the remaining availability HERE.
Pitbull comes to Co-op Live, Manchester on Sunday, 8 June. (Credit: Press Shot)
Who is supporting Pitbill in Manchester?
Besides already being one of the biggest nights of pop music in Greater Manchester this year, with so many of his shows up and down the country selling out, there’s another big name on the road with him.
If there’s one figure in the genre who has even more Caribbean cache and worldwide status than the Cuban solo star, it’s Jamaican legend, Shaggy.
The now 56-year-old Kingston-born artist is along for the ride on every single one of Pitbull’s EU tour dates, and we can’t wait to welcome him back to Manchester city centre.
For the last time, it wasn’t him…
The two have collaborated on more than one occasion.
What are the stage times for Pitbull at Co-op Live
In terms of when you’ll get to see both of these legends, doors to the venue will open from 6:30pm, and the show is due to get underway an hour later (7:30pm).
Although we don’t know exactly how long Shaggy’s set will be, you can expect at least a 15-minute intermission between the superb support act and your headliner, with Pitbull set to take the stage around 9pm for the main event.
Co-op Live‘s curfew is 11pm, so you can expect approximately two hours of non-stop hits out ‘on the floor’ spanning years of international chart hits.
Pitbull after-party
But don’t worry, the dancing doesn’t have to stop there, as the arena is also hosting one of their increasingly popular after parties for anyone with a valid event ticket.
Pitbull after-party tickets are separate from general admission and are strictly 18+, with tunes kept going until late right after the main show ends, courtesy of multi-genre Manc DJ, Just Yaz. You can secure your spot for the after-party ahead of time.
Now, while we obviously don’t have a fully confirmed setlist for Pitbull’s upcoming Manchester tour date, nor has the running order from his first pair of performances at the 3Arena been published, we can give you an average setlist based on his most recent shows.
Be honest, did you realise he actually had this many bangers!?
A taste of what Co-op Live can expect from a Pitbull concert.
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue, but this must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU, and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day, though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes via the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Featured Images — Press Images (supplied)/Audio North/slgckgc (via Flickr)
What's On
The T20 Family Festival is back at Lancashire Cricket Club for 2025
Danny Jones
If you’re a cricket fan or looking for something to keep the kids busy this weekend, get ready for a Blast because Vitality’s T20 Family Festival is back at Emirates Old Trafford.
Lancashire Cricket Club is once again hosting the sport’s fastest-paced format over in Stretford for the latest 2025 fixture, but it also marks the return of the much-loved T20 Family Fest here in Manchester.
With high-flying home side Lancashire Lightning taking on Northants Steelbacks, it’s set to be a stormer (pun very much intended) and fun for all ages.
The question is, are you free this Sunday?
Credit: Lancs Cricket Club (supplied)
Promising big hits, flying catches, music, family-friendly activities to keep the little ones entertained and plenty more, the T20 Vitality Blast’s Family Festival might just be one of the best value for money days out and live sport events you’ll find.
Along with tonnes of street food and drink stalls to keep you fuelled through the action, not to mention everything from circus acts and face painting to free kids’ games in the concourse, there’s plenty to keep you engaged even between the play.
You just better hope for clear blue skies, because that’s when the Blast is at its best.
As mentioned, another reason the T20 is so popular here in Greater Manchester is the Fan Village culture atmosphere itself; we’re not just talking the usual ‘Barmy Army’ antics you get win any domestic cricket – with all there is on offer – it really does feel like the start of a sporting summer.
Better yet, as well as being guaranteed to deliver a brilliant experience for all ages, there will be the opportunity to create even more lasting memories, thanks to the ‘Emirates First Ball Flyer‘ game.
The prize is one you don’t want to overlook, as you can win two return flights to Dubai: all you need to do is be in your seat and hope that Lancashire Lightning take a wicket with their first ball of the match to be in with your chance of winning.
To top things off, the Lancashire stars will then make their way to the front of Lightning Stand C to sign as many autographs and take as many pictures with fans as possible.
Credit: Supplied
Speaking of things being top, this is also a great time to watch the Lancs as Lightning are currently leading the table in the North Group campaign, winning three of their last four games – two of which have come here at Old Trafford.
After winning his first Indian Premier League (IPL) title with Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this week, Lancashire and England all-rounder Liam Livingstone is also expected to make his return to action against the Northamptonshire side.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: “I’m really excited to play in this summer’s Vitality Blast with Lancashire Lightning – I love playing at Emirates Old Trafford and I love playing for Lancashire.
“This year, I’ll have even more opportunities to play for the Red Rose throughout the Blast campaign. We’ve got a really strong squad and we have a proud record, particularly at home, in the group stages.
“Hopefully I can have a big involvement in us doing something special as a team in T20 cricket this year, ten years on from 2015, it would be really nice to go on and win another.”
There are just four home games left for Lancashire Lightning in this year’s T20 Vitality Blast, and there’s still a £5 discount on adult tickets purchased before matchday; plus, children’s prices are super affordable. You can grab yours HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
17th September 2022 
